by Welcome to the Caribbean Trade and Development Digest for the week of October 22-28, 2017! We are pleased to share some of the major trade and development headlines and analysis across the Caribbean region and the World. We hope you enjoy this edition.
REGIONAL
Rowley talks trade with Mexico at CARICOM Summit
Trinidad Express: According to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister, Rowley has asked Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to immediately consider the development and implementation of a partial scope trade agreement which will allow Trinidad and Tobago manufactured goods access to the Mexican market. Read more
Get cracking: EU wants region to get to work on CSME; EPA
Barbados Today: Barbados and its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbours have been told to get cracking on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe. Read more
South Africa set to boost trade with Cuba
allAfrica: The upcoming Havana International Fair will further advance relations between South Africa and Cuba, says Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Bulelani Mangwanishe. Read more
Haiti-DR. Towards a border resident card to facilitate trade?
Haiti Libre: Director of the National Institute of Migration (INM) of the Dominican Republic encourages the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) to create a border resident card, which would facilitate the movement of people who depend on binational trade in areas border with Haiti. Read more
India eyes trade deals with Central American, Caribbean Countries
Times of India: India is looking to expand its trade footprint in America with initial discussions initiated in the government for a possible free trade agreement (FTA) with Caribbean and Central American countries and a logistics hub in Panama to help shipment of goods. Read more
China, Cuba sign agreements to expand economic, trade ties
China Daily: China and Cuba on Wednesday signed five cooperation and legal agreements, which reaffirm the willingness of both nations to strengthen and expand their economic and trade relations. Read more
Mexican President and CARICOM meet in Belize
Amandala: Oct. 26, 2017–Belize hosted a historic meeting between heads of government of CARICOM and the president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza on Wednesday, October 25, 2017. Read more
Mexico gives USD$14 million to CCRIF
The Reporter: The Government of Mexico will contribute $14 Million to the CARICOM Catastrophe Risk Insurance Fund (CCRIF), Mexico’s President, Enrique Peña Nieto confirmed at the IV CARICOM-Mexico Summit. Read more
CARICOM should seek to deepen ties with BRICS
Stabroek: An opinion piece by a staff writer at Stabroek. Read more
Barbados and Italy Double Taxation Agreement enters into force
Nation News: The Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between the Government of Barbados and the Italian Republic has entered into force in accordance with Article 30 of the Agreement. Read more
INTERNATIONAL
UK, EU send proposal to rest of WTO
Reuters: Britain and the European Commission formally told other members of the World Trade Organization on Wednesday how they plan to split up the European Union’s WTO-agreed tariff quotas and farm subsidies after Brexit. Read more
Turkey, Pakistan finalise free trade agreement talks
Xinhua: Turkey and Pakistan have finalized negotiations on free trade agreement (FTA), and wished to sign the deal as soon as possible, Turkish Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci said on Friday. Read more
NAFTA Uncertainty already hurting growth, Bank of Canada says
Bloomberg: Uncertainty about U.S. trade policy will reduce investment growth by 0.7 percentage points and export growth by 0.2 percentage points in both 2017 and 2018, according to projections in the Bank of Canada’s quarterly Monetary Policy Report, released Tuesday in Ottawa. Read more
Infrastructure deficit remains major challenge to intra-Africa trade: ECA
Xinhua: The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has reiterated that infrastructure deficit in Africa remains a major challenge to trade facilitation, intra-regional trade as well as economic development and transformation on the continent. Read more
Trudeau dismisses concerns free trade with China will hurt Canada-US relationship
CBC: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said strengthening trade ties with China does not put the Canada-U.S. relationship at risk, shrugging off concerns raised Thursday by a member of his NAFTA advisory council. Read more
PM Lee urges the US to uphold free trade and sustain economic ties with Asia
Today Online: The United States’ relations with Asia has not “been turned upside down” despite the different approach taken by the Trump administration on some issues, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in urging Washington to uphold free trade and sustain economic engagement with the region. Read more
RCEP deal unlikely this year, says South Korea official
Nikkei Asian Review: An agreement to create a free trade zone among 16 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Japan, India and South Korea, is not expected before the end of the year, said a South Korean representative in charge of the negotiations on Friday. Read more
WTO issues compliance panel reports on revised US “dolphin-safe” tuna labelling measure
WTO: On 26 October the WTO issued the panel reports in the cases brought by the United States and Mexico in “United States – Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products – Recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU by the United States” and “United States – Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products – Second Recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU by Mexico” (DS381). Read more
Canada in bid to limit Brazil aircraft subsidy probe at WTO
Reuters: Canada has urged the World Trade Organisation to block attempts by Brazil to trigger a detailed investigation of its aerospace industry to buttress its case that subsidies to Bombardier caused “serious prejudice” to Brazil’s Embraer. Read more
Move to introduce ‘gender inclusivity’ in the WTO
The Hindu Business Line: Waking up to the need to enable more women to participate in international trade, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and a group of member countries are making efforts to get a joint declaration on gender and trade to be adopted at the Buenos Aires Ministerial meet in December. Read more
Colombia looks to expand free trade deals with Pacific region countries
The City Paper (Bogota): Colombia wants its share of the Asia Pacific trade pie as it joins the three other member nations of the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Peru and Mexico) in free trade talks with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Read more
Germany, UK will gain the most from an India-EU free trade deal
The Hindu Business Line: Germany and the UK will witness the highest absolute gains if the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) is concluded, states a study conducted by the Bertelsmann Stiftung of Germany. Read more
Former WTO boss warns Brexit trade agreement could take seven years
The Express: A FORMER World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General warned that Britain’s worst option post-Brexit would be to trade under WTO rules, amid claims that Britain is preparing for Brexit talks to fail. Read more
‘Decision on fishing subsidies certain in WTO’s Dec meet’
The Hindu: An agreement on elimination of ‘harmful’ fisheries subsidies is likely to be the only major outcome at the forthcoming meeting of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) highest decision-making body called the ‘Ministerial Conference’. Read more
European Parliament votes for trade deal with New Zealand
Radio New Zealand: The European Parliament has voted to press ahead with plans to do a trade deal with New Zealand. Read more
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