Economy

Commerce and trade ministers from the United States, Japan and South Korea pledged on Wednesday (27 June) to work together on strategic issues such as artificial intelligence (AI) security, export controls, clean energy and semiconductor supply chains. "We are redoubling our efforts to work together," said US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo at the start of the meeting in Washington. "As leaders in manufacturing, services, technology and innovation, we must work together not only for the benefit of our countries, but for the security of the world," she added. Raimondo was joined by Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ken Saito, and South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ahn Duk-geun, for this inaugural trilateral meeting, which was agreed by their leaders at a summit in Camp David in August.

The Council of the European Union on Monday (24 June) adopted a 14th package of economic and individual restrictive measures against Russia, "dealing a further blow to the Putin regime and those who perpetuate its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine". These measures are designed to target high-value sectors of the Russian economy, such as energy, finance and trade, and make it increasingly difficult to evade EU sanctions.

Proposed European Union tariffs on Chinese goods are not a "punishment", German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck assured Chinese officials in Beijing on Saturday (22 June). The visit is the first by a senior European official since Brussels proposed significant tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) in response to what the EU sees as excessive subsidies. Ahead of Habeck's arrival, China warned that rising tensions over EVs could spark a trade war. "It is important to understand that these are not punitive tariffs," Habeck told the opening session of a dialogue on climate and transformation. He stressed that unlike the US, Brazil and Turkey, which have used punitive tariffs, the EU is taking a different approach.

Russia's ongoing full-scale war in Ukraine, initiated on 24 February 2022, has caused significant environmental and climate damage, severely impacting global efforts to combat climate change. This is highlighted in the latest report from the Initiative on Greenhouse Gas Accounting of War (IGGAW), which analyses the environmental costs over the past two years. The report was published Thursday (13 June) by the Ministry for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine in collaboration with climate advocacy groups. The IGGAW report estimates climate-related damages at $32 billion, attributed to activities such as the extensive use of military fuels and the destruction of landscapes and infrastructure. Over 24 months, the conflict resulted in the emission of 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide - more than the annual emissions of a developed country like the Netherlands.

The European Union is poised to impose significant new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), a move expected to raise more than €2 billion a year despite warnings from Germany about the potential economic impact. Brussels is determined to impose additional tariffs of up to 25% on these imports from next month, arguing that subsidies given to Chinese EV manufacturers allow them to unfairly undercut European competitors. The decision has sparked controversy, particularly in Germany, where there are fears of sparking a trade war with China, the EU's biggest trading partner.

The G7 will explore ways to use future revenues from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the G7 and its allies froze around $300 billion in Russian assets. "We are making progress in our discussions on potential avenues to bring forward the extraordinary profits stemming from immobilized Russian sovereign assets to the benefit of Ukraine," the draft statement said. G7 negotiators have been discussing for weeks how best to use these assets, which include major currencies and government bonds held mainly in European vaults. The United States (US) has been urging its G7 partners - Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada - to support a loan that could provide Kyiv with up to $50 billion in the near term. The cautious language of the statement, lacking figures or specifics, underlines the many legal and technical issues that would need to be resolved before such a loan could be issued. A G7 source indicated that there would be no significant changes to the statement before the final version is released later on Saturday (25 May).