International Relations International Trade News

UK, EU negotiators reach new deal on Brexit

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The representatives, who were sent by the European Union and the United Kingdom, have reached a new Brexit deal. UK President Boris Johnson has called the deal as great.

The deal needs the assent of both the European Union parliament and the United Kingdom parliament.

The DUP, the party based in the Ireland region of the UK, has expressed its disagreement with the new deal.

It has declined to give its support to the bill. The party is likely to vote against the bill in the British parliament.

The UK is nearing a deadline given to reach a Brexit deal with the EU and get it passed its parliament.

Day by day, the pressure over the present UK government is increasing. The UK PM is very keen to reach a deal with the EU over the matter of Brexit as soon as possible.

The DUP has a considerable amount of strength in the British parliament. But, it is not as powerful as to get the deal defeated singlehandedly.


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International Trade News

Argentina to support economy: Imposes currency controls

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As severe economic crisis arises, Argentina has imposed currency controls, to support economy and to stabilise the markets.

Some temporary measures have been announced on Sunday which allows the government to restrict foreign currency purchases. This causes a sharp drop in the super-sensitive peso.

Central bank permission will be required for the firms for selling pesos to buy foreign currency and to make transfers abroad.

The Central bank and Macri’s government are highly backing confidence in financial markets ahead of the presidential election on October 27.

In order to deal with the economic crisis, Argentina is also trying to postpone debt payments to the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

The government on Sunday said that “a series of extraordinary measures to ensure the normal functioning of the economy, to sustain the level of activity and employment and protect the consumers” was necessary to be adopted.

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International Trade News

No deal Brexit: Pound falls on currency markets

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As the government insists that the UK is prepared to leave the EU without a deal, the value of Pound continued to fall on currency markets. On Thursday, Sterling continued to slide on the foreign exchanges. Sterling hits a fresh two-year low of $1.2120 against the dollar.

The currency of Pound also slid against the euro, falling to €1.0881 at one point. As the pound value falls, UK tourists heading abroad could face a “horrendous summer”, said one currency expert.

Reports said that the government under the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson has strengthened its stance on a no-deal Brexit, which it has said is “now a very real prospect”.

Before EU referendum in June 2016, the Pound was trading at about $1.50 against the dollar. It has now dropped by 2.4% since Monday, as a spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the UK would not enter talks with Europe unless the so-called Irish backstop is scrapped.

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International Trade News

EU phone call price cap started

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The cost of International calls from the UK to another EU country were capped at around 20p/min from Wednesday. The cheaper international calls and texts are part of the EU Commission’s plan for strengthening telecoms rules, after it banned roaming charges across the region in June 2017.

Certain measured have been taken to make the 5G networks widely available by 2020. The European commission said that the standard price of making a call between two EU countries is thrice higher on average than the standard price of a domestic call, while standard text prices are twice as high.

Here are some key points u need to know regarding the price cap:

Callers from a EU country to another EU country will pay a maximum of 16p per minute (19 cents) plus VAT and 5p (6 cents) plus VAT per SMS message.

Telephone providers must use encryption systems to prevent security incidents and reduce their impact on users.

The maximum cost is capped for private personal calls only.

Business customers have been excluded from the price cap.

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europe times european daily trending world news Bitcoin value shoots up suddenly
International Trade News

Bitcoin value shoots up suddenly

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The price of bitcoin shoots up to its highest level in almost five months on Tuesday. The world’s largest cryptocurrency bursts up 17 percent within 30 minutes today.

The bitcoin is a form of electronic cash. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries

This hike will gain credence though, if and when BTC finds acceptance above the former support-turned-resistance of the 21-month exponential moving average (EMA), currently at $5,200.

The Bitcoin could get a reduction of value to $4,400 if signs of bullish exhaustion increase in the next few days.

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International Trade News

Russia-Germany pipeline project faces EU’s objection

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Several European Union countries have expressed their concerns about an oil pipeline project that connects Russia and Germany, named Nord Stream 2.

The main concerns are that the pipeline project will make Germany more reliant to the Russian oil and that reliance may be misused by Russia to fulfil its political and economic goals.

France is the first country that has come out publically against the deal. Later, supporting the stand taken by France, most countries in the east and central regions of Europe –overcoming their fear of retaliatory action from the Germans– have criticised the Germany’s move.

Germany has invested hugely in the project. The project is several decades old. At this moment, Germany cannot withdraw from the deal suddenly as such a move will cost them several millions.

France is likely to dilute its position in the coming hours. Though the EU countries are unhappy with the pipeline project, none wants to interrupt the project at this stage. These factors give confidence to Germany to go ahead with the project.

The EU primarily imports oil from Norway and Russia. Most EU countries are of the opinion that a pipeline that connects Poland and Norway should be created. The newly developed Russia-Germany pipeline which passes beneath the Baltic Sea gives a serious blow to the EU’s Norway plans.

Vignesh. S. G
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International Trade News

EU, US to intervene in Venezuela-Turkey-Iran gold trade

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Venezuela’s oil economy has almost died due to the US sanction. Now, it relies almost solely on its gold trade for its sustenance. The United Arab Empire, Russia and Turkey are the biggest importers of the Venezuelan gold. Of these three, Turkey’s trade with the socialist Latin American is the one which worries the European Union and the United States the most. It is alleged that the gold reaches Turkey from Venezuela ostensibly for the purpose of refinement is shipped to Iran. The US is of the belief that the network of the Venezuela-Turkey-Iran gold trade is what enables the embattled Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, who is on an ultimatum, to keep the loyalty of his country’s soldiers intact. The west now knows that the best way to topple the aggressive Venezuelan socialist is to cut off his revenue channels. The EU and US’ latest combined attempt to force Turkey to stop its engagements with Venezuela, particularly its gold trade, is regarded as the part of that strategy. The US has reportedly served an ultimatum to Turkey to cease its gold trade with Venezuela.

If Russia and the others does not increase their gold and oil import with Venezuela, Mr Maduro will be toppled as soon as the EU and the US find success in forcing Turkey to withdraw its backup –by all possibility that would not take more than few weeks.

It is not clear from where Iran has come to the picture. There is evidence that Turkey has brought in several tonnes of gold from Venezuela in the name of refinement and none of the imported has been returned. But, there is nothing to assume that what has been imported by Turkey has been exported to Iran. The possibility that Iran has been purposefully brought into the narrative to increase the strength of those against the Venezuelan trade cannot be ruled out blindly.

Vignesh. S. G
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International Trade News

West invents a way to evade the US’ sanction on Iran

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The three major western powers, such as Germany, the UK and France, have established a new payment channel to evade the United States’ economic sanction on the Middle Eastern country of Iran.

The new payment channel, the Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), shares no links with the US-linked payment channels the west presently uses widely.

It is this detachment from the popular payment channels that helps the new channel evade the sanction imposed by the US on Iran.

Iran is one of the most important trading partners of the three major European powers. The countries see the Shia-dominated nation not only as a source of cheap oil but also as a potential market for their goods and services.

It was the US’ belief that Iran involved in the destabilisation of some of its prime allies in the region such as Israel and Saudi Arabia that promoted the world’s most powerful country to impose an economic sanction against the Arab country.

The three important western countries were not in the favour of the sanction. It even urged the US to withdraw the sanction.

The latest move is capable to provoke the US. The US’ present regime is already unhappy with the European powers’ attitude against its long standing demand that the European countries should step up their defence spending to pay justice to their financial obligation to the NATO force.

Vignesh. S. G
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