Trump Announces Big Brazil, Copper and Pharma Tariffs, Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Talks
Andrew Sheves 🇺🇸** Trump Announces Big Brazil, Copper and Pharma Tariffs**
President Trump threatened a 50% tariff on Brazil over its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, calling the coup attempt case a “witch hunt” in the most extreme example yet of weaponizing trade policy for unrelated demands. Brazil’s President Lula fired back saying his nation won’t be “tutored” and threatened reciprocal measures, while the real plummeted 2.9% against the dollar. Trump also announced 30% tariffs on Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka, plus floated 50% duties on copper products and up to 200% on pharmaceuticals if companies don’t shift production to the US within a year. More - Bloomberg
🇦🇲 🇦🇿 Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Talks Start in UAE
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are holding peace talks in Abu Dhabi, four months after finalizing a draft deal to end nearly four decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The talks follow Azerbaijan’s September 2023 recapture of the territory, prompting an exodus of almost all 100,000 ethnic Armenians who fled to Armenia. Key obstacles remain including Azerbaijan’s demand for Armenia to change its constitution and provide a transport corridor to connect Azerbaijan proper with its Nakhchivan enclave, while ceasefire violations along their 1,000km border have complicated negotiations. More - Al Jazeera
Asia Stability Ratings and News Summary
More Unstable
🇦🇫 Afghanistan, 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇧🇩 Bangladesh, 🇧🇹 Bhutan, 🇰🇭 Cambodia, 🇨🇳 China, 🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇮🇳 India, 🇮🇩 Indonesia, 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇱🇦 Laos, 🇲🇲 Myanmar, 🇳🇵 Nepal, 🇰🇵 North Korea, 🇵🇰 Pakistan, 🇵🇭 Philippines, 🇸🇬 Singapore, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka, 🇹🇼 Taiwan, 🇹🇯 Tajikistan, 🇹🇭 Thailand, 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan, 🇻🇳 Vietnam
More Stable
No countries were more stable over this period
Unchanged
🇧🇳 Brunei, 🇹🇱 East Timor, 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan, 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan, 🇲🇾 Malaysia, 🇲🇻 Maldives, 🇲🇳 Mongolia, 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
Regional News Summary
In Singapore, Barclays has restructured its Asia-Pacific investment banking leadership, indicating a transformative phase in the financial sector. Concurrently, UOB, FMM, and SMF have formed a partnership aimed at enhancing cross-border manufacturing projects, which is expected to invigorate the country’s manufacturing industry [SOURCE - Livemint]. Additionally, a new TCS innovation center has been established to facilitate AI transformation for 60 Singapore SMEs and start-ups, further promoting technological advancement in the region [[SOURCE - The Hindu BusinessLine]](https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/tcs-innovation-centre-to-drive-ai-transformation-for-60-singapore-smes-start-ups/article69767991.ece?utm
Carpe tomorrow!