After 14 months of talks between the United States and its closest allies, President Donald Trump celebrated the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA, a new trade agreement that is poised to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
Landlocked Bolivia cannot force Chile to negotiate over granting it “sovereign access” to the Pacific Ocean, judges at the International Court of Justice ruled on Monday in a setback to Bolivian President Evo Morales. Bolivia surrendered most of its former coastline to Chile in a 1904 treaty following the War of the Pacific.
The US dollar slipped against the Canadian dollar on Monday as the United States and Canada reached a framework deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement. The deal reached involves offering more dairy access to U.S. farmers as well as Canada agreeing to a side-letter arrangement effectively capping automobile exports to the United States.
The President of Chile Sebastián Piñera called on the international community to increase efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela. Piñera made the statement during a visit to the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington.
The controversial Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, expressed his complete support for the decision of the presidents of Argentina, Mauricio Macri; of Chile, Sebastián Piñera; of Colombia, Iván Duque; of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez; of Peru, Martín Vizcarra; and of the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, to refer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) the investigation into the existence of crimes against humanity in Venezuela.
The Scottish Secretary David Mundell started a four-day trade mission to South America, where he will be meeting politicians and business leaders in Uruguay and Chile. Mr. Mundell will be promoting trade links on the visit undertaken on behalf of the UK Government’s Board of Trade, and will be looking into how UK can support new post-EU trade opportunities in South America, promoting Scotland as a great exporter and the UK being open for business.
Mark Menzies, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Peru, Chile, and Colombia, is in Lima this week with a delegation of 15 representatives of British government and businesses, including Arup, MACE, Clifford Chance, Crossrail, UK Export Finance, and the City of London. He will seek to identify new areas to boost UK-Peru trade and investment.
The United States Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday, after a two-day policy meeting, that it would raise interest rates for the third time this year. The decision, which had been widely expected, raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, to a range of 2% to 2.25%.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro replied to Donald Trump's UN speech saying his comments were an apology for America’s history of colonialism in the region and offered words of support for the sanctioned officials who joined him during an event broadcast over state television.
Peru’s opposition-run Congress renewed its confidence in the cabinet of President Martin Vizcarra on Wednesday, averting a political crisis that could have forced new legislative elections.