Esty Dwek (Natixis) | Ongoing weakness across manufacturing and trade shouldn’t be a surprise, but service sectors continue to hold up, even showing a small rebound in June. Overall, we expect slower but stable growth around trend levels for the major economies.
The G20 finance and economy ministers will meet in Fukuoka (Japan) this weekend against the backdrop of trade restrictions. The World Trade Organization estimates that between October and May, 20 new restrictions on world trade have been introduced, worth 335.9 mm. $. These measures are linked to others that previously affected a volume of trade worth 480.9 mm. $, and most worrying is that more restrictions are expected. This compensates, Intermoney analysts argue, the liberalizing measures by value of 397.2 mm. € that were taken in the last months.
Shaun Riordan | The US has once before tried to use trade restrictions to force an Asian power to abandon its strategy. It did not end well.
Alicia García-Herrero*| Without an expectation of a larger market for European exports in the absence of additional opening up by Chinese authorities, European exporters should not enjoy the ongoing China-US negotiations.
Abertis’ French subsidiary, Sanef, has reached an agreement with the French government to implement a new €147 million investment programme to modernise its network. It exchange, it has secured anual tariff hikes from 2019 to 2021.