The U.S. and European Union pledged Wednesday to deepen its alliance for the sake of advancing common priorities like artificial intelligence, trade challenges and the “underpin” to global economies: semiconductors.

“Semiconductors are the material basis for integrated circuits that are essential to modern-day life and underpin our economies,” U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council said in a joint statement. “As such, semiconductors power virtually every sector of the economy, including energy, healthcare, agriculture, consumer electronics, manufacturing, defense, and transportation.”

The council said the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the need to increase stable and reliable supply chains for the production of semiconductors.

CHINESE SWITCH TO FLASHLIGHTS, GENERATORS AMID POWER CUTS 

Chip shortages began under the Trump administration, when supply chains were affected by the trade war with China. But chip shortages were further exacerbated by an increased demand for electronics on everything from laptops to at-home health care during the pandemic.

“We recognize that the semiconductor supply chain, from raw materials, design and manufacturing to assembly, testing and incorporation into end products, is extremely complex and geographically dispersed,” the council said. “The United States and European Union have some important respective strengths as well as ongoing, significant mutual dependencies, and common external dependencies.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo traveled to Pittsburgh to meet with European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Valdis Dombrovskis and Margrethe Vestager to bolster ties, as relations between the U.S. and Europe have become strained.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton warned last week that there is a growing sense that the U.S.-trans Atlantic relationship is “broken” and suggested it was time to “pause and reset” the partnership.

Breton’s comments came after France was sidelined in a U.S.-U.K. deal with Australia that effectively voided an existing submarine contract with the EU nation.

The commissioner was not present for Wednesday’s council meeting in Pittsburgh, but his social media suggested Breton was working to extend the EU’s reach into the global chip market.

On Wednesday Breton announced on Twitter he was in Japan facilitating an EU-Japan “cooperation” and preparing the “ground for our upcoming EU Chip Act.”

The U.S. similarly has looked to strengthen this alliance with Japan and bolster semiconductor production.

The joint U.S.-EU interest in Japan could signal an increased push to distance themselves from China.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

The council pledged to “stand together” against “unfair behavior of state-owned enterprises,” though the statement did not directly identify China.

“We intend to focus on reducing existing strategic dependencies throughout the supply chain, especially through a diversification of the supply chain and increased investment,” the council said, adding they will “work jointly so that any investment made on our territories is done in full respect of our respective security of supply.”

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-eu-alliance-global-economies-semiconductors

The post US, EU deepen alliance to boost ‘underpin’ of global economies: semiconductors first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

People register to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday in Ningbo, where authorities have closed part of the world’s third-busiest port.  –Photo credit: AFP

China partly shut the world’s third-busiest container port after a worker became infected with COVID, threatening more damage to already fragile supply chains and global trade as a key shopping season nears.

All inbound and outbound container services at Meishan terminal in Ningbo-Zhoushan port were halted Wednesday until further notice due to a “system disruption,” according to a statement from the port. An employee tested positive for coronavirus, the eastern Chinese city’s government said.

The closed terminal accounts for about 25% of container cargo through the port, calculates security consultant GardaWorld, which said “the suspension could severely impact cargo handling and shipping.” Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG said there will be a delay in sailings.

This is the second recent shutdown of a Chinese port due to the coronavirus, after the closure of Yantian port in Shenzhen from late May for about a month. That shutdown caused goods to back up in factories and storage yards and also likely contributed to soaring freight rates, which are at record levels.

The fear is that this new disruption will further strain international shipping and supplies of goods, already hurt by the pandemic’s squeeze on manufacturers. An extended shuttering at Ningbo could be especially damaging for the world economy because seaborne trade usually rises toward the end of the year as companies ship Christmas and holiday products.

“There may be far-reaching downstream consequences going into Black Friday and holiday shopping seasons” and the next 24 hours will determine whether there is a large outbreak or not, said Josh Brazil, vice president of marketing at project44, a supply-chain intelligence firm. “One of the few givens in 2021 is endemic delays, and the fact that conditions can change almost overnight.”

