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By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The dollar held steady on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump's watered down rhetoric against tariffs on China and a potential meeting with his Chinese counterpart raised hopes of de-escalation in tensions between the two economic heavyweights. Currency markets were calmer in early Asian trade after a chaotic Friday session when Trump abruptly announced additional levies of 100% on China's U.S.-bound exports, only to later sound more conciliatory over the weekend. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said on Monday that Trump remains on track to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea in late October. All that breathed new life into the dollar, which in turn kept the euro below the $1.16 level to trade at $1.1566. Sterling eased 0.06% to $1.3328, while the New Zealand dollar fell anew to hit a six-month low of $0.57145. "There is a mutual desire, or some sort of an off-ramp, and also a deal to prevent the bilateral relations from really spiralling out of (control), particularly because I think both the U.S. and China understand very clearly they cannot simply wish away the other's leverage," said Homin Lee, senior macro strategist at Lombard Odier. "We think, at the end of the day… a re-escalation path without any kind of an endgame in mind, may be too punitive for both sides. So we suspect that there will be an attempt to achieve an off-ramp." Against a basket of currencies, the dollar ticked 0.04% higher to 99.34. The Aussie was little changed at $0.6516, while the yen fell roughly 0.2% to 152.57 per dollar. Markets in Japan returned from a long weekend on Tuesday to lingering political uncertainty at home, after Sanae Takaichi's bid to become the nation's first female prime minister was thrown into doubt on Friday when her ruling party's junior coalition partner quit. While the move halted the yen's steep slide as investors assessed the chances of huge fiscal largesse under the new premiership, it continues to languish near eight-month lows. "If you ask me, given the current interest rate differential between the U.S. and Japan, which should be the primary driver of the exchange rate as well, dollar/yen should not be at 152, so I do expect this trend to reverse pretty soon," said Nigel Foo, head of Asian fixed income at First Sentier Investors, who expects the yen to strengthen eventually. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was down 0.36% at $115,380.19, after having tumbled more than 6% last week as risk sentiment took a hit. Ether fell 0.77% to $4,256.42, having similarly lost nearly 8% of its value last week. Market participants said the crypto sector on Friday saw more than $19 billion in liquidations across leveraged positions as panic selling and low liquidity triggered sharp swings. (Reporting by Rae WeeEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

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BEIJING/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The United States and China on Tuesday will begin charging port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil, making the high seas a key front in the trade war between the world's two largest economies. China said it had started to collect the special charges on U.S.-owned, operated, built, or flagged vessels but clarified that Chinese-built ships would be exempted from the levies. In details published on Tuesday by state broadcaster CCTV, China spelled out specific provisions on exemptions, including for ships built by China and empty ships entering Chinese shipyards for repair. The China-imposed port fees would be collected at the first port of entry on a single voyage or for the first five voyages within a year, following an annual billing cycle beginning on April 17. Early this year, President Donald Trump's administration announced plans to levy the fees on China-linked ships to loosen that country's grip on the global maritime industry and bolster U.S. shipbuilding. An investigation during former President Joe Biden's administration concluded China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, clearing the way for those penalties. The U.S. is scheduled to also begin collecting fees on October 14. Analysts expect China-owned container carrier COSCO to be most affected, shouldering nearly half of that segment's expected $3.2 billion cost from those fees in 2026.  China hit back last week, saying it would impose its own port fees on U.S.-linked vessels from the same day. Jefferies analyst Omar Nokta noted that 13% of crude tankers and 11% of container ships in the global fleet would be affected.  "This tit-for-tat symmetry locks both economies into a spiral of maritime taxation that risks distorting global freight flows," Athens-based Xclusiv Shipbrokers Inc said in a research note.  In a reprisal against China curbing exports of critical minerals, Trump on Friday threatened to slap additional 100% tariffs on goods from China and put new export controls on "any and all critical software" by November 1.  Administration officials hours later warned that countries voting in favor of a plan by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from ocean shipping this week could face sanctions, port bans, or punitive vessel charges. China has publicly supported the IMO plan.  "The weaponisation of both trade and environmental policy signals that shipping has moved from being a neutral conduit of global commerce to a direct instrument of statecraft," Xclusiv said. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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SYDNEY, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Australia's central bank saw no need for an immediate cut in interest rates at its September policy meeting given some stickiness in services inflation and steady employment, while future easing would be data dependent. Minutes of the meeting released on Tuesday, showed the Reserve Bank of Australia board would be focused on readings for inflation and consumption in the third quarter when it next meets on November 4. The board decided to hold the cash rate at 3.60%, following three quarter-point cuts so far this year, and judged there were still risks to the upside and downside for the economy. "There was no need for an immediate reduction in the cash rate target," they concluded. "Looking ahead, members noted that it was appropriate for the Board's decisions to remain cautious and data dependent." Markets imply around a 50-50 chance the RBA will ease at its next meeting, with a 70% probability of a move in December. Just one more cut is fully priced in, and only a modest chance of reaching 3.10%. The board judged policy was still a little restrictive, though a pick-up in house prices and home loans suggested past rate cuts were have some impact. Consumer demand had also picked up faster than previously expected and looked like continuing, th minutes showed, though some more recent data has cast some doubt on the strength of spending. The board noted monthly readings on consumer prices for July and August pointed to upside risk for third-quarter inflation, particularly on services and home building costs. Markets suspect a high reading for core inflation, due later this month, would argue against an near-term rate cut. Analysts generally assume a rise of 0.7% or less for the quarter would green light an easing, while 0.9% or more would likely prevent a move. An increase of 0.8% is a grey area, making a cut a line ball call for the RBA board. On the labour market, board members judged it was still a little tight overall, though the extent was hard to determine. While employment growth had slowed, the jobless rate remained steady at 4.2% in August. Some members also noted indicators suggested a risk wage growth in the private sector could slow more than expected in coming months. The global outlook remained highly uncertain, with the impact of U.S. tariffs still feeding through and the Chinese economy looking weaker than previously expected. (Reporting by Wayne Cole) Keywords: AUSTRALIA RBA/MINUTES

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