Trump Tariffs Updates

US President Donald Trump is pushing through with his tariff agenda, unveiling a new batch of letters to another nine country leaders outlining tariffs on goods imported from their countries beginning August 01.

Altogether, 23 countries have been notified:

As markets focus on US talks with key partners on possible deals, here is where things stand: 

Vietnam: Trump said a deal with Vietnam will see the country's imports face a 20% tariff – lower than the 46% he had threatened in April. He also said Vietnamese goods would face a higher 40% tariff "on any transshipping" – when goods shipped from Vietnam originate from another country, like China. 

According to reports, Vietnam's leadership was caught off guard by Trump's announcement last week that it agreed to a 20% tariff and is now seeking to lower the rate. 

European Union: The EU have signaled they are willing to accept a 10% universal tariff on many of their exports but are seeking exemptions for certain sectors. They are pushing and rushing to clinch a deal. 

India: Trump's tariffs on Brazil have raised the stakes for India, another member of the BRICS coalition. Bloomberg reported that the countries are working toward a framework deal that could see US tariffs on goods from India drop below 20%.

Official BRICS Partner Status for Malaysia

Malaysia has been recognized as one of thirteen nations officially added to BRICS as a partner country, a bloc that collectively accounts for one-fifth of global trade.

 

According to an update from @BRICSInfo on X on October 24, the bloc officially added 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries, though not yet as full members. Apart from Malaysia, the other twelve nations were Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand, Türkiye, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. 

 

Venezuela and Pakistan were supposed to be in but Brazil and India respectively vetoed their applications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Germany, Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 1-0 to continue their perfect start in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The only goal of the competition was scored in the twenty-seventh minute by Darwin Nunez, who poked Mohamed Salah’s header into the net.

 

Overall, Liverpool were good value for their win, having the majority of chances both in total and in quality.  

 

Also on the same day, a terrific defensive display in Italy ensured Celtic earn a valuable point in their encounter against Atalanta. Even as the Serie A side dominated possession and attacking statistics, the Scottish champions stood firm and held them to a goalless draw.

Gender Eligibility of 2 Athletes Called into Question in Women's Boxing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boxing at Paris 2024 has been overshadowed by a row about the eligibility of two fighters in the women’s competition. What's more, Algeria’s Imane Khelif (top left) and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting (top right) are guaranteed at least bronze medals.

 

It has been claimed that the two boxers had failed gender tests and were disqualified from the International Boxing Association’s Women’s World Championships.

 

 

 

[Note: The disqualification was based on two tests performed during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul 2022 and the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi 2023 on both athletes. 

 

For clarification: The Algerian initially appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but withdrew the appeal during the process, making the IBA decision legally binding. And the Taiwanese did not appeal the IBA’s decision to the CAS, thus also rendering the decision legally binding]. 

 

At the Paris Olympics, Italy’s Angela Carini had faced off against Imani Khelif on Thursday, in the welterweight (66kg) category, but lasted just 46 seconds. After taking two big punches to the face, Carini threw down her helmet and forfeited the bout, crying “this is unjust!”

 

Lin, meanwhile, won an unanimous decision Friday against Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova in the featherweight (57kg) category, winning 5-0 in the three-round match – and advanced to the women’s boxing quarterfinals.

 

On Saturday, the Algerian boxer triumphed in a dominant 5-0 victory over Hungary's Luca Anna Hamori.

 

UK's Daily Mail reported that ahead of the bout, Hamori stated she was not fazed by the prospect of facing Khelif. "I'm not scared", Hamori said. "I don't care about the press story and social media. If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win".

 

BBC too reported that Hamori had asserted that she did not "think it is fair". Post-match, she was again asked if she thought the fight was unfair, Hamori, who was booed into the arena, said: "I don't care about it".

 

And yesterday, Lin defeated Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva on an unanimous points decision to reach the semi-finals of the women’s 57kg category.

 

In fact, following the latter's loss, Staneva (right) had pointed to herself and twice made an "X" with her fingers, indicating that she has XX chromosomes and so, signifying she's a woman.

 

It is obvious that all those matches have been easy wins for two boxers having XY chromosomes against fighters with XX chromosomes. Meaning, the former have an unfair advantage.

US Rakes In Massive Profits From LNG Sales To Europe

Europe has been ramping up imports of US LNG.

On the latter's side, liquified natural gas and other natural gas exports rose sharply in August, according to ÚS government data released Thursday, particularly to European nations facing a rapidly approaching winter with an insufficient supply from Russia almost guaranteed. 

