The pandemic is landing well-aimed punches on the already bruised relationship between Britain and the European Union. A dispute over vaccine supplies threatens to bring blunt instruments of trade war down on delicate national feelings. Not in the darkest hours of Brexit negotiations did either side imagine that supply-chain management would so quickly become a matter of life and death.
At a summit later this week, European leaders will discuss a possible ban on exports to the UK from an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands. There is frustration in Brussels that millions of vaccine doses have gone overseas (mostly Pfizer ones) and none have come over in return. The UK responds that it cannot be blamed for moving earlier, signing better contracts and generally getting its immunising act together faster.
Tory MPs say Brussels is lashing out in jealousy. Vaccination is something Boris Johnson’s government is doing well, and the EU is floundering. That has less to do with Brexit than is claimed by triumphant ministers, but as propaganda the point is irresistible: there is nothing else to trumpet as a benefit of detachment from the continent, and winning the vaccination race resonates with voters grateful for jabs.
Read more at:
Europe's trust in Britain has gone. We're now a problem, not a partner | Brexit | The Guardian
Showing posts with label Trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trade. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Sunday, January 3, 2021
China-EU trade relations: China-EU investment agreement to inject new life into global economic recovery
China and the European Union (EU) on Wednesday announced they have completed investment agreement negotiations as scheduled.
The long-awaited result, which came after 35 rounds of negotiations in the course of seven years, is a milestone in EU-China relations and is expected to inject new vitality into the pandemic-battered global economy, European experts, officials and business leaders have said.
Read more at: Xinhua Headlines: China-EU investment agreement to inject new life into global economic recovery - China.org.cn
The long-awaited result, which came after 35 rounds of negotiations in the course of seven years, is a milestone in EU-China relations and is expected to inject new vitality into the pandemic-battered global economy, European experts, officials and business leaders have said.
Read more at: Xinhua Headlines: China-EU investment agreement to inject new life into global economic recovery - China.org.cn
Thursday, November 19, 2020
China-USA relations: A Growing Threat from China - Note EU-Digest - "but doesn't the blame for this lies with the USA ? "- by Mackubin Thomas Owens
It has been clear for some time that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) seeks to displace the United States as the leading power within the global order. China has sought to do so in a number of mutually reinforcing ways by employing all available tools, from military means to trade and technology.
In the area of trade, the PRC has exploited the openness of the liberal global system. Seduced by the conceit that the fall of the Soviet Union had heralded the triumph of a liberal world order of free trade and interdependence, the U.S. and other liberal countries invited China to join the World Trade Organization, believing that Beijing would happily accept the tenets of a liberal economic order and play by that order’s rules.
Read more at: A Growing Threat from China
In the area of trade, the PRC has exploited the openness of the liberal global system. Seduced by the conceit that the fall of the Soviet Union had heralded the triumph of a liberal world order of free trade and interdependence, the U.S. and other liberal countries invited China to join the World Trade Organization, believing that Beijing would happily accept the tenets of a liberal economic order and play by that order’s rules.
Read more at: A Growing Threat from China
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
EU-China Trade Relations - Germany: 'Better off thanks to China': German companies double down on resurgent giant - by Michael Nienaber
German industrial robot-maker Hahn Automation plans to invest millions of euros in new factories in China over the next three years, keen to capitalise on an economy that's rebounding more rapidly than others from the COVID-19 crisis.
Read more at: 'Better off thanks to China': German companies double down on resurgent giant
Read more at: 'Better off thanks to China': German companies double down on resurgent giant
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
EU-Britain Relations: How a ‘Global Britain’ Could Cope With the Brexit Consequences - by Ben Judah, Georgina Wright
Over the past four years, as the United Kingdom has wrestled with the consequences of its narrow vote to leave the European Union, there has been little to no broader foreign policy debate in the country. Instead, Britons seem to have become caught between three temperaments. There are the catastrophists, who argue the U.K. has become completely irrelevant on the international stage as a result of Brexit; the nostalgics, who see a powerful Britain through the lens of a great colonial power; and the denialists, who refuse to accept that Britain must adapt to a changing global context. All are characterized by a surfeit of emotion and deficit of strategy⎯and none have answers to the key questions their government must now answer.
