Latest news with #AlexandraBACON
Japan Today
06-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
UK, India strike trade deal amid U.S. tariff blitz
Britain has sought to bolster trade ties across the world since it left the EU at the start of the decade By Alexandra BACON Britain on Tuesday struck a free trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since leaving the European Union, after negotiations relaunched in February following U.S. tariff threats. Britain has sought to bolster trade ties across the world since it left the EU at the start of the decade under Brexit, a need that became more pressing after the United States unleashed tariffs that risk causing weaker economic growth. "Today we have agreed a landmark deal with India -- one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, which will grow the economy and deliver for British people and business," UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. His Labour government said it is "the biggest and most economically significant bilateral trade deal the UK has done since leaving the EU". India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the deal as "ambitious and mutually" beneficial. The pact will help "catalyse trade, investment, growth, job creation, and innovation in both our economies", Modi said in a post on social media platform X. His office said in a statement that the deal will "unlock new potential for the two nations to jointly develop products and services for global markets". It added that Modi had invited Starmer to visit India at an unspecified date. The accord will slash tariffs on imports of UK goods into India, including whisky, cosmetics and medical devices. Whisky and gin tariffs will be halved to 75 percent, while automotive tariffs will be slashed from more than 100 percent to 10 percent. In exchange, the UK will cut tariffs on imports of clothes, footwear and food products, including frozen prawns, from India. The deal comes after US President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on trading partners and launched sector-specific levies on steel, aluminium and cars. The UK and India are the sixth and fifth largest global economies respectively, with a trade relationship worth around £41 billion ($54.8 billion) and investment supporting more than 600,000 jobs across both countries. The sides hope the free-trade agreement will increase trade between the two countries by £25.5 billion, as well as boosting the British economy and wages. The UK called it "the best deal India has ever agreed". Talks were relaunched between the two countries in February after stalling under Britain's previous Conservative administrations. In previous negotiations, India pushed for more UK work and study visas for its citizens in exchange for lowering tariffs. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations welcomed Tuesday's announcement, saying that the deal "eliminates or significantly reduces tariffs on a wide range of Indian goods, giving our exporters preferential access to one of the world's most affluent and consumption-driven markets". Mike Hawes, chief executive of British automotive lobby group SMMT also praised the outcome. "While the agreement will likely feature compromises, and might not offer unfettered market access to all UK automotive goods, we appreciate the considerable effort British negotiators have devoted to secure the first partial liberalisation of the Indian automotive market." Britain has secured other trade deals since exiting the EU, including with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. However, a much sought-after agreement with the United States remains elusive. The European Union remains Britain's biggest trading partner, and Starmer has sought to bring the UK and the EU closer together since his Labour party won re-election last July. A landmark EU-UK summit is due this month, but Starmer has ruled out Britain rejoining the neighboring bloc. Britain joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in December. The CPTPP alliance comprises fellow G7 members Canada and Japan, plus long-standing allies Australia and New Zealand, alongside Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
29-04-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
BP profit drops 70% amid pivot back to oil and gas
BP and other oil majors have been hit by a recent slump in crude prices By Alexandra BACON Britain's BP said on Tuesday net profit plunged in the first quarter as the struggling energy giant undergoes a major overhaul back to its fossil fuel business. Profit after tax declined to $687 million, down from $2.3 billion in the first three months of 2024, driven by weaker gas sales and lower refining margins, BP said in a statement. Total revenue fell four percent to slightly under $48 billion. BP and other oil majors have been hit by a recent slump in crude prices on fears that US President Donald Trump's tariffs could cause a recession, impacting demand. "We continue to monitor market volatility and changes and remain focused on moving at pace," chief executive Murray Auchincloss said in an earnings statement. Under pressure from investors, BP is in the midst of a major reset that saw it shelve its once industry-leading carbon-reduction targets to focus on fossil fuel output deemed more profitable. The recent retreat in oil prices has cast doubt over this, however, according to analysts. BP also announced that the head of sustainability strategy Giulia Chierchia will step down from her role in June and will not be replaced. Auchincloss said he remains "confident" in the reset, adding that BP has "already made significant progress." To the dismay of environmentalists, the new strategy includes cutting cleaner energy investment by more than $5 billion annually. Shares in the company fell over four percent in early deals on London's top-tier FTSE 100 index which was trading flat overall. The company on Tuesday also reduced its quarterly share buyback to $750 million, at the lower end of expectations. The strategy overhaul followed a difficult trading year for BP, which is under pressure from investors to boost its share price as countries look to slash emissions. The company confirmed last week that U.S. activist investment fund Elliott Investment Management has taken a stake of just over five percent in BP. The fund is known for forcing through corporate changes within groups it invests in, according to analysts. BP at the start of April said chairman Helge Lund, who assumed the role in 2019, would depart the company next year. "Geopolitics and trade tensions are more complex today than for a long time. This uncertainty has had an impact on BP," Lund told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in April. The Norwegian national worked with three CEOs at BP, which included helping guide the company through the turbulent COVID years when demand for energy collapsed. "BP's making the best it can of a sticky situation," said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown. The group is ramping up its global exploration program, with around 40 wells planned over the next three years, including as many as 15 to be drilled this year. It recently announced it had made a new oil discovery off the U.S. Gulf coast. "But going into the second quarter weaker oil prices means management will be under more pressure than ever to meet the expectations of its biggest shareholder," Nathan added. © 2025 AFP
Al Etihad
26-03-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
UK slashes growth forecast, cuts public spending
26 Mar 2025 18:05 LONDON (AFP)Alexandra BACON The UK government halved its 2025 growth forecast on Wednesday as it made billions of pounds of spendings cuts to shore up the public purse in the face of economic Spring Statement spending update came as the Labour government, elected in July after a landslide election win, faces sluggish economic growth and rising borrowing economy is expected to grow by just one percent this year, revised down from an estimate of two percent made in late October when Labour gave its inaugural the Office for Budget Responsiblity, the UK's spending watchdog, upgraded the country's growth forecast for the three following years."Our task is to secure Britain's future in a world that is changing before our eyes," finance minister Rachel Reeves told parliament in the highly-anticipated over US tariffs and the war in Ukraine have added to the UK's economic woes, chipping away the government's fiscal Minister Keir Starmer has recently pledged to hike spending on defence, with the government confirming Wednesday a £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion) boost next avoid slipping into a deficit, Reeves has cut disability welfare payments and government departmental budgets, blaming a period of heightened uncertainty in global markets.- Public spending cuts -Reeves's attempts to mend public finances were constrained by her own fiscal rules and her pledge not to increase rules prevent her from borrowing to fund day-to-day spending and call for debt to fall as a share of the gross domestic product by of Wednesday's update, the centre-left government announced it would slash the cost of running the civil service by 15 percent over the next five years, targeting annual savings of around £2 has unveiled also contested cuts to disability welfare payments, in the hopes of saving billions annually by the end of the Labour has highlighted increased funding for housing, the struggling National Health Service, and reforms to workers' rights, it is spending cuts that have remained in the cuts added to criticism piled on Labour after it scrapped a winter-fuel benefit scheme for millions of pensioners last business tax comes into effect from April, pressuring businesses facing a hike to the minimum wage. In a glimmer of good news, official data showed Wednesday that Britain's annual inflation rate eased to 2.8 percent in February, down from 3.0 percent in January.