And it’s interesting to know that while natural gas exports to France are up 421% through the first eight months of 2022, the value increased 1,094 percent in August alone! 

A similar story can be told for Croatia, where imports are up 281% through August but 1,195% in August; Poland, which is up 505% YTD and 817,000% in August; and the United Kingdom, up 216% YTD and 6,797% in August. 

French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday said that Europe should not become subject to American “domination” as it becomes increasingly dependent on US LNG. 

“We cannot accept that our American partner sells its LNG at four times the price at which it sells it to its own companies”, Le Maire said, while calling for a “more balanced economic relationship on the energy issue between our American allies and the European continent”. 

France shouldn’t complain. Actually, the LNG market is being influenced by soaring prices in Europe. Strong natural gas demand has pulled natural gas inventories to a relatively low level. Fear often causes the oil and gas markets to overshoot. 

Besides, the price of LNG from the US is at least 30-40 percent higher than Russian pipeline gas – and that is an inescapable reality. 

Le Maire (left) should zip his mouth and just pay the price because France and the rest of Europe brought it upon themselves. 

You can expect the US to be happy about it because it is raking in massive profits at the expense of its so-called friends in Europe. 

Like it or not, US LNG will continue to play a crucial role in Europe’s gas supply. But it won’t be enough to avoid a major squeeze over the next three years. 

A recent study by Rystad Energy and funded by the American Petroleum Institute and the International Association for Oil & Gas Producers found that US producers will remain the biggest LNG suppliers to European countries over the long term. But before the market rebalances, there will be a supply gap lasting until somewhere between 2023 and 2025. Meaning, the US cannot fill the gap left by a drop in supply from Russia. 

The gap will be prompted by the assumed cut-off of all Russian gas supplies – something that European countries have stated they will aim for – and growth in US LNG export capacity. Noted that export capacity will be growing in Qatar (a non-OPEC member) too. 

Although there are non-Russian options for more pipeline gas, such as Norway, Azerbaijan, and Algeria, the Rystad study assumes that LNG will reign supreme as the main source of natural gas for Europe, coming to satisfy half of its demand by 2030. 

Already, the European Union’s gas import bill has swelled to ten times the usual for filling up winter storage sites because of the switch to LNG from pipeline gas. It’s worth noting that all that LNG was bought on the spot market, given that Brussels has been a fan of spot markets for years. 

Of course, US producers are happy to sell their liquefied gas on the spot market, where it fetches prices that just a couple of years ago would have been unthinkable. Media have even reported about cases of diverting cargos of LNG meant for Asia to Europe because of the Europeans' willingness to pay a premium to get the gas. 

While this year, such behavior is perfectly understandable as European countries scramble to stock up on gas for the winter, over the longer term, it would not exactly make economic sense. 

European industries are already struggling to remain profitable amid soaring energy bills. Yet many of them are too busy fighting for survival to bother about profitability, which should sound the alarm to governments and motivate a more comprehensive diversification of gas deliveries. 

Based on the Rystad research, Europe is essentially replacing one big supplier – Russia – with another big supplier – the United States – which can hardly pass for diversification. 

Sanctioning Russia is causing Europe to go into economic, political and social convulsions. You asked for it, Europe!

19 Million Cases

Yesterday, the world hit 19 million cases. And a day earlier, the coronavirus pandemic death toll had passed 700,000. 

I suppose this is what is commonly referred to as the ‘second wave’. Again, if we examine the twelve worst-affected countries, they have combined to contribute 72.7% of the world total cases.

 

Two countries, the United States and India stuck out like sore thumbs. 

SARS-CoV-2 continues to plague the US as the number of cases went beyond 5 million. And India has become the third country to pass two million cases. 

In fact, it has taken 20 days for the country to progress from a million to two million cases. That is faster than the time the US (43 days) and Brazil (27 days) took to double from a million cases. The only saving grace is that India recorded fewer fatalities than both these countries.

I wish the country would focus on fighting Covid-19 rather than fighting China. 

Africa has a million people now been confirmed to have had the coronavirus – and 87.5% are coming from these 12 countries:

Mary Stephen, technical officer at the WHO's regional office for Africa warns: "We haven't seen the peak in Africa yet".

Africa Tops 400,000 Coronavirus Cases

Covid-19 is here to stay in Africa. 

Given the current trends in incidence – more so when the coronavirus pandemic transitions to more widespread community transmission – and underlying healthcare systems vulnerabilities, the continent is in real danger of becoming the next epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Note that it took 98 days for Africa to reach 100,000 cases – and just 18 to hit 200,000 and another 22 days to reach 400,000. On that Tuesday, the continent also registered 10,000 deaths.

