| Will China seek to dodge the global minimum tax rate? Biden revokes Trump-era bans on Chinese-owned apps. Noodles make two families billions of dollars. Here's what you need to know to start your day. Rich nations are bracing for China to seek exemptions from a global minimum corporate tax, a potential stumbling block for governments racing to reach wider international consensus on the plan next month. Some officials see China as not easily signing on to the global minimum tax rate of at least 15% endorsed by Group of Seven finance ministers last week. China has a basic corporate tax rate of 25% for most companies, but reductions for high-tech sectors and for investment in research and development mean effective rates can fall below 15%. Beijing will want to retain tax incentives that it sees as key for its economic development, especially in advanced technologies. Here's why the tax deal could be good for the climate. Asian stocks look set for a steady start after Treasuries rallied and U.S. equities edged lower ahead of an American inflation report that may provide clues on the direction of monetary policy. Futures were little changed in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. The S&P 500 continued to flirt with a record high before slipping, continuing a pattern of range-bound trading also evident at a global level. The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1.5% for the first time in a month, helped by a strong auction. The rate on the U.S. long bond dropped to a level unseen since March. Oil slipped amid an increase in U.S. fuel stockpiles. Bitcoin held an advance. President Joe Biden is revoking Trump-era bans on the Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat, and instead will review software applications from foreign adversaries that could pose a risk to Americans' sensitive data, senior administration officials said. Biden, in an executive order, is directing Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to evaluate the apps and take action against those that pose a security risk. The order replaces former President Donald Trump's actions, aimed specifically at Chinese companies including TikTok owner ByteDance and WeChat owner Tencent, that tried to ban the use of those apps in the U.S. President Joe Biden and his European Union counterparts will take a big step next week toward repairing their fractured relationship and they'll start the process of building an alliance to keep China in check. But one country will be sitting on the sidelines: Australia. The Morrison government has yet to pull the trigger on legislation that would allow his government to join allies in imposing coordinated sanctions against officials from the country's largest trading partner. Two families behind the best-selling Lucky Me! instant noodles are sitting on a fortune worth billions of dollars after a record IPO in the Philippines, the latest example of the vast wealth being created in Asia as companies go public. The families from Indonesia and the Philippines own almost 70% of Monde Nissin., which started trading last week after raising more than $1 billion in its initial public offering. Together, they're worth about $3.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours: And finally, here's what Tracy's interested in todaySay cheese and CPI? It's worth considering humble cheddar as we wait to see whether U.S. inflation data comes in strong or mild. The U.S. benchmark cheese price plummeted during the depths of the coronavirus crisis last year, as restaurants shut down and took away a key source of demand. Then it surged to new heights as people rushed to the grocery store (or ordered lots of delivery pizza) and cheese makers suddenly found themselves grappling with a whole host of supply chain issues and scrambling to produce enough to meet demand. Here's the New York Times from April of last year: "This month, as restaurants around the country slowly reopened, companies that supply cheese began to stock up to ensure an adequate supply. So much so, some cheese factories have struggled to meet demand, as dairy farmers who cut production during the worst of the downturn were unable to supply them with enough milk." Fast forward a little over a year and cheddar prices are down more than 50% from their $3-a-block peak in July of last year. I won't pretend to be an expert in the vagaries of the cheese market but it is a potential example of truly "transitory" inflation — a temporary squeeze that's being resolved as supply chain disruptions ease and demand for the gouda stuff normalizes.  You can follow Tracy Alloway on Twitter at @tracyalloway. | 
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