Latest news with #bilateralTrade
Al Arabiya
28-05-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
China approached UAE for possible bilateral free trade deal, UAE minister says
China approached the United Arab Emirates for a possible bilateral free trade deal, UAE's Trade minister Thani Al Zeyoudi said on Wednesday, after an announcement of the launch of EU-UAE talks for a similar agreement. Since 2021, the UAE has initiated a raft of bilateral trade, investment and cooperation deals - called Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements - to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and bolster long-term growth prospects.
CBC
25-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Britain waiting for Parliament to return before deciding on pursuing Canada-U.K. trade deal
British High Commissioner to Canada Rob Tinline says his government is waiting for the Canadian government to fully return before deciding whether to restart talks on a potential bilateral trade deal after negotiations fell apart at the beginning of last year. When the Canadian government is "fully in place," the U.K. government will need to "work out whether there is a landing point [on a trade deal] and whether we want to pick that up," Tinline said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday. "We paused it a little bit over a year ago because we couldn't see a landing point," he added. "Since then, obviously, we've had a general election, you've had the general election, and you've got the speech from the throne." In January 2024, the British government walked away from negotiations over a longer-term bilateral trade deal to replace the liberalized trade the U.K. enjoyed under the terms of Canada's Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union. Tinline said there was "a set of issues around agriculture that we need to come back [to] and what the quotas are and what tariffs are on that." A major sticking point between the two sides was how much tariff-free access U.K. producers should have to the Canadian cheese market. After Brexit, an interim agreement kept tariff-free British cheese on Canadian shelves for three years. That more permissive regime expired at the end of 2023. In the aftermath of the renegotiation of the former North American Free Trade Agreement, which saw changes to supply-managed sectors, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau promised dairy farmers that no more slices of Canada's domestic market would be served up to exporters in future negotiations. When asked whether he's optimistic a deal can be reached, Tinline said his job "isn't to be optimistic or pessimistic." "Our job is to work out what our objectives are and how we can take them forward. As the new Canadian government picks up, then we'll take forward that conversation." On Tuesday, King Charles III will deliver the throne speech that opens a new session of Parliament and lays out the federal government's priorities. The King's visit will mark the third time the monarch has read the throne speech in Canada. Ralph Goodale, Canada's high commissioner to the U.K., said the existing trade agreement between the two countries gives each of them "99 per cent tariff-free and quota-free access to each other's markets." "So all that remains to be discussed is that remaining one per cent," Goodale said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday. "Of course, all of the tough issues are in the remaining one per cent, but what we both agreed upon is we'll continue to work at that small margin that's left." Tinline also said the U.K. is hoping Canada's new Parliament will put forward a bill ratifying its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership so it can start enjoying the benefits of the Pacific trade deal. Carney interested in new trade partners Prime Minister Mark Carney has signalled multiple times that he's interested in strengthening Canada's trade relationships around the world as the United States continues to punish the Canadian economy with harsh tariffs. In a letter Carney wrote to his new cabinet, he said the federal government "must redefine Canada's international, commercial, and security relationships." The prime minister also told his Liberal caucus on Sunday afternoon that the country has "opportunities to build new partnerships with reliable allies" because "Canada has what the world needs. We defend the values that the world respects." Almost immediately after he became prime minister in March, Carney travelled to London to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss how to strengthen Canada's commercial relationship with the U.K. Goodale said Canada has a long-standing relationship with the U.K. that is more than just the economy — there's also "the trust and respect that comes with the promotion and defence of common values around the world that we've worked on together for generations."
CNA
23-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Taliban in talks with Russia, China for trade transactions in local currencies
KABUL: The Taliban administration is in advanced talks with Russia for banks from both sanctions-hit economies to settle trade transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars in their local currencies, Afghanistan's acting commerce minister said. The Afghan government has made similar proposals to China, the minister, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, told Reuters on Thursday. Some discussions have been held with the Chinese embassy in Kabul, he said. The proposal with Russia, Azizi said, was being worked on by technical teams from the two countries. The move comes as Moscow focuses on using national currencies to shift reliance away from the dollar and as Afghanistan faces a stark drop in the US currency entering the country due to aid cuts. "We are currently engaged in specialised discussions on this matter, considering the regional and global economic perspectives, sanctions, and the challenges Afghanistan is currently facing, as well as those Russia is dealing with. Technical discussions are underway," Azizi said in an interview at his office in Kabul. The Chinese foreign ministry and the Russian central bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Azizi added that annual bilateral trade between Russia and Afghanistan was currently around US$300 million and that was likely to grow substantially as the two sides boost investment. His administration expected Afghanistan to buy more petroleum products and plastics from Russia, he said. "I am confident that this is a very good option ... we can use this option for benefit and interests of our people and our country,' Azizi said. "We want to take steps in this area with China as well," he said, adding Afghanistan had around US$1 billion in trade with China each year. "A working team composed of members from the (Afghan) Ministry of Commerce and the Chinese embassy which is an authorised body representing China in economic programmes has been formed, and talks are ongoing." Afghanistan's financial sector has been largely cut off from the global banking system due to sanctions placed on some leaders of the ruling Taliban, which took over the country in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew. Rivalry with China and fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine have put the dollar's status as the world's dominant currency under fresh scrutiny in recent years. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the need to hold state reserves in foreign currencies since they could easily be confiscated for political reasons, saying that domestic investment of such reserves was more attractive. The dollar has had a lock on commodity trading, allowing Washington to hinder market access for producer nations from Russia to Venezuela and Iran. Afghanistan since 2022 has imported gas, oil and wheat from Russia, the first major economic deal after the Taliban returned to power facing international isolation following 20 years of war against US-led forces. Billions of dollars in cuts to aid to Afghanistan, accelerated this year by the United States, have meant far fewer dollars, which are flown in cash for humanitarian operations, are entering the country. Development agencies and economists say the Afghani currency has so far remained relatively stable but may face challenges in future. Azizi said that the stability of the currency and his administration's efforts to boost international investment including with the Afghan diaspora, would prevent a shortage of US dollars in the country.
