What Does Red Sea Disruption Mean for Europe's Economy?
Weeks of attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants on vessels in the Red Sea have disrupted shipping in the Suez Canal, the fastest sea route between Asia and Europe, carrying around 15% of global sea trade.For the European economy, already skirting a mild recession as it tries to shake off high inflation, prolonged trade disruption could derail plans by central banks to start cutting interest rates this year.Here are some factors policymakers are considering as they assess the implications of the disruptions.WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT ON THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY SO FAR?In macroeconomic terms…
Global Supply Disruptions Could Still Get Worse, Central Bankers Warn
Supply constraints thwarting global economic growth could still get worse, keeping inflation elevated longer, even if the current spike in prices is still likely to remain temporary, the world’s top central bankers warned on Wednesday.The disruptions to the global economy during the pandemic have upset supply chains across continents, leaving the world short of a plethora of goods and services from car parts and microchips to container vessels that transport goods across the seas.“It’s ...
US Says China to Scrap Some Export Subsidies
China has agreed to scrap export subsidies on a range of products from metals to agriculture and textiles, the United States said on Thursday, in a step by Beijing to reduce trade frictions with Washington. China is to end a program known as its "demonstration bases-common service platform," which provides export subsidies to Chinese companies in seven economic sectors, the U.S. trade representative's office said. Some industry figures were skeptical about the deal's impact, especially regarding steel, which has been a flashpoint with Chinese overcapacity pressuring U.S. suppliers. One source knowledgeable about the agreement said it was not comprehensive enough to do much to help the U.S. steel industry, given its focus was only on specialty products.
ICS Tells IMF Time Not Ripe for Industry Fuel Charges
International Chamber of Shipping chairman, Masamichi Mooroka, has written to Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), following her reported comments that fuel charges on shipping and aviation could raise one quarter of the total money to be directed by developed nations to the UNFCCC Green Climate Fund. In the letter ICS challenges several simplistic assumptions apparently made by Ms Lagarde. The ICS chairman notes that Ms Lagarde has been quoted as saying that "charges on international aviation and maritime emissions would raise about a quarter of the $100 billion needed for climate adaptation and mitigation in developing countries-resources that developed countries have committed to mobilize by 2020".
CMA CGM Christens Largest French-Flagged Containership
CMA CGM Group announced the christening of its flagship, the 13,800-TEU CMA CGM Christophe Colomb, at Terminal de France, Port 2000, in Le Havre by its godmother, Christine Lagarde, France’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment. The first of a series of eight vessels named after great explorers, this giant of the seas is the largest containership ever to sail under the French flag. These very large ships will enable the Group to enhance its business model and improve its competitiveness.
