Trade, tariffs and toilet brushes — 2019's top business stories

The US president's voracious social media activity moved the markets and even provoked the Federal Reserve. Trump put pressure on the US central bank to lower interest rates to prevent a slowing economy just as he seeks reelection next year. China, another victim of Trump's ire due to the ongoing trade war, retaliated with billions in tariffs. In other news, this toilet brush became a bestseller.

Two years of trade tensions have seen the US and China levy tariffs on over $450 billion worth of each other's exports. Despite his harsh rhetoric, Trump delayed an increase in the tariff amount on some products and put off plans to penalize a further $156 billion worth of Chinese goods citing progress over a bilateral trade deal. In December, the two sides inked the first phase of the agreement.

The Huawei blockade continued to be a major sideshow of the trade war. Amid concerns of possible Chinese espionage, Trump temporarily banned US firms from doing business with the telecoms giant. The debate spilled over to Germany where Chancellor Angela Merkel faced pressure to exclude the Chinese firm from bidding to build the country's 5G network. Despite this Huawei won one of the contracts.

2019 was the year investors pushed back on IPOs with over-hyped valuations. Ride-hailing app Uber hit the market in May with a valuation of $75.5 billion. It has since lost a third of its value due to concerns that the firm is burning too much money and not growing revenue fast enough. Shared workspace startup WeWork canceled its listing in September as investors questioned its business model.

Tesla's decision to build its first European electric car and battery factory near Berlin was widely cheered in Germany. The €4 billion Gigafactory will bring thousands of jobs to the eastern state of Brandenburg and is also seen as a "gloves off" message to German automakers that have been late in committing to the new era of electromobility.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed a revised EU divorce deal in October. Just like the previous Brexit agreement, which failed a parliamentary vote three times, his new plan was voted down on the first attempt. To break the paralysis, Johnson called a snap election, which he won with a landslide. Brexit is therefore back on, with the UK set to depart the EU at the end of January.

After two fatal crashes in five months, Boeing in March grounded its 737 Max jetliner worldwide after investigators questioned the role of the aircraft's MCAS anti-stall system. Several pilots had complained about difficulties in controlling the aircraft during takeoff. With 371 of the 2-year-old planes already in operation, the grounding impacted the profitability of dozens of airlines.

In July, Germany's biggest lender, Deutsche Bank, announced a radical restructuring including the loss of 18,000 jobs globally and the creation of a bad bank to offload toxic assets. The firm, which has been trying for years to improve profitability, shed its equities sales and trading business. Instead, it plans to refocus on its German and European business.

The most profitable story of the year was this month's launch of Saudi Aramco's IPO. The on-off sale of 1.5% of the world's biggest oil company finally went ahead but only to Saudi and regional investors. A simultaneous overseas listing was abandoned amid foreign investor concerns. On its first trading day, Aramco shares climbed 10% giving the oil giant a market valuation of around $1.88 trillion.

German chemicals giant Bayer faced a shareholder revolt in April over the way the company handled the acquisition of US rival Monsanto. Bayer's stock fell 30% in the six months after the takeover as it emerged that Monsanto was facing thousands of lawsuits that claimed its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer. Despite the outrage, Bayer's supervisory board kept supporting CEO Werner Baumann.

In September, 150,000 holidaymakers were left stranded when travel giant Thomas Cook went bust. The UK government launched its largest peacetime repatriation of tourists. Its German subsidiary, responsible for around 40% of the group's revenues, was also forced to file for bankruptcy to protect itself. The government stepped in to compensate German tourists after an insurance fund ran out of cash.

After Mario Draghi's eight-year term ended in November, Christine Lagarde stepped in to head the European Central Bank. The former IMF chief has yet to disclose much about her plans for eurozone monetary policy but has already called for countries using the single currency to boost public spending and investment to arrest a potential downturn next year.