Welcome to the Caribbean Trade & Development News Digest for the week of June 9-15, 2019! 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 TRADE HIGHLIGHTS
UNCTAD released its World Investment Report 2019 noting that “global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows slid by 13% in 2018, to US$1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion the previous year – the third consecutive annual decline”. Read the World Investment Report 2019.
G20 Trade and Digital Economy Ministers for the first time met together. Read the Ministerial statement here.
CARICOM Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Republic of Cuba, met in Georgetown, Guyana, on June 14th, 2019, on the occasion of the Sixth CARICOM-Cuba Ministerial Meeting. Read the Declaration here.
REGIONAL NEWS
Joint Communique: Barbados and Ghana
Nation News: The following Joint Communiqué was issued on the occasion of the Official Visit to Barbados by Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana.President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, paid an official visit to Barbados from June 14 to 15, 2019, during which he held talks with Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. Read more
Ghana to help Barbados with nurses soon
Nation News: Barbados’ acute nursing shortage could soon be a thing of the past.Thanks to the government of the Republic of Ghana, the island should soon have more than enough registered nurses to fill the void that has been a bugbear for the medical health sector for decades. Read more
CARICOM reaffirms great value of relations with Cuba
CARICOM Today: Even as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Friday reaffirmed the great value it attaches to ties with Cuba, it reiterated its call for an immediate and unconditional end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba. Read here
Gov’t Taking Action to Mitigate Climate Change Impacts
JIS: Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, says the Government is taking steps to reduce and manage the effects of climate change across all sectors through national and international partnerships. Read more
Norway to fund mega solar farms in Guyana
Amsterdam News: Norway’s government has approved grant aid worth $80 million to help the largest Caribbean Community nation build a number of mega solar farms to provide energy to several communities located near the jungle close to the borders with Venezuela and Brazil, officials have said. Read more
Caribbean women entrepreneurs export ready
MENAFM: Nineteen Caribbean female entrepreneurs have completed the WE-Xport programme, an initiative geared at helping them to start exporting or to increase exports of their products and services. Read more
Pushing exports
Barbados Advocate: WITH Barbados’ goods exports languishing in the region of Bds$510 million over the last two years, there is a concerted effort by the current administration to push exports to help grow the economy. Read more
Ghana to help Guyana’s energy sector
Demerara Waves: Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo has agreed that his country would help Guyana’s energy sector, Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon said. Read more
12,000 Pounds of Mangoes Exported from Jamaica to US
JIS: Twelve thousand pounds of mangoes were exported on Thursday (June 13) to the United States (US).The mangoes – ‘Julie’ and ‘East Indian’ – were the first set to be exported to the US in 20 years. Read more
Jamaica Dealers Object To New Directive To Sanitise Imported Autos
Jamaica Gleaner: The Jamaica Used Car Dealers’ Association, JUCDA, says it is strongly opposed to a new directive by the Trade Board for importers of used motor vehicles to pay a Jamaica government agent based in Japan to sanitise each auto at a cost of up to US$150 before they are shipped. Read more
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India is hitting the United States with more tariffs
CNN: India just increased tariffs on US exports, dealing another blow to fragile global trade. Read more
Trade tensions boosted international role of euro, ECB reports
Euractiv: Trade tensions, challenges to multilateralism and unilateral sanctions might be bad for the economy but they have helped boost the global use of the euro, the European Central Bank reported on Thursday (13 June). Read more
Europe wants to replenish UN Green Climate Fund
Euractiv: EU member states want to replenish a UN fund aimed at supporting developing nations cut carbon emissions and adapt to climate change, according to draft conclusions from next week’s EU summit. Read more
Indian, Chinese officials hold dialogue to break deadlock in RCEP trade negotiations
Hindu Business Line: In a renewed attempt to break the stalemate in the ongoing Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations involving 16 countries, senior officials from India and China met in New Delhi this week to try and reach a common ground on market opening commitments. Read more
13 RCEP nations oppose India’s strict country of origin norms
Economic Times: India wants strict rules of origin to prevent Chinese goods from flooding the country through member countries that may have lower or no duty levels. Read more
Trade Policy Review: Canada
WTO: The eleventh review of the trade policies and practices of Canada took place on 12 and 14 June 2019. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of Canada. Read more