Read more at: How a ‘Global Britain’ Could Cope With the Brexit Consequences
Read more at: How a ‘Global Britain’ Could Cope With the Brexit Consequences
Friday, May 15, 2020
China-US ties on the brink of a complete breakdown: by Stephen S Roach
In his article "The end of the US-China relationship," Stephen S. Roach,
a faculty member at Yale University and former chairman of Morgan
Stanley Asia, describes new shifts in the China-US relationship amid the
COVID-19 pandemic. He wrote, "After 48 years of painstaking progress, a
major rupture of the US-China relationship is at hand. This is a tragic
outcome for both sides - and for the world." How should both countries
manage the economic and geopolitical risks of a full rupture? Is it
still possible for the two great powers to regain the trust and
cooperate in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic? Roach
shared his views with Global Times (GT) reporters Hu Yuwei and Zhao Juecheng.
GT：How will the current pandemic reshape China-US relations? Will it drag the two countries into a new cold war?
Roach: My basic conclusion is that the relationship between the US and China right now is the worst that I have seen in my career, and I've been following this relationship for 25 years closely. I think it started with the trade war in 2018. It's now moved into disputes over the novel coronavirus. And public opinion in the US, as measured by a Pew Research survey conducted very recently, shows bipartisan sentiment against China is as bad as it has ever been since the survey was conducted.
Also, there has been a leak of the Republican Party's political strategy that was written up by some consultants for the presidential campaign. I've read this 57-page strategy document very carefully. Its basic premise on the politics of the novel coronavirus - Do not defend Trump, but attack China. Republican strategy in the upcoming presidential election campaign is very much focused on attacking China.
Many new policies are being floated consistent with this approach: Bringing back supply chains from China, renewed or increased tariffs, or the most ridiculous of all, a threat of withholding debt payments on Chinese holdings of US treasury securities.
This strategy - after a trade war and after blaming China for the coronavirus itself - leads me to believe that the relationship is on the brink of what I would call a rupture, a complete breakdown. And I don't expect things to improve between now and the election. This is a tragedy. It did not have to happen this way. In US politics, sometimes things go in unfortunate directions. This is one of those times.
Read more at: China-US ties on the brink of a complete breakdown: Roach - Global Times
GT：How will the current pandemic reshape China-US relations? Will it drag the two countries into a new cold war?
Roach: My basic conclusion is that the relationship between the US and China right now is the worst that I have seen in my career, and I've been following this relationship for 25 years closely. I think it started with the trade war in 2018. It's now moved into disputes over the novel coronavirus. And public opinion in the US, as measured by a Pew Research survey conducted very recently, shows bipartisan sentiment against China is as bad as it has ever been since the survey was conducted.
Also, there has been a leak of the Republican Party's political strategy that was written up by some consultants for the presidential campaign. I've read this 57-page strategy document very carefully. Its basic premise on the politics of the novel coronavirus - Do not defend Trump, but attack China. Republican strategy in the upcoming presidential election campaign is very much focused on attacking China.
Many new policies are being floated consistent with this approach: Bringing back supply chains from China, renewed or increased tariffs, or the most ridiculous of all, a threat of withholding debt payments on Chinese holdings of US treasury securities.
This strategy - after a trade war and after blaming China for the coronavirus itself - leads me to believe that the relationship is on the brink of what I would call a rupture, a complete breakdown. And I don't expect things to improve between now and the election. This is a tragedy. It did not have to happen this way. In US politics, sometimes things go in unfortunate directions. This is one of those times.
Read more at: China-US ties on the brink of a complete breakdown: Roach - Global Times
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Britain-Trade tensions rise as US threatens car tariffs
US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin has threatened new tariffs on UK carmakers after the chancellor defied pressure to cancel a new tax on tech firms.
