Iran has been living with Western sanctions for almost 40 years, and never have so many sanctions been imposed so quickly as against Russia. Although their effect is limited, there is little alternative. Iran knows it, China knows it and apparently, so does the US government: despite existing sanctions against the oil industry of the Islamic Republic,...
Tag: GlobalTrade
Sanctions, What Sanctions?
Last September, I had argued why “a war of arms and a peace of commerce cannot co-exist”. This is a follow up to that and events of the last 2 years sadly reinforce the point. With Russia’s GDP (troublingly) growing by 3.6% in 2023, Putin is overseeing the fastest-growing G7 economy with unemployment at an...
Why Russia Has Been So Resilient to Western Export Controls
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States imposed an unprecedented package of sanctions intended to make Russia pay a high economic cost for its aggression and to constrain the Russian military. U.S. President Joe Biden declared that Russia would “bear the consequences” for the invasion and emphasized that sanctions were designed to reverse Russia’s military modernization,...
Changing climate casts a shadow over the future of the Panama Canal – and global trade
From his office perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, Steven Paton looks over the entrance to the Panama Canal; the high rises of the country’s capital resting upon the horizon behind him, and an increasingly long queue of tankers lining up in the bay. For 33 years his job with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute monitoring the...
Trade rules and climate change: Africa stands to lose from proposed WTO policy tools
The World Trade Organisation launched its Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action during the COP28 conference. International economic law expert Olabisi D. Akinkugbe discusses whether the new Trade Policy Tools benefit Africa. What are the WTO’s new Trade Policy Tools? The new tools offer opportunities for countries to mitigate the climate change effect of their trade practices....
US targets China, Turkey and UAE in latest Russia sanctions
The US has increased its sanctions against Russia, targeting companies and individuals in Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates for supplying Moscow with goods that can be used for military purposes.The new measures include additional action against the Russian energy and mining sectors, and lists more than 200 names around the world facing financial...
‘Hunting rifles’ — really? China ships assault weapons and body armor to Russia
Customs data obtained by POLITICO reveals direct shipments of Chinese assault rifles, as well as drone shipments and body armor routed via Turkey and the UAE. Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone...