by Welcome to the Caribbean Trade & Development News Digest for the week of May10-16, 2020! 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
The big news reverberating across the trade world this week was that WTO’s DG Roberto Azevedo has this week announced he will step down on August 31, 2020, a year earlier than when his second term is due to expire in 2021. Read here.
This week’s article by guest contributor Renaldo Weekes entitled “COVID-19: The Push to Conflict” looks at the geopolitical dynamics around the COVID-19 pandemic. Have a read here.
REGIONAL NEWS
CARICOM dealing with COVID Repercussions
CARICOM: Since March 11, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) moved from preparation to response in association with the Caribbean Regional Public Health Agency (CRPHA) supported by the WHO and its regional office, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), headquartered in Washington DC. Read more
Caricom states hope to start intra-regional travel by June
Nation News: Member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) plan on reopening borders to intra-regional travel in the first instance, hopefully by next month. Read more
Private Sector Investment key in Economic Recovery
Barbados Advocate: The next ten years will be critical for the Caribbean, not just because of the period that we are currently engaged in on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because it will define what the Caribbean will look like, in terms of investment going forward. Read more
Cut passenger taxes on air travel to compete, IATA tells Caribbean governments
Dominican Today: Describing travel as being in a “free fall” and the airline industry as being “bare bones” due to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19), the trade association for the world’s airlines is advising Caribbean governments to cut passenger taxes if they wish to be competitive when service is restored. Read more
ECLAC: Urgent action needed to reach UN 2030 goals
Nation News: The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, wants urgent attention paid to Caribbean countries in order for them to achieve the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read more
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Hawley presses for vote to withdraw U.S. from the WTO
Politico: President Donald Trump has periodically threatened to withdraw from the WTO but has never acted on the impulse. Read more
Coronavirus will reverse globalization and create regional supply chains, economists predict
CNBC: The coronavirus crisis will fundamentally reshape global trade as companies look to reduce their dependence on Chinese manufacturing, economists have predicted. Read more
Tracking Trade During the COVID-19 Pandemic
IMF: With the current fast-changing developments, policy makers need to know what is happening to the economy in real time, but they often must settle for data telling them what happened many weeks ago. And international trade, which links countries through a complex web of supply chains, is an area where timely information is especially valuable from a global perspective. Read more
Covid-19’s blow to world trade is a heavy one
The Economist: Covid-19’s blow to world trade is a heavy one and pre-existing conditions seem to worsen the prognosis. Read more
U.K. Cabinet Backs Tough Brexit Line in Talks on EU Trade
BNN Bloomberg: The U.K. doubled down on its Brexit red lines, refusing to compromise in talks over its future trade partnership with the European Union. Read more
Australia-China trade tensions raise fears over future of agricultural exports
The Guardian: National Farmers’ Federation says dispute needs to be resolved as Australian ministers refuse to budge on demand for Covid-19 origins inquiry. Read more
Global trade to fall by record 27% due to Covid-19, says UN
The Guardian: Data reveals pandemic has caused severe decline in supply and demand for products. Read more
STRAIGHT FROM THE WTO
NEW ON THE CTLD BLOG
The Caribbean Trade & Development Digest is a weekly trade news digest produced and 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 subscribe to our Blog below:
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