Mr Javid said the UK would not back down over the tax which will hit US firms like Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
A trade deal with the EU would take priority over one with the US after the UK leaves the EU this month, he added.
Read more: Trade tensions rise as US threatens car tariffs - BBC News
Mr Javid said the UK would not back down over the tax which will hit US firms like Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
A trade deal with the EU would take priority over one with the US after the UK leaves the EU this month, he added.
Read more: Trade tensions rise as US threatens car tariffs - BBC News
Sunday, December 15, 2019
China-USA Relations: You call this a trade deal? Not Really
The phase one trade deal with China cannot possibly serve U.S. interests.
Read more at:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-call-this-a-trade-deal-2019-12-13
Read more at:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-call-this-a-trade-deal-2019-12-13
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
China-US Trade Relations: Washington's disruptive trade practice knows no bounds - Opinion - by Chen Weihua
The punitive tariffs announced by the United States against importsfrom Brazil, Argentina and France on Monday are nothing but the latestdisplay of its unilateral, protectionist and bullying trade policy and practice.
US President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday morning that he would slap tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina because the two countries "have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies". The two largest South American economies had been exempted
from US tariffs last year.
Just like the US' false accusation in August that China manipulates its currency, its allegation against Brazil and Argentina has not been supported by facts. The two currencies have been depreciating due to the poor economic performance of the two countries. In fact, both governments have tried to prop up their currencies.
Read more at: Washington's disruptive trade practice knows no bounds - Opinion - Chinadaily.com.cn
US President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday morning that he would slap tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina because the two countries "have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies". The two largest South American economies had been exempted
from US tariffs last year.
Just like the US' false accusation in August that China manipulates its currency, its allegation against Brazil and Argentina has not been supported by facts. The two currencies have been depreciating due to the poor economic performance of the two countries. In fact, both governments have tried to prop up their currencies.
Read more at: Washington's disruptive trade practice knows no bounds - Opinion - Chinadaily.com.cn
Friday, September 27, 2019
EU-Japan Relations: EU and Japan join forces to counter US and Chinese initiatives – by Jorge Valero
The EU and Japan signed on Friday (27 September) a holistic
partnership to promote investment projects based on rules-based and
sustainable principles, and to counter the risks posed by the US and
China.
The EU-Japan partnership on sustainable connectivity – a term covering an array of trade, economic, transport and environmental fields – and quality infrastructure was presented to other Asian partners during the EU-Asia connectivity forum held on Friday.
Both partners agreed to “promote free, open, rules-based, fair, non- discriminatory and predictable regional and international trade and investment, transparent procurement practices, the ensuring of debt sustainability and the high standards of economic, fiscal, financial, social and environmental sustainability,” the text reads.
The deal will cover all dimensions of connectivity including digital, transport, energy and people-to-people exchanges.
Read more: EU and Japan join forces to counter US and Chinese initiatives – EURACTIV.com
The EU-Japan partnership on sustainable connectivity – a term covering an array of trade, economic, transport and environmental fields – and quality infrastructure was presented to other Asian partners during the EU-Asia connectivity forum held on Friday.
Both partners agreed to “promote free, open, rules-based, fair, non- discriminatory and predictable regional and international trade and investment, transparent procurement practices, the ensuring of debt sustainability and the high standards of economic, fiscal, financial, social and environmental sustainability,” the text reads.
The deal will cover all dimensions of connectivity including digital, transport, energy and people-to-people exchanges.
Read more: EU and Japan join forces to counter US and Chinese initiatives – EURACTIV.com
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
China-US relations: Trump wants US businesses to cut all ties with China: why that’s a lose-lose plan - by Winston Mok
Donald Trump “ ordered” American companies by tweet to stop doing business with China. Even with the US president’s shifting whims, what if his wish were to come true?
In an extreme scenario, if US-China trade and US manufacturing in China were to grind to a halt – when US companies no longer had any business with or in China – what would be the implication for American consumers, its companies, workers and innovation?
US consumers would suffer considerably, with a narrower selection of shoddier goods costing more, driving up inflation.
