Canada-US Relations: Canada threatens U.S. with tariffs, partial suspension of CUSMA over electric vehicle tax credit

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has written to top U.S. senators threatening to suspend parts of the CUSMA trade agreement and impose tariffs on American goods unless U.S. officials back away from a proposed tax credit for American-built electric vehicles. "We are deeply concerned that certain provisions of the electric vehicle tax credits as proposed in the Build Back Better Act violate the United States' obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement," Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng say in the letter.

Read more at: Canada threatens U.S. with tariffs, partial suspension of CUSMA over electric vehicle tax credit | CBC News

Italian US Relations -Tariffs: US duties on oil, wine and pasta put exports at risk

A bottle of prosecco that costs €5-6 a bottle in Italy can cost up to the equivalent of €10-15 at large retailers in the United States. With the application of 100% duty, that price would go up to €20-30. Prosecco exports

Read more at: US duties on oil, wine and pasta put exports at risk - Corriere.it

EU, US agree 4-month tariff freeze over aircraft dispute

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the Joe Biden presidency as a "fresh start." The pair are seeking to rebuild relations, starting with a trade breakthrough in the Airbus-Boeing dispute.

Read more at: EU, US agree 4-month tariff freeze over aircraft dispute | News | DW | 05.03.2021

EU-US relations will never be the same again, says ex-Trump aide

Mick Mulvaney, now the US special envoy to Northern Ireland, said even a Joe Biden presidency would not reset EU-US relations

Generally, the natural reaction is correct in that things will warm [between the EU and US under a Biden presidency] but they’re unlikely to go back all the way to what they were before the Trump administration," said Mulvaney.

"I think it’s unreasonable to assume that they [EU relations] will go back to the way things were, say under Obama or George W. Bush or Clinton.

Read more at: EU-US relations will never be the same again, says ex-Trump aide | Euronews

EU-US Relations: EU ‘troublemakers’ back Trump over Biden in US election

Divergences on the managing of the rise of China or Europe’s need to do more for its own security are likely to remain, whoever is the next man in the White House. What would change is the tone as Biden, a convinced transatlanticist, believes the US can only play this role in dialogue with its partners.

Under Trump, Washington and Europe clashed on a number of issues, ranging from foreign policy or trade to environment, digital, and agriculture. Washington and Brussels even disagreed over how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EU is waiting for the results of the elections to impose $4 billion in compensatory tariffs on US exports, in response to Washington subsidies to Boeing. Brussels wants to try to find a negotiated solution and cancel US tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European products, an option that could be on the cards if Biden is the winner.

Tensions, however, are expected to continue if Trump remains in the White House. The new EU Trade commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, expressed his willingness to find a fresh start with his administration when he took over in October. But he also warned that there is no room for more piecemeal agreements like the lobster deal to facilitate the bilateral trade.

Read more at: EU ‘troublemakers’ back Trump over Biden in US election – EURACTIV.com

EU-US Trade relations: EU drops tariffs on US lobster - by Cliff White

The European Union will immediately eliminate its tariffs on imports of U.S. live and frozen lobster products, according to an announcement from the United States Trade Representative’s office.

An agreement struck between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan on Friday, 21 August will result in the E.U. eliminating the lobster tariffs on a Most-Favored Nation basis, retroactive to 1 August, 2020. In return, the United States will reduce by 50 percent its tariffs on a variety of products including prepared meals, glassware, propellant powders, cigarette lighters, and other products collectively valued at around USD 160 million (EUR 135.7 million). The U.S. tariff reductions will also be made on a Most-Favored Nation basis and are retroactive to 1 August.

The United States exported around USD 111 million (EUR 94.1 million) in lobster products to the E.U. in 2017

“As part of improving E.U.-U.S. relations, this mutually beneficial agreement will bring positive results to the economies of both the United States and the European Union,” Lighthizer and Hogan said in a joint statement. “We intend for this package of tariff reductions to mark just the beginning of a process that will lead to additional agreements that create more free, fair, and reciprocal transatlantic trade.”

