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A small step forward towards the end of the Sino-American trade war. While the US and Chinese presidents have decided to take a 90-day break from their trade dispute, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that March 1 would be the deadline and recalled that beyond that, if no agreement is reached, new tariffs would be imposed. To move forward in the negotiations and reach a consensus, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He met by phone with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Robert Lighthizer. They discussed the "schedule for the next economic and trade consultations", but for the time being, no further details....
Tokyo is also negotiating with Washington. Both sides want to reach an agreement by mid-January, with Washington again wanting to reduce Japan's trade surplus with the United States ($69 billion, including $61 billion from the automotive industry). To this end, the US government wants to impose import quotas on Japanese vehicles and components, which will evolve in line with the opening of the Japanese market to US exports. Tokyo makes it a point of honor that these negotiations do not impact its currency.
It's moving in Paris. Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech yesterday at the Elysée and announced a series of measures in response to the "yellow vests" protests. He mentioned raising the minimum wage, reducing taxes for pensioners, removing tax on extra working hours and encouraging companies to pay end-of-year bonuses. These social measures "do not call into question the control of public spending" according to the Elysée, which explains that France has "a little margin" in the budget.
Russia will reduce its oil production as it sees fit. The agreement reached between Opep and its external partners last week agreed to reduce oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day, including 228,000 barrels per day (bpd) for Russia. But the Russian Energy Minister suggested that his country's effort would only be 50,000 to 60,000 bpd. Who to believe?
Parliament's vote on Brexit postponed. Theresa May decided to postpone (to an as yet unknown date) the vote in the House of Commons on the Brexit agreement because of the slingshot of parliamentarians (who threatened to reject it) and announced that her government would prepare for a no-deal Brexit. France, for its part, reacted by voting overnight on a bill allowing the government to take measures by ordinance to prepare Brexit according to the various scenarios, including a no-deal Brexit..
Tokyo is also negotiating with Washington. Both sides want to reach an agreement by mid-January, with Washington again wanting to reduce Japan's trade surplus with the United States ($69 billion, including $61 billion from the automotive industry). To this end, the US government wants to impose import quotas on Japanese vehicles and components, which will evolve in line with the opening of the Japanese market to US exports. Tokyo makes it a point of honor that these negotiations do not impact its currency.
It's moving in Paris. Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech yesterday at the Elysée and announced a series of measures in response to the "yellow vests" protests. He mentioned raising the minimum wage, reducing taxes for pensioners, removing tax on extra working hours and encouraging companies to pay end-of-year bonuses. These social measures "do not call into question the control of public spending" according to the Elysée, which explains that France has "a little margin" in the budget.
Russia will reduce its oil production as it sees fit. The agreement reached between Opep and its external partners last week agreed to reduce oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day, including 228,000 barrels per day (bpd) for Russia. But the Russian Energy Minister suggested that his country's effort would only be 50,000 to 60,000 bpd. Who to believe?
Parliament's vote on Brexit postponed. Theresa May decided to postpone (to an as yet unknown date) the vote in the House of Commons on the Brexit agreement because of the slingshot of parliamentarians (who threatened to reject it) and announced that her government would prepare for a no-deal Brexit. France, for its part, reacted by voting overnight on a bill allowing the government to take measures by ordinance to prepare Brexit according to the various scenarios, including a no-deal Brexit..