It is pertinent to highlight that the twelve most-affected countries are responsible for 84.2% of Africa’s total cases; insofar as fatalities are concerned, the Top 12 contributed 87.7% of total deaths. 

Elsewhere, Pakistan garnered 200,000 cases on Sunday whilst India, Turkey and Colombia collected 600,000, 200,000 and 100,000 cases respectively on Wednesday:

It is heartening to know that Malaysia has reported positive news today with the number of active cases dipping below 100 – with 85 cases only.

200,000 Coronavirus Cases in Africa

The total number of coronavirus cases in Africa passed 200,000 yesterday, according to the World Health Organization’s office for the region. The continent had added 100,000 cases in eighteen days. 

According to the latest update by the UN health agency, 201,157 people have tested positive for the virus across the 54 countries in Africa, of whom 90,374 have recovered and 5,486 have died, the UN health agency said. 

The Top 7 African countries for confirmed cases are still the same as the list I had put out in my May 23 post (“The Covid-19 Situation in Africa”) – just that there has been a reshuffle in their positions, Nos. 3 to 7:

BTW, these seven countries constitute 72.3% of Africa’s total (or 1.9% of cases worldwide). 

Even for fatalities – where the Top 7 countries make up 81.8% of Africa’s total (or 1.1% of deaths worldwide) – it's the same seven countries as I last reported in May – except for a change in positions, Nos. 2 to 7. 

And just to compare with the Bottom 7 (i.e. the Least Affected countries):

The Covid-19 Situation in Africa

More than three months have lapsed since Egypt became the first country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case. Since then, the outbreak has reached every nation on the continent of 1.2 billion people – with 100,666 confirmed cases and 3,105 deaths on Friday, according to Africa CDC. 

No doubt Africa recorded just a wee fraction of the world's coronavirus cases – a mere 1.9%. 

Also WHO modelling has predicted that Covid-19 would move more slowly through Africa than elsewhere. It's very comforting to know, that’s for sure.

Still, the fact remains that the virus is raging in pockets of the continent. 

And it has been hit hard by the economic fallout from global trade disruptions, falling oil and commodities prices and the lockdowns deployed to fight the disease's spread. That can be just as hurting. 

I read that the presidents of Ivory Coast, Kenya, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone on Tuesday are already complaining that wealthy countries are failing Africa, with pledges of financial support and debt relief falling well short of the continent's needs as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. 

But it’s not only Africa that is affected – but everywhere too.

Already, the global economy is shrinking by around 5%. According to World Bank estimates, up to 60 million people could be pushed below the poverty line in their latest apocalyptic prediction. 

World Bank president David Malpass (right) said they have so far loaned money for emergency programs in 100 countries, accounting for about 70% of the world’s population, in response to the coronavirus crisis. 

He said the money would “reinforce healthcare systems” as well as pay for medical equipment and supplies.

Many countries' economies are already in dire straits.

4.5 Million Cases and 300,000 Deaths

Already 4.5 million coronavirus cases worldwide and 300,000 people dead. And still counting! 

The United States is tightly holding onto its No.1 ranking for both infections and fatalities – and methinks, in 8 days or less, it will reach another grim milestone: 1.5 million cases and 100,000 deaths. Donald Trump is doing a swell job to keep Americans safe!

Meanwhile, Russia has a quarter of a million cases on Thursday – but daily new infections thankfully fell below 10,000 for the first time:

The other hotspot, Brazil has surpassed 200,000 cases on the same day too: 

Yesterday, Africa registered more than 70,000 coronavirus infections and its death toll is almost hitting 2,500:

It is not too worrisome a situation just yet because the 7 countries (out of a tally of 54) most affected by Covid-19 in terms of cumulative case numbers together account for 68.7% of the total in the continent:

Covid-19 is Still Very Much a Serious Threat

Two Wednesdays ago, WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (left) had said the Covid-19 pandemic in western Europe appeared to be easing off. 

But he saw worrying upward trends in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa, although their numbers are still fairly low. 

Based on statista.com numbers, as at May 06, 2020, my calculations are that Latin America is likely to have at least 280,000 confirmed cases and 15,000 deaths. 

And CGTN Africa today reported that there are already about 52,000 cases in the said continent and 2,000 deaths.

Elsewhere, on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and UAE documented 30,251, 30,009 and 15,192 confirmed cases respectively.

Also, on the same day, 514 and 503 people died in Pakistan and Denmark respectively.

And on the following day, Iran surged past 100,000 cases.

Indeed, Covid-19 is still very much a serious threat.