Arab News
20-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Egyptian president has accepted invitation for official visit to Pakistan — PM Sharif
ISLAMABAD: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday, following a telephonic conversation between the two leaders. Pakistan and Egypt have cordial ties and both countries have resolved in recent years to enhance bilateral trade by facilitating businessmen with visas, exchanging trade-related information and promoting private-sector contacts. During their conversation, PM Sharif conveyed his profound gratitude to President El-Sisi for Egypt's constructive role and proactive diplomacy that helped Pakistan and India reach a truce after a four-day standoff. 'Expressing satisfaction on Pakistan-Egypt relations, the prime minister highlighted the need to enhance bilateral trade and investment,' Sharif's office said. 'The prime minister extended a most cordial invitation to the Egyptian president to undertake an official visit to Pakistan which was graciously accepted.' Friendly ties between Pakistan and Egypt can be traced back to 1947, when the former gained independence and its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, visited Egypt on the special invitation of King Fuad II. In July last year, Pakistan's then religious affairs minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain and Egyptian Ambassador to Pakistan Dr. Ihab Abdelhamid Hassan agreed to enhance cooperation between the two countries in religious education and other areas of mutual interest. During the call on Tuesday, PM Sharif and President El-Sisi also discussed developments in the Middle East, particularly the situation in Gaza. 'The prime minister urged the international community to ensure consistent and timely delivery of badly needed humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza,' Sharif's office said.
Globe and Mail
20-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Behold, Donald Trump's failed American trade gambit
Andrei Sulzenko was a principal negotiator of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. The United States has for many years preferred bilateral trade agreements to those involving multiple partners. The main reason is that, as the dominant economic player, the U.S. has greater leverage one-on-one than in a larger group such as the almost 200 countries involved in the agreements under the World Trade Organization. Another reason for this approach is that a set of U.S.-centric bilateral agreements provides the country with preferential access to its trading partners without granting them better access to each other. The ensuing hub-and-spoke system also serves to make the U.S. the investment location of choice to serve all those markets. These kinds of considerations weighed heavily in Canada's decision in the early 1990s to seek to enlarge the then-proposed U.S.-Mexico trade negotiations. The Trump administration has inadvertently turned the traditional approach to bilateralism on its head and, in doing so, revealed a fatal flaw. With the injection of new 'reciprocal' tariffs into the process, the system will not favour the U.S. On the contrary, if bilateral negotiating partners maintain relatively open access to each other's markets, the U.S. will face worse access to those markets than it does now compared with its competitors. For example, American-made cars would be subject to a substantial tariff when entering the European Union, while British-made cars would potentially have duty-free access under a new trade agreement. So far, the Trump administration's 'deals' with Britain and China seem to have a common element: a 10-per-cent baseline tariff. If that is the template for other bilateral negotiations, as suggested recently by the U.S. ambassador to Canada, the potential outcome would be an international trading system in which the U.S. and its bilateral partners charge each other a 10-per-cent reciprocal tariff, while those same countries could maintain lower tariffs vis-à-vis each other. Trumpian bilateralism would severely undermine the putative objective of reducing the U.S. trade deficit by damaging export competitiveness. A 10-per-cent tariff would also fail to support another stated American objective of inducing manufacturing investment in the U.S. In any given year, exchange rates fluctuate that percentage or more as economies adjust to changing macroeconomic conditions, and businesses are not likely to make multimillion-dollar investments in response to a tariff regime that may not outlast the Trump presidency. For the balance of Mr. Trump's term, then, there is the prospect of two parallel trading systems: the U.S.'s series of protectionist bilateral deals, and the rest of the world's continuation of more open bilateral and multilateral arrangements. This would mean American abrogation of its pledge for tariffs 'bound' at current low rates under the WTO and its subsequent isolation from the rules-based trading system. Meanwhile, everyone else, including China, would continue with the WTO, potentially reforming it after years of American obstructionism. The implications of this scenario for Canada are significant. There are two distinctly different possibilities. The first is a modestly renegotiated Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement anchored by tariff-free trade. This outcome would give Canada and Mexico preferential access to the U.S. market relative to other countries facing a 10-per-cent tariff through their bilateral agreements. At the same time, both Canada and Mexico would maintain free trade agreements with other countries, thereby undercutting U.S. preferential access to Canadian and Mexican markets. The second is the opposite: a break-up of CUSMA and reversion to bilateralism, potentially facing a 10-per-cent reciprocal baseline tariff from the U.S. This outcome would put a stop to any pretense of a special relationship, as Canada would be treated like every other trading partner, facing equally impaired access to the U.S. market. The somewhat mitigating offset, of course, would be better access to the rest of the world compared with the U.S. and an impetus to promote trade diversification more than 50 years after former prime minister Pierre Trudeau's foreign affairs minister, Mitchell Sharp, mused about the 'third option.' At this time it is difficult to assess which scenario is more likely, since the Trump administration is engaged in stand-up comedy rather than strategic multidimensional chess. Canada should be preparing to engage on either track, informed by how the U.S.'s bilateral priorities with other countries play out.