Egypt’s exports to Africa rise $4.7B in 2018
Egypt Today: Egypt’s exports to the African continent are expected to reach $4.7 billion in 2018, compared to$3.6 billion in 2017, with an increase of 30 percent, according to the Commercial Representative Office. Read more
China issues new guidelines for its commercial space sector
China Knowledge: China has introduced its first guidelines to regulate its commercial space sector in order to guide the health development of commercial space rockets manufacturing and test flights. Read more
Customs fraud is thriving thanks to Trump’s trade war
The Hill: As one would expect, and as Trump intended, the value of U.S. imports from China has dropped off considerably. But what may not have been anticipated is the growth in imports from other countries or, for that matter, the increased incentive to commit customs fraud. Read more
Public Hearings on Proposed Section 301 Tariff List
USTR: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will hold public hearings from June 17 to June 21, 2019 and, the following week, from June 24 to June 25, 2019, regarding proposed tariffs on approximately $300 billion worth of Chinese products. Read more
Rare earths give China leverage in the trade war, at a cost
Economist: If China cuts off exports, it would hurt America but also undermine its own long-term economic goals. Read more
No hope of avoiding tariffs in ‘no deal’ Brexit – EU’s Malmstrom
Reuters: Supporters of Brexit are “completely wrong” if they think recourse to an obscure trade rule will stop tariffs springing up overnight if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Friday. Read more
Brazil asks for WTO investigation of Indonesia on poultry trade
CNA: The Brazilian government has formally asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to open a panel to investigate Indonesian policies on Brazil’s poultry exports, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday. Read more
Liam Fox warns WTO is ‘in crisis’ as businesses told to brace for no-deal Brexit
Telegraph: The US-China trade war, industrial strife and political deadlock all threaten to overwhelm the World Trade Organization, putting the future of the institution and the system of free trade in mortal danger, Liam Fox has warned. Read more
UK signs post-Brexit free trade deal with South Korea
BBC: The UK and South Korea have signed an outline free trade agreement (FTA) that seeks to maintain existing trade arrangements post-Brexit. Read more
Taiwanese companies hit by US-China trade war lured back home by Taipei
South China Morning Post: ‘Invest Taiwan’ offers low-cost loans, help finding workers and even rent-free accommodation for firms struggling to make a profit on the Chinese mainland. Read more
Representatives from India and Latin America Call for More Trade
Prensa Latina: Options for enhanced economic cooperation in India and Latin America were discussed by diplomats from that region and officials of the Indian Government, banking entities and the National Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Read more
China ready for trade talks with East Africa bloc: ambassador to Kenya
Reuters: China is ready to negotiate a trade deal with the six-nation East Africa Community (EAC) to address Kenya’s complaints about a huge trade imbalance in favor of the Asian economic giant, China’s ambassador to Nairobi told Reuters. Read more
EU: No strategy yet if China halts critical exports in U.S. trade war
Reuters: The European Union on Thursday said it had no clear strategy on how to ensure continued supplies of critical raw materials if China, the world’s leading supplier of rare earth minerals, used such exports as leverage in the escalating U.S.-China trade war. Read more
EU asks for formal consultations with Southern African Customs Union on trade in poultry
EU: Today, the EU requested formal consultations – a first step in a dispute settlement process – with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) over safeguard measures affecting imports of frozen chicken cuts from the EU. Read more
No trade action against India as of now: USTR
The Hindu: The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said it had no announcement of a trade action at the moment but continued to raise market access concerns with India, reacting to media reports last week that the U.S. was considering launching a 301 probe against India. Read more
U.S. Asks WTO to Temporarily Pause Its IP Dispute With China
Bloomberg: The U.S. asked the World Trade Organization to suspend its dispute over China’s intellectual property practices for six months, according to a notice published Friday on the WTO website. Read more
PM Modi slams protectionist, unilateral trade moves
Economic Times: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday criticised unilateral and protectionist decisions in trade, seeking instead a rules-based, anti-discriminatory and WTO-led inclusive system that would address the needs and aspirations of stakeholders globally. Read more
Australian rare earth miners push development deals to counter China grip
Reuters: Rare earth developers in Australia say they are edging closer to signing deals with new customers that would drive forward their projects amid mounting global supply concerns over the minerals that are crucial to high-tech industries. Read more
WTO NEWS
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