by Welcome to the Caribbean Trade & Development Digest for the week of November 18-24, 2018! We are happy to bring you the major trade and development headlines and analysis from across the Caribbean Region and the world from the past week.
THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS
This was another busy week in trade news! The WTO published its report on G20 trade measures showing that trade restrictive measures have increased significantly. The EU Summit saw the approval by EU leaders of the UK-EU Brexit Withdrawal Agreement but the agreement still has several other hurdles to overcome, including approval by the UK parliament where it remains deeply unpopular.
Please see below some of the other major headlines:
REGIONAL
Barbados overhauls corporate tax regime, slashes tax rate on local companies more than 20 per cent
Caribbean360: Barbados will harmonise its domestic and international corporation tax regimes by December 31, 2018, slashing the tax burden for some local companies by up to 29 per cent. Read more
Guyana and the EU reach an agreement to promote trade in legal timber products and improve forest governance
Antigua Observer: Guyana and the European Union (EU) have concluded a six-year process of negotiations towards a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which aims to improve the application of forest laws, strengthen forest governance and promote trade in legal wood products. Read more
Glasgow University To Pay Reparations For £200m Extracted From Region
Jamaica Gleaner: Vice Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Sir Hilary Beckles has reported that The University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom (UK) has agreed to pay reparations for £200 million (approximately J$34 billion) taken from the Caribbean. Read more
Bahamas’ WTO membership is no “fait accompli”
Tribune 242: The Government’s chief World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiator yesterday said The Bahamas’ accession was no “fait accompli”, telling accountants: “I’m not tied to any outcome.” Read more
Bahamas Chamber hires consultant for WTO Impact analysis
Tribune 242: The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce has hired Oxford Economics to study the likely economic impact of this nation’s accession to full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership. Read more
UK Hydrographic Office presents Guyana with marine geospatial data
Government of the UK: UKHO presents Guyanese Government with findings from a recent seabed mapping campaign to support the sustainable growth of its blue economy. Read more
Full CSME implementation needs to be advanced in light of global trade wars – CARICOM
CARICOM: The CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) could be used to insulate the region from the fallout of escalating global trade wars suggests the CARICOM Secretary-General. Read more
CARICOM Development funds must be replenished soon
Loop News Barbados: The CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) has stimulated higher incomes and expanded trade for the Caribbean region. However, you cannot pour from an empty cup, therefore members states are being urged to put their monies forward to ensure the Fund can continue to deliver for the islands, and can look into forging partnerships to garner more benefits for small and medium enterprises as well. Read more
CARICOM Looking To Re-Introduce Single Security Check
St Lucia Times: The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is seeking to re-introduce the single security check for direct transit passengers on multi-stop intra-community flights. Read more
INTERNATIONAL
EU leaders agree UK’s Brexit deal
BBC: EU leaders have approved an agreement on the UK’s withdrawal and future relations – insisting it is the “best and only deal possible”. Read more
China is paying for Most of Trump’sTrade War, Research says
Bloomberg: President Donald Trump is succeeding in making China pay most of the cost of his trade war.That’s the conclusion of a new paper from EconPol Europe, a network of researchers in the European Union. Read more
Africa-China trade hits $230bn
Business Report: Over the past decade China’s trade with Africa increased from $100 billion (R1.4 trillion) in 2007 to $230bn by the end of 2017. Read more
Africa: Trade Misinvoicing Costs South Africa U.S.$7.4 Billion in Tax a Year
All Africa: While SARS is scrambling to meet collection targets, a new report estimates the country lost $37-billion in revenue to trade misinvoicing in five years. Trade misinvoicing is thought to be the largest component of illicit financial flows, draining developing countries of much-needed finances. Read more
Trudeau meets key trade partners to talk about future of Pacific trade deal
Toronto City News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is spending his last day at a major economic summit meeting with two key trading allies across the Pacific in the shadow of an ongoing trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Read more
Investors hope for trade war ceasefire at G20 summit
The Guardian: There are hopes, however limited, that the meeting between the two leaders in Buenos Aires will result in a calming of tensions which have so far resulted in huge share price drops, most notably in US tech stocks. Read more
India seeks binding commitments to simplify services trade in RCEP
Economic Times: India has asked 15 Asia-Pacific countries to make “binding and commercially meaningful” commitments to simplify trade in information technology and business services aimed at easing movement of skilled professionals in the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement being negotiated. Read more
Panels established to review US steel and aluminium tariffs, countermeasures on US imports
WTO: At its meeting on 21 November, the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) agreed to requests from seven members for the establishment of panels to examine tariffs imposed by the United States on steel and aluminium imports. Read more
WTO report shows sharp rise in trade-restrictive measures from G20 economies
WTO: The WTO’s 20th monitoring report on Group of 20 (G20) trade measures issued on 22 November shows that the amount of trade covered by new import-restrictive measures hit a new high during the current reporting period. Read more
WTO, UNCTAD, ITC sign MoU to provide businesses with better access to trade data
WTO: The WTO, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) signed today (23 November) a Memorandum of Understanding to advance the development of an online platform — the Global Trade Helpdesk — aimed at providing businesses, and particularly small businesses, with faster and easier access to trade data and information on potential export markets. Read more
Items proposed for consideration at the next meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body
WTO: The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 4 December 2018, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. Read more
Morocco files appeal against panel ruling in dispute with Turkey over steel duties
WTO: Morocco filed an appeal on 20 November concerning the WTO panel report in the case brought by Turkey in “Morocco — Anti-dumping Measures on Certain Hot-Rolled Steel from Turkey” (DS513). The panel report was circulated to WTO members on 31 October. Read more
Panama files appeal against compliance panel ruling in dispute with Colombia over import measures
WTO: Panama filed an appeal on 20 November concerning the WTO compliance panel report in the case “Colombia — Measures Relating to the Importation of Textiles, Apparel and Footwear (Recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU by Colombia and Panama)” (DS461). The compliance panel report was circulated to WTO members on 5 October. Read more
WTO members review regional trade agreements covering EU, Ghana and EAEU
WTO: WTO members reviewed the interim Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Ghana at the 19 November meeting of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements. Members also considered the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) treaty and EAEU accessions of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic. Read more
The Caribbean Trade & Development Digest is a weekly trade news digest published by the Caribbean Trade Law & Development Blog. Liked this issue? To read past issues, please visit here. To receive these mailings directly to your inbox, please follow our blog.