"Without the Chinese supply chain and the vast China market, many US companies would be displaced by non-US rivals. In decoupling, the US would not be isolating China, but itself, from the global production
network".
Read more at: Trump wants US businesses to cut all ties with China: why that’s a lose-lose plan | South China Morning Post
Support EU-Digest, which has reported the news without any political affiliation since 2004, and opposes those who seek to discredit and even destroy news organizations who believe in the right of a free Press, by investing in an advertisement, or by giving a donation to keep our efforts going : to donate or advertise click on: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/hermes?token=8BP18304C1657151J&useraction=commit&mfid=1567106786154_8591ae1288ebf
In an extreme scenario, if US-China trade and US manufacturing in China were to grind to a halt – when US companies no longer had any business with or in China – what would be the implication for American consumers, its companies, workers and innovation?
US consumers would suffer considerably, with a narrower selection of shoddier goods costing more, driving up inflation.
Had Trump not delayed
tariffs for the not-yet-targeted Chinese goods until mid-December, US
consumers would have had a foretaste of US-China decoupling this Christmas.
"Without the Chinese supply chain and the vast China market, many US companies would be displaced by non-US rivals. In decoupling, the US would not be isolating China, but itself, from the global production
Support EU-Digest, which has reported the news without any political affiliation since 2004, and opposes those who seek to discredit and even destroy news organizations who believe in the right of a free Press, by investing in an advertisement, or by giving a donation to keep our efforts going : to donate or advertise click on: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/hermes?token=8BP18304C1657151J&useraction=commit&mfid=1567106786154_8591ae1288ebf
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Turkey - US relations: Turkey calls on U.S. to lift barriers to boost trade - by MURAD SEZER
Turkey asked the United States to lift trade barriers between the two
countries during talks on Saturday aimed at sharply increasing bilateral
commerce, Turkey's trade minister said.
Read more:
Turkey calls on U.S. to lift barriers to boost trade
Read more:
Turkey calls on U.S. to lift barriers to boost trade
Support EU-Digest, which has reported the news without any political
affiliation since 2004, and opposes those who seek to discredit
news organizations who believe in the right of a free Press, by
investing in an advertisement, or by giving a
donation to keep our efforts going : to donate or advertise click on: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/hermes?token=8BP18304C1657151J&useraction=commit&mfid=1567106786154_8591ae1288ebf .
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
EU-US relations : US's Pompeo says current US-EU trade deal is not fair
Pompeo says current US-Europe trade deal is 'not fair'
Read more at:
Friday, May 31, 2019
Mexico-US Relations: Trump hits Mexico with 5% tariff in response to illegal immigration - by Jill Colvin and olleenLong
In a surprise announcement that could compromise a major trade deal, President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is slapping a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports to pressure the country to do more to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants trying to cross the U.S. border.
He said the percentage will gradually increase "until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied."
Trump's tariff threat comes at a time when Mexican authorities have been carrying out migrant raids and detaining thousands more who are traveling through the country on the way to the U.S.
Read more at: Trump hits Mexico with 5% tariff in response to illegal immigration - Japan Today
He said the percentage will gradually increase "until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied."
Trump's tariff threat comes at a time when Mexican authorities have been carrying out migrant raids and detaining thousands more who are traveling through the country on the way to the U.S.
Read more at: Trump hits Mexico with 5% tariff in response to illegal immigration - Japan Today
Thursday, April 4, 2019
China-US relations-tariffs : Toughest part of US - China trade deal stll lies ahead
Why the toughest part of a U.S.-China trade deal still lies ahead
Thursday, December 6, 2018
China-US relations: Arrest Meng Wanzhou, executive of Huawei, not favorable to improving relations China - US
Huawei arrest: China demands release of Meng Wanzhou
Note EU-Digest: Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada at the request of the US, who wants
her extradited to US because of business dealings Huawei has with Iran.
For those who might have forgotten - the US (Trump Administration)
unilattery broke off relations with Iran, when the Trump Administration
pulled out of the International Nuclear Agreement, signed between Iran
and many other nations around the world, including the EU and the US.
