EU tariff on Chinese aluminum; India COVID vaccination; Russia-Pakistan ties
In today's episode, we examine deteriorating ties between the European Union and its biggest trading partner, look at India’s COVID vaccination efforts as the country continues to register new infections in record numbers, and discuss the possibility of a Russia-Pakistan tie up to supply fuel to Islamabad.
Today on The Leaders' Brief -
- In a move that threatens to change global trade dynamics and increase tensions between European nations and China, the 27-member European Union has placed provisional duties on a set of Chinese aluminium products. The European Commission said on Monday that an investigation had revealed that Chinese exporters increased their share of the EU market by 5% between 2017 and 2020, at a time prices had declined by 9%. According to the investigation, the share of Chinese aluminium exports to the EU increased from 6.2% in 2017 to 11.2% in 2020, during which period EU producers started registering losses.
- India recorded the highest number of coronavirus deaths in over 5 months. According to statistics released by the country’s health ministry, India reported 131,968 new infections and 780 deaths on Friday. Almost half of these infections were reported from the Western State of Maharashtra which houses the country’s financial capital Mumbai. The situation has forced Maharashtra’s state government to reimpose lockdown measures in all parts of the city, severely hurting trade and commerce. While India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, it remains unclear whether New Delhi would be able to supply enough doses to meet the sharp increase in demand for COVID vaccines.
- Pakistan is likely to source a majority of its LNG requirements from Russia to make up for its gas shortages in the near future. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow has offered Islamabad liquefied natural gas supplies after meeting his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmoud Kureishi. Mr Lavrov said that he discussed ways in which the two countries could better their bilateral ties, including in energy and trade. Russia and Pakistan are working on a 1,100km gas link project named the Pakistan Stream gas link. The project, agreed upon by the two countries in 2015, expects to deliver 12.4 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
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egomonk is a global intelligence platform delivering asymmetric outcomes by bringing organizations closer to the communities they want to serve and the leaders they wish to influence. If you wish to collaborate with us then email us at [email protected].