In a statement, National Fisheries Institute President John Connelly said he applauded the two sides for reaching the agreement

Read more: EU drops tariffs on US lobster

Canada- US Trade - Tariffs: US reimposes aluminum tariffs on Canada

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had reimposed 10% tariffs on some Canadian aluminum products, accusing Canada of "taking advantage" of the US. 

 Read more at:
US reimposes aluminum tariffs on Canada | News | DW | 06.08.2020

USA: Trump,"the Mismanager in chief" strikes again - As Trump talks tariffs, IMF warns protectionism will worsen a dire economic crisis by Don Pittis

There is no crisis so bad that mismanagement cannot make it worse.

That was the one of the key messages Wednesday as the International Monetary Fund sharply downgraded an already dire global economic outlook.

"This is an unprecedented crisis, and this is indeed the worst recession since the Great Depression," said IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath.

Read more at:
As Trump talks tariffs, IMF warns protectionism will worsen a dire economic crisis: Don Pittis |

China - US Relations: US-China trade truce at risk as virus hits global economy

A hard-won trade war truce between the US and China is at risk as the coronavirus pandemic rocks the global economy, making it tough for Beijing to fulfil its commitments.

The United States also faces huge disruptions from the deadly virus while a diplomatic spat between Beijing and Washington threatens to derail the phase-one deal that came after more than a year of escalating tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

Concerns are mounting that the conditions of t deal cannot be met as the world economy is threatened by governments taking drastic measures to contain the outbreak, including quarantines, travel bans and closures of public spaces.

"It also is not helping that President Trump recently has been calling the coronavirus the China Virus at his press meetings" 

Read more at: US-China trade truce at risk as virus hits global economy - CNA

Britain-Trade tensions rise as US threatens car tariffsBritain-Trade tensions rise as US threatens car tariffs

Mr Javid said the UK would not back down over the tax which will hit US firms like Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

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

EU in Defense mode on Trade: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With-Netherlands Warns

The European Union will act as one if the U.S hits France with tariffs and must stop being naive with powers like China, the Dutch Finance Minister warned.

Adding to growing calls for the bloc to do more to boost its economic sovereignty, Wopke Hoekstra said in an interview that the EU shouldn’t sit idly as countries like China subsidize their companies, or Donald Trump’s administration turns against its member states.

Faced with a global stage that’s increasingly dominated by the U.S. and China, the EU has come under pressure from some members to ensure a level playing field for its companies so that they can better compete with rivals that receive a helping hand from their governments.

“It is simply unacceptable that we are playing by the rules and some others just do whatever they like and by state support have the ability to outcompete some of our companies,” Hoekstra said recently.

“If we lookat the airline industry it’s bizarre that a great company like Air France-KLM is competing in a completely unlevel playing field with some of the carriers from outside the EU.”

His comments follow a recent initiative by the Netherlands calling on the EU to overhaul its competition framework by granting the European Commission powers to perform checks on companies that could potentially distort markets.

The Dutch push comes as a new executive has just taken the EU’s helm in Brussels and as the issue of protecting the region’s industry is gaining more prominence amid the rise of economic nationalism across the world, including with Trump’s America first policies in the U.S.

Read more at: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With, Netherlands Warns - Bloomberg

USA: There Will Be No Going Back: Wall Street's Confounding Optimism Over An Elusive Trade Deal With China - by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

A sharp disconnect is emerging between America’s economic reality and Wall Street’s curiously blind optimism about the future, reflected in another record-setting streak for US stock prices despite a weakening economic outlook.

US President Donald Trump’s multi-front trade war has raised recession fears and contributed to a renewed contraction in US manufacturing activity, forcing the Federal Reserve to react by reversing course on interest rates and cutting them again three times this year. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is now forecasting an alarmingly weak 0.4 percent annualized rate of growth in the fourth quarter.

Yet stocks are happy to keep on trucking to new heights on even the tiniest rumor suggesting some progress on the trade conflict between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies.

Long-term investors should be reticent, however.

For one thing, Trump has shown a distinct inability to stick to even any modest deals he does manage to strike. After pulling out of the long-standing North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada and following a painstaking renegotiation, 

Trump nearly torpedoed the entire process with a surprise threat, later recanted to introduce tariffs on Mexico based on immigration quotas.

