BRICS Business

“These actions are accompanied by growing disdain for multilateralism and global trade rules.”
Davies says US unilateral policies will disrupt global trade [Photo courtesy: DTI]
The South African Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, told the BRICS Business Council meeting in Durban South Africa that the US was creating global economic turbulence by ignoring long standing world trade rules and imposing unilateral actions.

The theme is “BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, in Jomhouri Building, at Saadabad Palace, in Tehran on May 23, 2016 [Image: PMO, India]
 
Despite the threat of further sanctions on Iran, its oil industry is continuing to do brisk trade with a number of countries, including the BRICS.
According to Iranian oil industry sources in Tehran, overall bilateral trade with BRICS countries reached 53.78 million tons.
While this is a decline of just over 8 per cent year on year, its value is up 7.4 per cent due to higher oil prices.

Premier Li Keqiang said that China is committed to market reforms and opening up to the global economy [PPIO]
 
A report released by the Bank of China on Sunday indicated that the Chinese economy is forecast to have grown by 6.7 per cent in the first half of 2018.
This is a slight dip from the 6.8 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2018. It grew at a similar pace in Q3 and Q4 of 2017.
The report says that the property market nationally has continued to improve and that the economy overall is resilient.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland on July 16 but most of the talks will focus on the Syrian conflict [PPIO]
 
A week after resorting to the World Trade Organization in its complaint against US tariffs on Russian steel and aluminum, Moscow has raised its duties from 25 to 40 per cent on some US imports.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin said the rise was to compensate for more than $500 million loss in exports expected due to the US tariffs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains a good relationship with Trump, but Chinese media has called the US a trade bully
 
US President Donald Trump has warned of imposing tariffs on as much as $500 billion in Chinese exports if Beijing retaliates against his administration’s $34 billion levies which went into effect July 6.

Can’t we just get along? File photo of US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It is unclear how the tariffs will affect their warm relationship
 
A number of G7 and World Trade Organization members have taken retaliatory measures and/or filed complaints against recent US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
On Tuesday, Russia became the seventh WTO member – after fellow BRICS members China and India, and others – to file a request for “dispute consultations” with the US over the latter’s new tariff policy.

Shanghai has become a major commercial and trade hub for the One Belt, One Road initiative [Photo by Jason Mrachina, Creative Commons]
More than 200 companies representing 40 countries are participating in the Belt and Road Brand Expo which was inaugurated in Shanghai on Friday.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met numerous times, both their countries have boosted cultural exchange and trade in recent years [PPIO]
The opening of a new freight train route between China and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a continuing sign of efforts by both regions to deepen their communication and transportation ties, officials have said.

African nations are strong emerging markets and new technologies in finance and banking can help keep that dynamo going, experts in Kigali, Rwanda said today
World economic experts speaking at the 25th session of the African Regional Conference for the Society for the Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) in Kigali, Rwanda have called on the continent’s nations to immerse themselves in the latest finance-driven technologies.