Latest news with #protectionism
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How the India–UK trade deal could shape future pacts with the EU and US
India and Britain are poised to sign a long-awaited free trade agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's visit to London this week, a deal analysts see as a signal that New Delhi is willing to shed its traditionally protectionist stance and engage more deeply with Western partners amid rising global trade tensions. Advertisement The pact, which follows three years of negotiations, is expected to be finalised during Modi's bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer , which begin on Wednesday. According to Indian officials, the two leaders will also review the India–UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and discuss matters related to security and technology. British estimates project the deal will boost bilateral trade by £25.5 billion (US$34.13 billion) annually by 2040. Trade between the two countries reached £42.6 billion last year, making India the UK's 11th-largest trading partner. 'I think this [India–UK FTA] is also about signalling from India that it is open to better integrating with the global economy – that it is ready to sign difficult trade agreements,' said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations at King's College London. If approved by the British Parliament and India's federal cabinet, the agreement would take effect within a year, removing trade barriers and granting duty-free access to most goods. Britain's Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds meets Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for trade talks in London on April 28. Photo: Reuters India has had a mixed track record with free trade agreements, with several deals over the past two decades leading to persistent trade deficits and, in some cases, domestic backlash from industries and states concerned about import surges.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Gaming Out How the World Might React to Trump's Tariffs
The world is watching and waiting to see just how President Donald Trump chooses to deliver on his threats to increase tariffs Aug. 1. That implies a certain helplessness outside the US. And yet how the rest of the world reacts to what is already the biggest turn in American protectionism since 1930 may end up defining the consequences for the global economy as much as Trump's salvos. That's why the debates now happening in Europe over how to respond to Trump's impending escalation matter so much.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
China Stood Up to Trump, and It's Not Giving Europe an Inch, Either
Having forced the Trump administration into a trade truce through economic pressure and strategic defiance, China now appears to be playing the same kind of hardball with Europe. It has retaliated against trade curbs, accused Europe of protectionism, slowed exports of critical minerals and further embraced Russia, with China's top leader himself pledging support for Moscow just days before a summit of European Union leaders that China is scheduled to host this week. The moves are part of a tough posture that Beijing is taking in its trade and geopolitical disputes with Brussels. China wants Europe to lift heavy tariffs that it has imposed on Chinese electric vehicles and refrain from further restrictions on trade. E.U. leaders see Beijing as effectively supporting Russia in its war with Ukraine, and are also concerned that China is dumping artificially cheap products that could undermine local industries. Beijing has learned that it has leverage it can use against outside pressure. It stood up to the Trump administration's punishing trade war by demonstrating how dependent global industry was on China for its supply of critical minerals. And Beijing likely assesses that it is in a stronger position because Western unity is fracturing, analysts say, with President Trump's 'America First' foreign policy weakening the historical bonds between Europe and the United States. 'Beijing perceives that the global order is in flux,' said Simona Grano, a China expert at the University of Zurich. 'From its perspective, the United States is overstretched and preoccupied with multiple conflicts around the world and domestic polarization.' 'And with signs of division or fatigue within the trans-Atlantic alliance, the Chinese leadership sees more room to assert its interests, not least in trade, tech and security,' Ms. Grano said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
National Post
3 days ago
- Business
- National Post
NP View: Mark Carney's Trumpian moment
Article content In 'The Art of War,' the Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote: 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.' By imposing tariffs on Canada's non-American trade partners, Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking that advice one step further — becoming the enemy he was elected to confront. Article content Throughout history, the prevailing international order has been overthrown countless times, but it doesn't always go out with a bang, as it did in 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand took a bullet to the jugular, precipitating the First World War and leading to a precipitous decline in international trade. Article content At our current moment in history, we are witnessing the process of trade liberalization that was started after the Second World War go out with a whimper. Article content The dismantling of the postwar economic order was started by U.S. President Donald Trump, who began by targeting Canada and Mexico, and then extended his tariffs to the rest of the world. Article content But in every crisis lies an opportunity. For Canada, the opportunity was not only to develop the natural resources we have allowed to sit idle for years, but to forge an alliance of free-trading nations that could act as a counterweight to Trump's protectionist policies. Article content Carney is not only squandering this unique opportunity, he's introduced policies that will only serve to broaden the global trade war. Article content This week, the prime minister announced a series of measures intended to protect Canada's steel industry after Trump increased tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to a