Latest news with #FreeTrade
CBC
5 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Nova Scotia reducing trade barriers with 5 provinces
Amid economic uncertainty in Canada caused in part by U.S. tariffs, Nova Scotia says it has struck deals to reduce trade barriers with five provinces. Premier Tim Houston introduced the Free Trade and Mobility within Canada Act in February to help create mutual recognition of goods, services and labour mobility between Nova Scotia and other parts of the country. The act allows the province to remove barriers to trade and investment with others that will do the same for Nova Scotia. A news release Wednesday said Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island have all taken steps to improve trade and investment opportunities between provinces. The federal government is expected to do the same. Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised federal legislation targeting barriers under Ottawa's jurisdiction by Canada Day, which could target anything from energy efficiency standards to environmental and regulatory assessments on major projects. The release said the barriers being removed by Nova Scotia focus on three key areas: Ending Canadian Free Trade Agreement exemptions that limit interprovincial trade with Nova Scotia. Allowing goods or services that are legally sold, used or provided in another province to automatically be able to be sold, used and provided in Nova Scotia without having to meet Nova Scotia's labelling, packaging, certification or inspection requirements. Removing labour mobility barriers by requiring regulators to process equivalent licences within 10 business days and restricting application requirements to evidence of good standing and liability insurance. Nova Scotia's removal of trade barriers with Alberta and P.E.I. comes into effect immediately, while barriers with the other provinces and federal government will be removed upon proclamation of their equivalent legislation. In 2023, the value of Nova Scotia's interprovincial exports was nearly $29 billion. Interprovincial exports make up about half of Nova Scotia's total exports and contribute about 17 per cent of Nova Scotia's gross domestic product. More than $530 billion worth of goods and services moves across provincial and territorial borders every year — equal to 20 per cent of Canada's GDP.
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
With free trade talks underway, India and New Zealand eye regional security
Foreign Minister Winston Peters Photo: RNZ / Nate Mckinnon Foreign Minister Winston Peters met his Indian counterpart in New Delhi last week to explore the "next steps" required to ensure a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific now that free trade talks between the two nations have restarted. Peters' two-day visit to India concluded a four-country tour that also included trips to Australia, Sri Lanka and Nepal. "[India's Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam] Jaishankar and Peters discussed the strengthening ties between New Zealand and India over the past 18 months and explored the next steps required to realise the bilateral relationship's full potential," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said in a social media post. "[They] spoke about recent developments in both South Asia and the Pacific Islands region and discussed how New Zealand and India can work together to ensure a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific." While in India, Peters repeated his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir on 22 April, according to MFAT. He also met India's leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi, and delivered a speech at the Ananta Aspen Centre outlining why New Zealand wanted stronger relations with the South Asian nation. "For New Zealand, India presents immense untapped potential," Peters said during his speech in New Delhi. "Our strengths - from food and beverage products to agriculture, forestry, horticulture, education and tourism - are world class. And our innovation in areas like outer space and renewable energy will find a welcoming partner in India. "Since the Foreign Policy Reset [endorsed by Cabinet in February 2024], we've made concrete strides. "We've launched negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement - a breakthrough in our economic relationship. But even before that milestone, we had put in place measures to deepen the economic relationship, with new arrangements on horticulture, forestry and education also recently finalised. "Additionally, we have seen a memorandum of understanding signed between Air New Zealand and Air India to explore a codeshare agreement on 16 routes across India, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. This will make travel between our nations easier, boosting tourism, education and business connections." Calling India "a geopolitical giant", the foreign minister noted a recently signed defence cooperation arrangement between the two countries that was expected to facilitate closer military links. "The New Zealand Navy is leading Combined Task Force 150, charged with securing trade routes and countering terrorism, smuggling and piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden," Peters said. "India's involvement in this mission, as deputy command of the task force, underscores the growing closeness of our defence ties. The task force has already had very real impact, disrupting the trade of $600 million worth of illegal drugs so far. "India makes a significant contribution to upholding the rules-based international system on which we rely, via its growing influence in multilateral forums." Meanwhile, Jaishankar thanked New Zealand for its support and solidarity on the terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir. "[We] agreed that in a more volatile and uncertain world, it's important that India and New Zealand collaborate closely for a rules-based, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," Jaishankar wrote in a social media post.
