Executive Summary Mercosur and the European Union have signed a sweeping free trade agreement twenty-six years in the making; that same month, Argentina signed its own bilateral trade deal with the United States. Despite the optimism surrounding the EU deal, Mercosur is still hamstrung by institutional limitations and diverging member interests, preventing further integration. Given this, U.S. trade policymakers are apt to treat Mercosur members as the individual … Continue reading
Executive Summary: The United Kingdom appears to have greater utilization of Durable Medical Equipment (DME) products as compared to the US Medicare Population (over half of the UK vs 21 percent of the US Medicare population). However, this variation in utilization may be driven by definitions rather than patient need. The definition of DME varies … Continue reading
Executive Summary While China is reaping the benefits of entering the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA) – the United States has not established a competitive FTA of its own in the Indo-Pacific. RCEP’s tariff schedule aims to reduce tariffs for RCEP nations by approximately 92 percent over … Continue reading
Executive Summary The U.S. dollar’s position as the preeminent global reserve currency for international trade and transactions is under threat from countries across the world – particularly Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) – that seek greater economic autonomy. BRICS nations plan to become less reliant on the U.S. dollar by circumventing it … Continue reading
Executive Summary This month, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen met with Chinese President Xi Jingping in China to discuss political and economic ties between Europe and China. During the summit, Macron denounced American and European efforts to economically “decouple” from China and reiterated the French desire for European … Continue reading
Executive Summary On Monday, leaders from the United Kingdom and the European Union announced the Windsor Framework, a trade proposal that would alter the rules of the Northern Ireland Protocol within the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The Framework would establish a two-lane system for goods being exported from Great Britain in which tariffs and trade barriers … Continue reading
China experienced explosive economic growth in the past few decades that helped it rise to the position of the second-largest economy in the world. It now aims to transform itself from a regional to a global hegemon, effectively challenging the US in its backyard, Latin America. The country’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) facilitated its … Continue reading
Last month the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced its reversal of a legacy policy that banned the financing of nuclear power projects abroad[1]. The decision, currently in the public notice and comment period, was lauded as a victory by the energy, environmental, and national security spheres[2][3] but raises several concerns around carbon emissions, … Continue reading
Just about every newsletter in the past week or so, has had some mention of the mysterious coronavirus originating from Wuhan, China. Named the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), this upper-respiratory virus has caused more than 80 deaths and left more than a thousand ill according to the CDC and China’s National Health Commission– as of … Continue reading
Yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce imposed retaliatory tariffs on 128 U.S. products totaling $3 billion “in order to safeguard China’s interests and balance the losses caused by the U.S.” The tariffs, initially threatened in March, are the Chinese response to the Section 232 measures on steel and aluminum imposed by President Trump earlier that … Continue reading
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