Chinese President Hu Jintao came under pressure from fellow BRICS members Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa to open the Chinese market to goods ranging from Indian drugs to Brazilian planes as leaders gathered on a tropical south China island for a summit.
EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gutch together with Colombian Minister for Trade Sergio Diaz-Granados Guida and Peruvian Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade Carlos Posada Ugaz, celebrated Wednesday in Brussels the initialling of an ambitious trade agreement between the EU, Colombia and Peru.
President Barack Obama called for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code for individuals and businesses and said he wants to raise an additional 1 trillion US dollars through tax increases over the next decade.
The European Union and Mercosur currently holding a round of association and trade talks will be exchanging proposals for market access of their list of products in the coming two months, according to the EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.
Beginning June, Mercosur full members will share macro-economic indicators elaborated with the same criteria and which will be released simultaneously, according to reports in the Montevideo press. The initiative was partly financed by the European Union that also played an advisory role.
The Eurogroup for Animals called on the European Union to demand from Mercosur farmers associations and governments the same ‘animal well-being’ requisites and regulations which their European counterparts must comply with.
The Central Bank of Chile (CBC) hiked interest rates by 50bps to 4.5% on Wednesday but with the near-term outlook for growth very good and inflation likely to top 5% in Q4, further policy tightening is on the way, reports Capital Economics that estimates rates to reach 6% by year-end.
Uruguay’s growth estimate for this year remains at 5% but is forecasted at 4.2% for 2012 with warnings on the economy’s over-heating, significant inflow of capital and inflation, according to the IMF World Economic Outlook released this week. In 2010 the Uruguayan economy expanded 8.5%.
The US trade deficit shrank in February as imports fell more than exports, according to a government report that suggested a slowdown in global demand. The monthly trade gap totalled 45.8 billion US dollars, down from an upwardly revised estimate of 47 billion in January.
China and Brazil on Tuesday clinched a host of government agreements and economic deals in Beijing to enhance their strategic partnership as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff paid her first state visit to China.