Trade war looms after U.S.’s tariff announcement

The announcement of President Trump’s recent tariff hikes sparked speculation across the globe. Is a global trade war on the cards? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his thoughts in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 19 March 2018.

President Trump is heading into dangerous waters with the recently announced trade tariff hikes, for which his administration has cited national security as the rationale under US Trade Law and Article XXI of World Trade Organization’s (WTO) treaty.

Voicing concern, Perera highlighted that other nations may use the same pretext to justify retaliatory tariff hikes, placing the tit-for-tat hikes beyond the usual WTO dispute resolution protocols.

Nonetheless, the US economy gains more from relatively open global trade, which is why President Trump’s tariff hikes are not broadly supported by the American establishment and not even by most leaders of the President’s Republican party.

This means an all-out trade war is not likely. However it cannot entirely be ruled out. Singapore businesses need to hedge their risks by establishing subsidiaries within large economic areas such as the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), to maintain a point of domestic supply in these vast economic regions in case global trade relations deteriorate.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/trade-war-looms-after-u-s-s-tariff-announcement/

Comments

India ranks among the world’s top compact SUV markets!

India overtook Japan in 2017 as the third largest manufacturer of compact SUVs. Big players such as Renault, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ford Motor, Hyundai Motor, Maruti Suzuki and other SUV manufacturers sold 457,698 compact SUVs in 2017 – over four times the unit sales in 2015, at 107,634. While 2016 saw shrinking sales for this vehicle category in China and the USA, sales in India grew nearly 50% from 307,365 units in 2016. Will India overtake China as the world’s largest compact SUV market? For more information, click here.

Express Pharma Magazine 16th to 30th November 2013 National

API manufacturers need to relook business processes to operate more efficiently

A room-sized 3D printer?

Torbjørn Ludvigsen is a Swedish inventor whose company – Replicating Rapid Prototyper (RepRap) – is busy raising funds to develop the Hangprinter. This suspended 3D printer uses the walls and ceiling of a room as its “frame” and can be used to print furniture-sized objects in an entire room. While cable-driven 3D printers already exist, this 3D printer is different. It uses a frameless 3-D printing system which is cheaper to assemble – a mere USD250. It uses an entire house as a 3D printer frame and all parts of the suspended 3D printer are mounted on a single moving unit. The self-replicating machine is designed to manufacture a large fraction of its own parts. Will RepRap revolutionize the construction of low-cost buildings for developing nations? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/a-room-size-3d-printer/

Spire and YBC host breakfast seminar on the impact of demonetization in India

On 20 January, Spire and Yamada Business Consulting (YBC) jointly held a breakfast seminar in Singapore to explore the impact on India’s economy of the recent Rupee demonetization of high-value currency notes. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire and Yasuyuki (Luke) Kita, General Manager of YBC (Singapore), addressed the session. Spire Singapore and YBC discussed the demonetization’s impact on different industry sectors, on e-commerce and on the outlook for doing business in India in 2017. The speakers talked about how demonetisation will spur growth in cashless transactions. Although the retail and car resale sector will suffer short-term damage, there is a visible shift towards modern trade and online transactions. Moreover, ease of doing business and transparency will rise, making India more investment-friendly. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-and-ybc-host-br...

New transport systems in Asian cities to curb traffic congestion

Traffic congestion in densely population Asian cities is nothing new. To address this growing menace, emerging Asian economies continue to invest heavily in new transport infrastructure in cities like Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City. For instance, Manila suffered annual economic losses of USD18 million due to road congestion. According to a recent study, Southeast Asian emerging states under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – excluding Laos, Brunei and Singapore – need an investment of USD147 billion each year in infrastructure through 2020 to maintain growth momentum. Will new infrastructure and traffic management technology address traffic congestion in emerging Asian economies? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/new-transport-systems-in-asian-cities-to-curb-traffic-congestion/

The Knowledge to Decide

Search This Blog