
European Union finance ministers have agreed on a massive emergency package designed to ensure that member-states hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic will have the necessary resources to rebuild their economies.

The European Union's competition chief told the Financial Times that member countries should buy stakes in companies to counter the threat of Chinese takeovers, with her comments coming as the EU formulates plans to protect its businesses amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Market reports suggest that Argentine beef shipments to the European Union have reduced to almost zero amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Sales to China, the main buyer, have dropped below 2019 levels.

Brazil’s Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA) held a live debate via Instagram on March 27 to assess the impact the coronavirus has had on exports.

Air pollution from nitrogen dioxide has fallen by an estimated 40% in three European cities, according to new satellite data released by the European Space Agency (ESA), coinciding with a widespread lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The European Union marked the 25th anniversary of its open-border Schengen agreement on Thursday with all its land borders shut or subject to heavy checks imposed in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Brazil on Thursday announced it was closing land borders and prohibiting entry to people from European and many Pacific Asian countries to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, as Mexico and Peru reported their first virus deaths.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. would restrict all travel from Europe for the next 30 days and use executive orders to offer financial relief to individuals and small businesses in his most extensive steps to date to address the crisis of the coronavirus.

Brazil, the world’s largest soy producer, and supplier, shipped 3.55 million tons of soybeans in the first three weeks of February, up 367% month on month, according to a report from the Brazilian foreign trade department.

EU ministers gathering on Tuesday to adopt a joint negotiating stance on future ties with Britain warned London it must first respect a treaty struck last year that eased the terms of its Brexit. They also stressed that mirroring EU standards will be crucial for British goods to be allowed tariff-free access to the huge European single market.