BRICS News

File photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un [Xinhua]
US President Donald Trump thanked China for its pressure on North Korea as both Pyongyang and Washington confirmed that preparations were being made for a face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong-un.
Trump has for several months reiterated that he would talk with adversaries and, in North Korea’s case, persuade them to denuclearize.
While Trump’s accepting Kim Jong-un’s invitation surprised many political pundits in Washington, it has been welcomed with a sigh relief around the world, chiefly in Asia.

Trump hinted that he was willing to be flexible in applying the tariffs to allies [Xinhua]
News that US President Donald Trump may be flexible on his intention to apply aluminum and steel tariffs has helped ease concerns in some emerging markets.
On Thursday, Trump said he was willing to examine the tariffs on an individual country-by-country basis.
This markes a somewhat departure from his statements just three days ago in which he blamed the European Union as a whole for unfair trade practices.

US industry will likely take a hit, some argue as top economic advisor to the White House resigns.
US manufacturers fear a global backlash and trade war which could hurt jobs and local output [Xinhua]
 
Late on Wednesday, the European Commission issued a press release in which it stated that it hoped Europe would be exempt from the aluminum and steel tariffs suggested by US President Donald Trump.

Hard to measure services sector revisions make technical recession disappear
Is the South African economy on the rise again? [Xinhua]The IMF in January 2018 estimated that South Africa grew by 0.9 per cent in 2017. South Africans were even more pessimistic and in the fourth quarter 2017 survey by the Bureau for Economic Research, the average forecast was that 2017 growth would be only 0.5 per cent rising to 1.0 per cent in 2018.

Many countries in Africa are facing severe drought and water shortages [Xinhua]As the 10th BRICS Summit in South Africa approaches, member countries are turning their resources to boosting African development.
On Wednesday, Chinese Agriculture Minister Hang Changfu told members of the national legislature that Beijing is ready to share its skills and technologies to enhance food development in Africa.
He said that China could use the experties it applied to producing 600 million tons of grain in 2017 to help Africa boost its food supply.

By Nadine Fahmy
Special to The BRICS Post

Malawi has become the latest in African countries which have banned processed meat products imported from South Africa after the South African Department of Health confirmed hundreds of listeria bacteria cases in the country were to meat products.
The meat export industry is a major cash cow for South Africa [Xinhua]
Earlier in the week, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia banned the import of meat products from South Africa and called on retailers to remove and destroy any such meats immediately.

The upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa will focus on development, especially that of developing countries, including African countries [Xinhua]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that BRICS is the right type of multilateral organization that can increase collective cooperation on global affairs and development, particularly in Africa.
Lavrov’s comments came ahead of his five-nation African tour.

The motion seeks to amend part of South Africa’s constitution, which guarantees property rights, and allow the government to take the land from the white farmers and not provide them with any financial compensation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa won reviews of his cabinet shuffle but this was soured by the new land re-appropriation motion [Image: GCIS]

China has warned the US not to adapt protectionist measures to global trade [Image: Archives]
China has warned the international community not to follow in US President Donald Trump’s footsteps and impose trade tariffs.
Officials in Beijing have called on the US to practice restraint on protectionist measures, and to comply with multilateral trade provisions.