Increasing trade barriers by governments around the world are hampering the global economy as it attempts to recover from the pandemic’s economic fallout, warned the International Chamber of Shipping today.
According to the International Trade Centre, the Covid pandemic has led governments to throw up “temporary trade measures that aim to restrict exports of vital medical supplies, and to liberalise imports of vital medical supplies as well as other essential products”.
As …
The post Trade...
UK government claims of easy trade deals have failed to bear fruit with the current list of post-Brexit free trade agreements (FTAs) derided as “pitiful” amid expectations of a dire first quarter 2021.
In the past week, the UK has announced agreements with Canada, Singapore and Vietnam, although these largely replicate deals reached between the three countries and the EU.
International trade secretary Liz Truss (pictured above) said the agreements “play to …
The post FTA deals signed so far...
UK small and medium-sized supply chain businesses claim government indecision and negotiating failures have left them all at sea, as the country prepares for the end of the Brexit transition period.
All UK supply chain companies will be required to operate under new customs and border control procedures from 1 January, but if a trade deal with the EU is reached, some red tape can be cut.
But the lack of clarity …
The post ‘Abandoned’ SMEs struggling to prepare as final Brexit deadline looms...
https://theloadstar.com/abandoned-smes-struggling-to-prepare-as-final-brexit-deadline-looms/
Well, Toyota and Nissan are demanding the UK government pay any additional tariffs required if the country fails to agree a trade deal with the EU. If there is no deal, tariffs on cars will jump to 10% on 1 January, costing car-makers some $5.82bn a year. According to Nikkei Asia, EU car-makers are also requesting the UK pay for tariffs… Perhaps these moves will finally sharpen the government’s incentive …
The post Toyota and Nissan demand UK covers tariffs if no EU deal reached appeared first...
https://theloadstar.com/toyota-and-nissan-demand-uk-cover-tariffs-if-no-eu-deal-reached/
Is it the “biggest deal anybody has ever seen”or is it “progress … on the right track”? That depends if you are asking Donald Trump or Xi Jinping about the China-US trade deal. It includes a pledge by Beijing to increase purchases of US products and services by $200bn over the next two years....
https://theloadstar.com/china-offers-muted-response-to-us-trade-deal/
The suspension by the US of the planned 15% tariffs on $160bn of Chinese imports and the halving to 7.5% of the existing duty on $112bn of other goods has come too late to rescue transpacific volumes this year and next, according to Alphaliner.
Moreover, the price paid by American industry caught in the crosshairs of the US-China trade war is substantial, according to a respected US business news commentator.
Alphaliner said …
The post Transpac volumes set for further decline, despite US-China...
https://theloadstar.com/transpac-volumes-set-for-further-decline-despite-us-china-trade-pact/
Despite the rise of trade conflicts and xenophobic populism around the planet, globalisation is not in retreat, according to Global Connectedness Index (GCI) published by DHL.
Findings from the integrator’s Resilience360 subsidiary paint a more worrying picture of international trade, however.
The GCI, an annual barometer of international flows of goods, capital, information and people that DHL presented on December 4, shows a slight overall dip for 2018.
But it was not trade that retreated,...
https://theloadstar.com/global-trade-flowing-nicely-but-international-investment-is-sticky/
Today’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) saw spot rates tumble again on the transpacific, as softening demand reflected the impact of US tariffs on Chinese imports.
Rates from Asia to US west coast ports, as recorded by the SCFI, slumped a further 9% this week to $1,229 per 40ft, as shippers rowed back on front-loading to beat new import tariffs on 15 December.
However, for the more robust lane to the US …
The post Transpacific spot rate slump continues amid global trade uncertainty...
https://theloadstar.com/transpacific-spot-rate-slump-continues-amid-global-trade-uncertainty/
President Trump said last month: “China is getting killed. The tariffs are killing China.” But in fact, according to new research commissioned by the port of Los Angeles, tariffs actually threaten nearly 1.5m US jobs and more than $186bn of economic activity. While some cautioned that the topic was more nuanced than merely looking at port volume drops, the National Retail Federation said tariffs were just taxes on US consumers and companies. “It’s clear the real casualties …
The post Port of LA...
https://theloadstar.com/port-of-la-tariff-study-sends-stern-warnings-on-real-impact-of-trade-war/
With a ballooning US trade deficit and fearful of potential Trump tariffs, Vietnam is scrambling to import more products that are ‘made in America’.
President Trump this year described Vietnam as “almost the single worst abuser of everybody” in regard to trade, and imposed huge tariffs on some of the country’s steel products.
Boosted in part by the US-China trade war, Vietnam’s exports to the US jumped 33% year on year, to $36bn, in …
The post Vietnam anxious to attract US exports before...
https://theloadstar.com/vietnam-anxious-to-grow-us-exports-before-catching-trumps-tariff-eye/