The new year has begun in much the same way the last one ended: incoming president Donald Trump making headlines on trade. There is also good news for the UK’s sports firms in the Middle East, as well as fresh Chinese export controls on some of the largest US firms.
The big picture: Trump could be embroiled in another major trade story after he called for the Panama Canal to be put under US control late last month.
“We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” the president-elect said at a Turning Point USA event.
“A secure Panama Canal is crucial for US commerce. The US is the number one user of the [canal]. We built it, we’re the ones that use it [and] they gave it away.”
So he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. Arguing that it was a mistake for the Jimmy Carter administration to have ceded control of the canal to Panama, he added that its current operators are now charging US shippers “exorbitant” prices and implied they are increasingly under Chinese influence.
“This complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop,” Trump said, in reference to the start of his new administration this month.
Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, responded that “every square metre” of the canal belonged to his country, the BBC reports.
Good week/bad week: A good week for UK sports firms, which the government says are experiencing “a boom in demand” from Gulf states. Trade policy minister Douglas Alexander said:
“The sports industry is a great example of British expertise – the demand we are seeing in places like the Gulf is proof of that.
“A trade deal with the GCC would build on our already strong trading relationship, make it easier and quicker for UK companies to export, and create exciting opportunities for UK businesses in the region.”
A bad week – and a bad 2024 – for Europe’s car industry, meanwhile. According to the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (Clepa) and the FT, 30,000 jobs were cut in the continent’s sector last year following 15,000 cuts in 2023.
Marc Mortureux, director-general of France’s Automotive & Mobility Industry Platform (PFA) industry body, told the FT:
“Our estimate is that the little growth that we can have on the European market will be taken by the growth of imports, especially Chinese ones.”
Quote of the week: “We need a positive agenda with the US, which would benefit both American and European consumers. A new European-American joint free trade initiative could avert a dangerous tariff spiral.”
German Christian Democrat Party leader Friedrich Metz – tipped to be his country’s next chancellor – on Europe’s relationship with the US as Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The week in customs: We looked at a host of customs changes for trade through Northern Ireland yesterday, including new labelling requirements on medical goods and documentary changes for those moving products containing fluorinated gas.
Other stories you might have missed: China has hit a range of new US firms with trade restrictions, imposing export controls on firms from Raytheon to Boeing. The New York Times reports that the Chinese government called it a move to “safeguard national security and interests”.
The UK formally acceded to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) last month. Since then, that process has been ratified by Australia too, allowing trade on CPTPP terms with another nation. Canada and Mexico remain to approve the UK’s accession.
UK industry has been invited to present views on the country’s transition to zero emission vehicles by the government. The consultation will explore firms’ perspectives on the 2030 phase-out date for new purely petrol and diesel cars.
The UK submitted its first Biennial Transparency Report on its carbon emissions to the UN last week, required under the Paris Agreement on climate change. The report includes details of the country’s efforts to support developing nations to decarbonise.
True facts: It’s 66 years to the day since Alaska became the 49th US state. The territory has been formally associated with the US since 1867, when it was sold by the Russian tsar Alexander II. Today, it exports US$5.2bn in goods, most of which are metals.