Hopefully Canada (Trudeau) will show some "backbone", by not extraditing
her to the US, specially since all the other co-signers of the
International Nuclear Agreement, including the EU and Canada, are still
respecting the agreement with Iran.
Read more at
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
INTERNATIONAL TRADE: Canada and US FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT
The US And Canada Have Failed To Reach A Deal On A New Trade Agreement
Read more at:
http://flip.it/f1j_Wf
http://flip.it/f1j_Wf
Saturday, September 1, 2018
EU-US Relations - Tariffs: Trump rejects EU offer to scrap car tariffs – by Maxime Schlee
 |
| This is what "the US Consigliere" thinks about the EU |
In an interview with Bloomberg published Friday, Trump also said the EU “is almost as bad as China, just smaller.”
“We are willing to bring down even our car tariffs down to zero … if the U.S. does the same,” she said, adding that “it would be good for us economically, and for them.”
Trump also took aim at the World Trade Organization, telling Bloomberg: “If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” adding that the agreement establishing the body is “the single worst trade deal ever made.”
The U.S. president said his country has “rarely won a lawsuit” in the WTO, “except for last year.”
Read more: Trump rejects EU offer to scrap car tariffs – POLITICO
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Middle East: Iran - US Relations: Donald Trump bullies rest of world they must choose between trade with US or Iran - by Bethan McKernan
European companies should still be able to trade with Iran despite new US sanctions, according to minister of state for the Middle East, Alaistair Burt.
Donald Trump tweeted “anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States”.
The EU has launched a “blocking statute”, designed to allow
companies within the bloc to sue the Trump administration, if they are
adversely affected by US sanctions, and has encouraged member states to
continue trading with Tehran.
This EU legislation should protect businesses in member states who do not wish to break off economic ties with Tehran despite the reinstatement of US sanctions which came into effect on Tuesday, Mr Burt told the BBC.
“If a company fears legal action taken against it and enforcement action taken against it by an entity in response to American sanctions then that company can be protected as far as EU legislation is concerned,” added Mr Burt.
Read more: Donald Trump says rest of world must choose between trade with US or Iran | The Independent
Donald Trump tweeted “anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States”.
This EU legislation should protect businesses in member states who do not wish to break off economic ties with Tehran despite the reinstatement of US sanctions which came into effect on Tuesday, Mr Burt told the BBC.
“If a company fears legal action taken against it and enforcement action taken against it by an entity in response to American sanctions then that company can be protected as far as EU legislation is concerned,” added Mr Burt.
Read more: Donald Trump says rest of world must choose between trade with US or Iran | The Independent
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
EU-US Relations: Six Ways How Trump Gets Trade and Europe Wrong - by Holger Schmieding
What Europe earns by selling goods to the U.S., it spends on licensing
fees for U.S. technology and on U.S. services. Nothing unfair here.
U.S. President Donald Trump is bringing the world close to a genuine trade war. Judging by his own rhetoric, Trump gets key trade issues wrong on at least six counts
Can the US bully the EU?.
The EU as such is not a strong force in global politics. But its sheer market size makes the EU the top trading power of the world.
As a result, the EU is less inclined than any other region to give in to trade threats.
A well-balanced deal to liberalize U.S.-EU trade is possible, but only if Trump’s advisors start to understand the EU — and then manage to convince their president.
Read more: Six Ways How Trump Gets Trade and Europe Wrong - The Globalist
U.S. President Donald Trump is bringing the world close to a genuine trade war. Judging by his own rhetoric, Trump gets key trade issues wrong on at least six counts
Can the US bully the EU?.
The EU as such is not a strong force in global politics. But its sheer market size makes the EU the top trading power of the world.
As a result, the EU is less inclined than any other region to give in to trade threats.
A well-balanced deal to liberalize U.S.-EU trade is possible, but only if Trump’s advisors start to understand the EU — and then manage to convince their president.
Read more: Six Ways How Trump Gets Trade and Europe Wrong - The Globalist
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