David Mundell MP, Secretary of State for Scotland is currently in Chile where he arrived on Wednesday to reinforce the existing close links between the UK and Chile, including trade, science and innovation, defense and green growth.
The International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, speaking at a news conference in New York alongside Argentine Economy Minister Nicolas Dujovne, said IMF was “significantly frontloading” disbursements under the program adding the Argentine central bank had agreed as part of the deal to allow the peso currency to float freely and would only intervene in the foreign exchange market in extreme circumstances.
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 International Trade Union Conference, ITUC’s affiliates in Argentina, CGT, CTA-A and CTA-T have announced a general strike for 24-25 September in opposition to expected sweeping austerity measures being developed by the government and the International Monetary Fund.
An annual U.S. soy exporters' conference wrapped up on Wednesday without any known sales to Chinese buyers, in sharp contrast to previous years when billions of dollars of the main U.S. cash crop have been signed over to China in elaborate ceremonies.
President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the body fails to change the way it treats America. “If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
The Argentine government is raising an export tax on biodiesel to 15% from 8%, effective July 1, according to a decree published in the official Gazette on Monday. Argentina is one of the world's top providers of biodiesel fuel, exporting 1.65 million tons in 2017, but it has been hit by retaliatory tariffs in recent years.
Britain will not get a Brexit deal better than the current single market, Japan’s ambassador to the UK has said. Koji Tsuruoka, who took up the role just over a fortnight before the referendum in June 2016, said Japanese firms are watching negotiations and will want to continue to be located in the single market after next March.
The European Commission and Mercosur are planning to resume negotiations to reach a new Association Agreement during this month. The Commissioner of the European Trade Commission, Cecilia Malmström, stated that, after the last negotiating round, which took place in early December, and after the attempt to reach an agreement in the framework of the last round of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held from 11 to 14 December, the agreement was very close and would be reached in a matter of weeks.