In addition to the closed terminal, containers for shipment through the other terminals in the port will likely slow. The port will now only accept containers within two days of a ship’s estimated arrival time, according to a statement from shipping and logistics firm CMA CGM SA.

The biggest exports through Ningbo in the first half of this year were electronic goods, textiles and low and high-end manufactured goods, according to the city’s Customs Bureau. Top imports included crude oil, electronics, raw chemicals and agricultural products.

Speaking about the outbreak, Hugo De Stoop, CEO of oil shipper Euronav NV said “there will be an impact on China’s oil demand, but the length of the impact is unclear.”

For port outbreaks “the Chinese authorities are very very strict. When they find a case they will be very quick to shutdown, isolate the workers, isolate the coworkers who have had contact with that specific worker and then reopen as quickly as possible,” he told Bloomberg Television Thursday, adding that this strictness in dealing with outbreaks can disrupt markets.

All the close contacts of the infected worker have been identified and are in quarantine, according to Ningbo City’s statement. A port spokesman who declined to give his name said there was no new information when contacted Thursday.

The port was the third busiest globally in terms of container shipments in 2020 and the second busiest in China after Shanghai, according to maritime publication Lloyd’s List.

The discovery of the port worker that tested positive for COVID-19 shows that virus-prevention measures in Ningbo City still has loopholes, the local government said in a statement on its website Thursday, which urged officials to implement quarantines, disinfection and close affected areas to prevent the virus’ spread.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Source:  https://www.luxtimes.lu/en/world/trade-china-partly-shuts-world-s-third-busiest-port-risking-trade-611506cbde135b9236a3c5eb

The post China partly shuts world’s third-busiest port, risking trade first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Massive ship runs aground, blocking Suez Canal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

• Global trade is marching on with or without the US.
• Next year, the world’s biggest free trade deal could be signed.
• The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would be made up of 15 countries.
• The US and India are not currently part of the deal, but China, Japan and other big Asian economies are. 
• If India joins, the trade pact would encompass 30% of the global economy.
• View Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The post China is leading a 15-nation pact that would create the world’s biggest trade deal. The US isn’t in it. first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The yen, which had become a favored safe-haven, suffered its biggest loss against the U.S. dollar since March, with the greenback rising as much as 2.2%. So-called “risk-on” currencies, such as the Australian dollar and Norwegian krone, strengthened even more.

The moves came after Biden announced his first steps as president and Pfizer Inc’s and its German partner BioNTech SE announced that their experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective in initial trial results in what experts said could be a turning point toward halting the pandemic.

A Biden presidency is expected to shore up international trade through steady policies and the prospect of a successful coronavirus vaccine is seen as a major tailwind.

Much of the move in the yen was an unwinding of earlier trades, said Mazen Issa, senior fx strategist, at TD Securities. “There were a lot of long-yen positions built into the FX markets going into the election,” he said.

But the U.S. dollar also gained 0.41% against the euro as markets became more confident that the vaccine could allow the U.S. economy to grow fast enough to drive up interest rates.

“All of this may be leading to a narrative of U.S. exceptionalism and capital flows into the U.S. returning,” Issa added.

The vaccine news “provided just a tremendous boost for risk appetite,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at foreign exchange broker OANDA.

“There was a lot of nervousness in investors’ expectations for these vaccine trial results, and the first one out of the gates had an amazing 90% effective rate, far exceeding the consensus,” Moya said. “We’re seeing a big reflation trade here.”

Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst, FXStreet.com, said higher interest rates could support the dollar. “Normally, when the U.S. economy does well that supports the dollar. We have not been seeing much of that in the COVID era.”

Bond yields soared in the United States and Europe, and major stock indexes gained as much as 4%.

The U.S. dollar gained 0.57% to 92.695 against a basket of currencies, after last week touching a 10-week low of 92.12.

The post Yen plunges as traders add risk for future with vaccine, Biden first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.