Perhaps, and more importantly for those concerned about the long-term stability of the global economy, Trump’s erratic and roughshod behavior has likely damaged the world’s trading system irreparably.

That is not to say existing trade deals were perfect. Far from it. Most failed to address crucial issues around workers’ rights, the environment and even the democratic autonomy of nation-states. Hopefully, the next US president can and will begin to take on some of those concerns in earnest.

However, wrecking the system without any plans for what comes next as Trump is doing is even more destructive.

Read more at: There Will Be No Going Back: Wall Street's Confounding Optimism Over An Elusive Trade Deal With China - Emerging Market Views

USA: China-US (fake) Trump announced trade deal: How the twists and turns of the trade war are hurting growth - Foggy outlook

AFTER WELCOMING the St Louis Blues, a championship-winning ice-hockey team, to the White House on October 15th, President Donald Trump fondly recalled a recent triumph of his own: last week’s tentative trade deal with China. Simply put, America will impose no further punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if China promises to buy American farm goods worth billions of dollars. How many billions? “It’s very big numbers,” Mr Trump emphasised. “I said, ‘Ask for 70.’…My people said, ‘All right, make it 20.’ I said, ‘No, make it 50.’”

Will this carefully calibrated amount ever materialise? China does not want to pay over the odds or deprive other, friendlier suppliers of its custom. It also wants America to go beyond promising no new tariffs and to start removing existing ones. The deal may unravel before it is written down, let alone signed by the two countries’ leaders next month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Santiago.

Read more at: How the twists and turns of the trade war are hurting growth - Foggy outlook

France-US relations: US mulls retaliation to French tech tax -

The list of items that could be hit with tariffs includes cheese, sparkling wine, make-up and handbags.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50636521

EU-US Relations -Tariffs: Trump weighs new trade investigation to justify tariffs on EU

Trump administration officials are considering whether to start a new trade investigation against the European Union as the window closes for hitting Brussels with automobile tariffs, according to multiple people briefed on the issue.

Such a move would mean that European auto imports wouldn't be subject to duties out of national security concerns, but the trading bloc would be subject to a much broader inquiry, the people said.

Read more at: Trump weighs new trade investigation to justify tariffs on EU – POLITICO

WTO:China may impose $3.58 billion in annual trade sanctions on U.S. - says WTO panel

A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel said on Friday that China was entitled to slap compensatory sanctions on U.S. imports worth $3.579 billion (£2.76 billion) annually for the U.S. failure to remove anti-dumping duties - roughly half the amount China had sought.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-trade-us-wto/china-may-impose-3-58-billion-in-annual-trade-sanctions-on-u-s-wto-panel-idUKKBN1XB4MI

USA - Syria: Trump says at comical Press conference Turkey ceasefire in northern Syria permanent, lifts sanctions on Turkey

 U.S. President Donald Trump says he's lifting sanctions on Turkey after determining a ceasefire in northern Syria is permanent.

Ewad more at:  Trump says Turkey ceasefire in northern Syria permanent, lifts sanctions | CBC News:

IMF: Trump launched Trade Wars cuts global growth to lowest since last financial crises - by David Lawder, Andrea Shalal

The U.S.-China trade war will cut 2019 global growth to its slowest pace since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday, adding that the outlook could darken considerably if trade tensions remain unresolved.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-economy-outlook/imf-says-trade-war-cuts-global-growth-to-lowest-since-financial-crisis-a-decade-ago-idUKKBN1WU1SI

Turkey - US Relations: Donald Trump authorized sanctions on Turkish Leaders, seeking to punish its historic ally for its offensive into N.Syria - Reality or fiction ?

Trump authorises sanctions, slaps steel tariffs on Turkey.

US President Donald Trump on Monday authorised sanctions on Turkey's leaders, reimposed steel tariffs and ended talks on a trade deal, seeking to punish the historic ally for its deadly offensive into Syria. VP Pence to go to Turkey to discuss with Erdogan.

Click here to read the full report from the Guardian 

China-US trade: US postpones next tariff hike after China trade talks

US postpones next tariff hike after China trade talks

Read more:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50020574