Al Jazeera
28-05-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Gulf states, China take centre stage at summit of Southeast Asian nations
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to 'chart a unified and collective path towards a peaceful, prosperous, and just future', following their meeting in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. In a world roiled by United States President Donald Trump's threats of crippling tariffs and rising economic uncertainties, alternative centres of global power were on full display, with the GCC and China attending the ASEAN summit for the group's inaugural trilateral meeting on Tuesday. In their joint statement released on Wednesday, the GCC – comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – China, and ASEAN members Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar said they were committed to enhancing economic cooperation. Chief among that cooperation will be the promotion of free trade, the signatories said, adding they looked 'forward to the early completion of the GCC-China Free Trade Agreement negotiations' and the upgrading of the ASEAN-China free trade area. 'We reaffirm our collective resolve to work hand in hand to unleash the full potential of our partnership, and ensure that our cooperation translates into tangible benefits for our peoples and societies,' they said. Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim – whose country is currently chair of ASEAN and hosted the summits – told a news conference that the US remains an important market while also noting that ASEAN, the GCC, and China collectively represent a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $24.87 trillion with a total population of about 2.15 billion. 'This collective scale offers vast opportunities to synergise our markets, deepen innovation, and promote cross-regional investment,' Anwar said. The prime minister went on to dismiss suggestions that the ASEAN bloc of nations was leaning excessively towards China, stressing that the regional grouping remained committed to maintaining balanced engagement with all major powers, including the US. James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, told Al Jazeera that the tripartite meeting was particularly important for China, which is being 'given a platform where the US is not around'. ASEAN and the GCC 'already view China as a global power', Chin said. China's Premier Li Qiang, who attended the summit, said Beijing was ready to work with the GCC and ASEAN 'on the basis of mutual respect and equality'. China will work with 'ASEAN and the GCC to strengthen the alignment of development strategies, increase macro policy coordination, and deepen collaboration on industrial specialisation,' he said. Former Malaysian ambassador to the US Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz said China was 'quickly filling up the vacuum' in global leadership felt in many countries in the aftermath of Trump's tariff threats. The economic future looks bright, Nazri said, for ASEAN, China and the Gulf countries, where economies are experiencing high growth rates while the US and European Union face stagnation. 'The Gulf is very rich, ASEAN is a tiger, China… I cannot even imagine where the future lies,' Nazri said. Jaideep Singh, an analyst with the Institute of Strategic & International Studies in Malaysia, said ASEAN's trade with GCC countries has been experiencing rapid growth. Total trade between ASEAN and the Gulf countries stood at some $63bn as of 2024, making GCC the fifth-largest external trading partner of the regional bloc, while Malaysia's trade with the GCC grew by 60 percent from 2019 to 2024. In terms of foreign direct investment, FDI from GCC countries in ASEAN totalled some $5bn as of 2023, of which $1.5bn went to Malaysia alone, Singh said. However, the US, China, Singapore and the EU still make up the lion's share of FDI in Malaysian manufacturing and services. Even as China's trade with ASEAN grows, economist say, the US still remains a huge market for regional countries. In early 2024, the US took over China as ASEAN's largest export market, with 15 percent of the bloc's exports destined for its markets, up nearly 4 percent since 2018, said Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education (CME), a think tank based in Malaysia and Indonesia. 'The US is also the largest source of cumulative foreign direct investment in ASEAN, with total stock reaching nearly $480bn in 2023 – almost double the combined US investments in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan,' Ferlito said. Israel's war on Gaza was also highlighted at the ASEAN-GCC-China meeting on Tuesday. Delegates condemned attacks against civilians and called for a durable ceasefire and unhindered delivery of fuel, food, essential services, and medicine throughout the Palestinian territory. Supporting a two-state solution to the conflict, the joint communique also called for the release of captives and arbitrarily-detained people, and an end to the 'illegal presence of the State of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible'. The civil war in Myanmar was also a focus of the talks among ASEAN members at their summit on Tuesday, who called for an extension and expansion of a ceasefire among the warring sides, which was declared following the earthquake that struck the country in March. The ceasefire is due to run out by the end of May. However, human rights groups have documented repeated air attacks by the military regime on the country's civilian population despite the purported temporary cessation of fighting. Zachary Abuza, professor of Southeast Asia politics and security issues at the Washington-based National War College, said that while Prime Minister Anwar may be 'more proactive' – in his role as ASEAN chair – in wanting to resolve the conflict, Myanmar's military rulers were 'not a good faith actor' in peace talks. 'The military has absolutely no interest in anything resembling a power-sharing agreement,' he said.