punishing 50 per cent. Some of the more sensible policies include a pledge to use Canadian steel for domestic infrastructure projects and funds to help retrain affected workers. Article content But Carney also announced sweeping tariffs on foreign steel imports, including from countries that Canada has free trade agreements with. Article content Going forward, the tariff rate quota will be set at 50 per cent of 2024 levels for countries that don't have trade agreements with us and 100 per cent for those that do. Steel imports above those levels will be slapped with a 50 per cent tariff. Article content On the surface, the Liberals are following a certain logic: Trump's across-the-board steel and aluminum levies will lead to a glut of supply in producing countries, which they will try to dump into the Canadian market at rock-bottom prices, putting our domestic industry at risk. Article content But in doing so, Carney is all but inviting our trade partners to bring in retaliatory tariffs against Canadian products. Article content Following the Trudeau government's decision to impose a 100 per cent tax on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25 per cent levy on its steel and aluminum last fall, Beijing retaliated by sanctioning numerous Canadian products — including canola oil, fish, seafood and pork — which has had a deleterious effect on our agriculture industry at the most inopportune time. Article content The worst part is that Carney's tariffs are also being imposed on countries that have free trade deals with Canada, which will surely violate the spirit, if not the text, of those agreements. Article content If any of those countries are found to be dumping steel into Canada at below-market rates, the proper course of action would be to use the dispute-resolution mechanisms contained in our existing agreements, rather than imposing blanket tariffs on everyone. Article content When he made his announcement at a steel company in Hamilton, Ont., on Wednesday, the prime minister said that, 'Moving forward, we must diversify our trade relationships.' Article content But who's going to want to do business with a country that stabs its closest allies in the back? And how are we going to entice more countries to open their markets to Canadian products when Ottawa has shown that it can't be trusted? Article content Unfortunately, Carney has been so consumed with striking a deal with the United States — which he now admits is unlikely to fully eliminate tariffs on Canadian products — he has largely neglected the other side of the coin: expanding our trading relationship with other countries. Article content Yes, he travelled to Europe in June and signed a security and defence pact with the European Union, but it merely reiterates our commitment to the free trade deal we signed in 2016 but still hasn't fully come into force because not all EU member states have ratified it. Article content If Carney can't even convince his pals in Europe to ratify an agreement that's already been negotiated, it's hard to believe he will have much luck convincing other potential partners to cut new deals with us. Article content Especially given that one of the first things Canada's 45th Parliament did following the spring election was pass a law protecting supply management from future trade negotiations. Article content Article content
National Post
4 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Chris Selley: Canadian protectionism is on the march
It gets harder by the week to distinguish Canada's response to U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionism from … well, protectionism, as opposed to something more sophisticated, calculated or intelligent. I argued recently that there's no good reason for BC Ferries to pay over the odds for new vessels if a Chinese shipyard can build them on time and for the best price — but of course I understand the unique sensitivities around China, just as I do those around the United States. Article content Article content But now consider this headline from hell in the Toronto Star this week: 'Everyone wants the new TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) subway cars to be made in Canada.' Article content Article content 'Everyone' in this case is all three levels of government involved: Toronto city council, led by an NDP mayor; the provincial government, led by a Progressive Conservative premier; and the federal government, led by a Liberal prime minister. So, not literally everyone, though I get the sense we're not far away from the latter, even as we're supposedly trying to project a free-trading image to the world. Right and left are united, at least rhetorically, on the 'buy Canadian' thing. When Rob Ford won the Toronto mayoral election in 2010, bringing brother Doug along with him to city council, one of their major complaints against former mayor David Miller was that under his watch, the city had paid far too much for new subway cars in order to ensure they were built by Bombardier in Thunder Bay, Ont. — which is more than a 15-hour drive from Toronto, and which many Torontonians probably couldn't place on a map. Article content Article content As the 'Canada is not for sale' premier, Doug Ford is now David Miller. 'I am requesting that the City of Toronto recognize this historic opportunity and consider a sole-source procurement with Alstom, which would support Ontario workers in Thunder Bay and across our province,' Ford's provincial Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria wrote recently to the city. (Alstom, a French company, gobbled up Bombardier Transportation in 2021.) Article content 'With the procurement of these subway trains, I am supportive of any action that accomplishes a build Canada option in a manner that is consistent with the city of Toronto's legal obligations,' federal Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson wrote to Mayor Olivia Chow this week. Article content Any action? If I'm Alstom right now, I'm seeing nothing but dollar signs. Article content It's one thing to rule out American or Chinese companies. I wouldn't — the best deal is the best deal — but it's at least coherent: China is not a Canadian ally, and Trump is taking dead aim at the Canadian economy. But the past few decades have seen a very welcome move away from protectionism in public-transit procurement.