Barnama
25-05-2025
- Business
- Barnama
ASEAN-GCC-China Framework To Strengthen Regional Economic Cooperation -- ASEAN Sec-Gen
ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn speaks during an interview with media practitioners held in conjunction with the 46th ASEAN Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. By Nurul Hanis Izmir KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Bernama) -- The second ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur this week mark a significant step towards strengthening tripartite regional cooperation, particularly in economic collaboration, said ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn. Kao, who is leading the ASEAN Secretariat delegation to the 46th ASEAN Summit and related meetings, said the presence of high-level leaders, including Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, underscores the importance of this evolving partnership. 'It is important to have leaders from all six GCC member states. When the first summit was held in Saudi Arabia two years ago, all ASEAN leaders flew to participate, and it proved to be a successful summit. We expect the same outcome here under Malaysia's chairmanship,' he said in a pool media interview on site. Kao noted that strong bilateral relations positively influence ASEAN's broader engagements. 'The Crown Prince's visit to Kuala Lumpur is to take part in the second ASEAN-GCC Summit and the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit. These engagements reflect how ASEAN, the GCC, and China can come together to advance their shared economic interests,' he said. On the prospect of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and the GCC, Kao said the idea has been explored and a pre-feasibility study completed. 'This study will be channelled through official mechanisms to both sides to consider what kind of economic cooperation can be pursued between the two regions. But it is still early in the process,' he said. Kao explained that ASEAN's current economic focus remains on strengthening intra-ASEAN cooperation and sustaining momentum with existing external partners through bilateral FTAs.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump's tariffs seek to restore American exceptionalism
In response to duties imposed on foreign goods by the U.S. government, a leading international publication called out the U.S. policy, predicting that political and economic upheaval would follow. That dire prediction — made by The London Standard in 1896 (at that time known as The Standard) — did not quite pan out. Instead, the U.S. economy enjoyed a renaissance, ushering in an era of financial prosperity that has continued to this day. Although today's financial dynamics differ from those of that time, one core principle has remained the same — a fundamental reality that entwines President William McKinley's philosophy with that of President Trump. That is American exceptionalism — the idea that the American people are capable of so much more than what the naysayers believe of them. Since free trade began in earnest during the 1990s with NAFTA, this aspect of U.S. economics became a sort of holy grail for politicians. The allure of cheap goods was deemed too great to tamper with. It wasn't something to be questioned, from the left or the right — so much so, that many people didn't even know that American companies were competing at a steep disadvantage overseas. However, although they may not have known it, many Americans were feeling it. Millions of Americans in flyover regions were hurt by the rapid deindustrialization caused by these agreements. U.S. companies had their growth stunted by unfair trade practices that were being employed against them. And the fact that those practices were in place is indisputable. Economists can perhaps explain away trade deficits as normal economic activity (in some cases), but not trade barriers harming American companies. Charging a tariff ten times what the U.S. charged on cars (China), non-acceptance of U.S. safety standards for automobiles (Japan and South Korea), and the Value Added Tax, in which foreign products were able to retail at a significant discount over their American counterparts, were all part of a systematic squeeze on U.S. companies competing in foreign markets. It was the outcome of other nations taking advantage of American politicians looking the other way. The system may have been working, but it certainly wasn't thriving. As the sole superpower in a rapidly expanding global economy, the past decades represented a chance for the U.S. to corner the market, to solidify its dominance and grow its prosperity. Instead, it satisfied itself with mediocrity, settling for limited growth in exchange for cheap imports. Trump set out to change that — to throw off the shackles of American defeatism, and to recapture the magic of American exceptionalism. He recognized our enormous financial advantage of more than $10 trillion in nominal gross domestic product — and that is only over our closest competitor, China. His business instincts realized that we were squandering one of our greatest national assets, our economic leverage, instead being exploited by friend and foe alike. Free trade had become free for everyone except the U.S. Disrupting a system can come at a cost, and it is fair for there to be a discussion as to how best to do it. But it must be done. Because while we can get by without this, the economy can chug along without this drastic change, that isn't the American way. We didn't win World War II, send a man to the moon and emerge as the world's sole superpower simply by getting by, just by being good enough. We did it by being exceptional. And that should be the standard we continue to strive for. With the first trade deal of this tariff era now taking shape, American exceptionalism appears to be within reach once again. The agreement with the U.K. promises to open new markets to American goods, create a fair playing field for American companies competing in Great Britain, and increase British investment on American shores. This is more than a simple trade pact; it is the first step into a new age of American opportunity and prosperity. As President Trump puts it, 'our best days are yet to come.' Let's hope his words prove true as his trade policies usher in yet another great American century. Menachem Spiegel is an author and yeshiva student. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal's Future View, The Star-Ledger and The Jerusalem Post. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
