Australia

December 21, 2016

Australia seeks to revive old trade ties post-Brexit

At a time when nostalgia is becoming a potent factor in politics, Brexit has become a beacon for politicians seeking to exploit the public’s new longing for old ways. The conviction that…

December 14, 2016

Climate of change heralds new era of scepticism

Within sections of the international business community which applauded Britain’s vote to leave the European Union there is intense puzzling about what appears to be a glaring contradiction in the May Government’s…

November 16, 2016

The psychology of government

As political parties around the world try to work out why opinion pollsters are struggling to get accurate readings of what is on voters’ minds, governments are beginning to tap into pioneering…

November 9, 2016

Industry, politics and automobiles

The UK Government’s announcement that Nissan will build two new vehicle models at its Sunderland plant, saving thousands of jobs, combined two persistent themes of political engagement with the automotive industry in…

October 26, 2016

Brexiters wrong: Australia has high immigration

There is a paradox about Australia being used by Brexiters as the exemplar of a fit-for-purpose system for reducing immigration. Australia certainly has a prescriptive and, in the case of its humanitarian…

October 26, 2016

Middle ground manoeuvers

The major political parties in Western democracies are scrambling to attempt to understand and respond to what appears to be a spreading revolution against mainstream conventional political thinking on many of today’s big…

September 21, 2016

Opinion: Ties that bind must be robustly tested

An Australia-UK FTA is by no means a done deal It looked almost unseemly that, within hours of the news that Britain had voted to leave the European Union, senior figures in…

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China’s economy grows faster than expected in the first quarter
China’s economy grew by a faster-than-expected 5.4 per cent in the first three months of the year. Growth was underpinned by solid domestic consumption and industrial output, with exports driven by factories increasing shipments to beat President Trump’s tariffs. The growth preceded the 145 per cent tariff the United States has placed on Chinese goods. Beijing has retaliated with duties on US imports in an intensifying trade war between the world’s two biggest economies that economists fear could lead to a global recession. The 5.4 per cent growth in China’s gross domestic product in the January-March quarter from a year earlier was unchanged from the fourth quarter, but above market expectations of a rise of 5.1 per cent. The outlook is expected to dim as the surge in exports reverses due to tariffs and the trade war. Higher unemployment and persistent deflationary pressures are fuelling concerns over weak demand. The Times, April 16

Nvidia to take $5.5bn hit as US clamps down on exports of AI chips to China
Donald Trump’s administration is clamping down on Nvidia’s ability to sell artificial intelligence chips to China, sending the Silicon Valley giant’s shares sliding in pre-market trading and hitting Wall Street tech stocks. Nvidia revealed new US controls on American chipmakers’ sales to China in a late-night regulatory filing on Tuesday, in which it said it expected to take a $5.5bn earnings hit as a result. The curbs were subsequently confirmed by the commerce department, marking another escalation in Donald Trump’s trade war with Beijing. The chipmaker said its H20 chip, which is already tailored to comply with Joe Biden-era export controls that prevent the sale of its most powerful chips in China, would now require a special licence to be sold to Chinese customers. It is still unclear how many such licences will be granted, but Nvidia said it would take a $5.5bn charge in the quarter to April 27 related to H20 chips for “inventory, purchase commitments, and related reserves”. Analysts estimate Nvidia will generate about $17bn in sales to Chinese customers in the current financial year. Financial Times, April 16

UK and France in talks over a migrant returns agreement
The British and French governments are in talks about a migrant returns agreement that would involve one person being deported from the UK in exchange for France sending another individual the other way, amid hopes the arrangement could be expanded into a broader European initiative. British and French officials are in early discussions about a pilot scheme under which a small number of irregular migrants who come across the English Channel to the UK would be sent back to France. British officials said the UK would look to accept from France a limited number of migrants who have a right to be in Britain, notably those with a legitimate case for family reunification. France is willing to test such a scheme, despite its long-standing preference for an EU-wide arrangement, because it believes a returns agreement would deter human traffickers and migrants. Financial Times, April 16

UK Supreme Court rules the legal definition of a 'woman' refers to 'biological sex'
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the UK equalities law defines a woman as someone born biologically female. Justice Patrick Hodge said five judges at the court had ruled unanimously that “the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex". The ruling means that a transgender person with a certificate that recognises them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes. But the court added that its ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment.” The case stems from a 2018 law passed by the Scottish Parliament stating that there should be a 50 per cent female representation on the boards of Scottish public bodies. That law included transgender women in its definition of women. France 24, April 16

Falling petrol prices push UK inflation down
Falling petrol prices drove UK inflation down by more than expected in the year to March. Inflation was 2.6 per cent, down from a rate of 2.8 per cent in February, according to official data. But the fall may only be temporary as analysts say it's expected to spike from April as rising bills and higher business costs take hold. "The only significant offset came from the price of clothes which rose strongly this month," said Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics. BBC news, April 16

British hospitals introduce treatment for heart failure that cuts deaths by 62%
People in Britain with heart failure are being given larger doses of drugs at the start of their treatment after a global study found that this led to a huge fall in deaths. Experts say the new approach could mean those with the potentially fatal condition start receiving their ideal amount of medication within two weeks of diagnosis rather than after many months. Evidence from other countries that have already used the treatment found it cut deaths from heart failure by 62 per cent and lowered their risk of ending up back in hospital by 30 per cent. Those were among the key findings of the Strong-HF trial involving 87 hospitals in 14 countries. About 1 million people in the UK have heart failure, which is incurable. It means the heart can no longer pump blood around the body effectively leaving sufferers breathless and tired. The Guardian, April 16

Trump blames Zelensky for starting war after massive Russian attack
Donald Trump has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia - a day after a massive Russian attack killed 35 people and injured 117 others in Ukraine. The US president said the Ukrainian leader shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin for "millions of people dead" in the Ukraine war. "You don't start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles," he told reporters at the White House, also blaming former US President Joe Biden for the conflict. Trump's comments come after widespread outrage over Russia's attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, which was the deadliest Russian attack on civilians this year. BBC news, April 15

El Salvador refuses to return a US deportee
At a White House meeting with President Trump, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said yesterday that he would not return a man who was wrongly deported from the US and sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador. “Of course I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said when reporters asked if he was willing to help return the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. The deportation case is at the heart of a legal battle that has gone to the Supreme Court. Bukele said that returning Abrego Garcia would be like smuggling “a terrorist into the United States”. As the Salvadoran president spoke in the Oval Office, Trump smiled in approval. New York Times, April 15

Harvard sees $2.2bn in funding frozen after defying Trump demands
Elite US university Harvard was hit with a $2.2 billion freeze in federal funding on Monday after rejecting a list of sweeping demands that the White House said was intended to crack down on campus anti-Semitism. The call for changes to its governance, hiring practices and admissions procedures expands on a list Harvard received on April 3, which ordered officials to shut diversity offices and cooperate with immigration authorities for screenings of international students. Harvard president Alan Garber vowed in a letter to students and faculty to defy the government, insisting that the school would not "negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights". Trump's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism responded with a statement announcing the $2.2 billion hold in multi-year grants, plus a freeze on $60 million in government contracts. France 24, April 15

British Steel to get furnace supplies today, say ministers
Raw materials secured by the government will be transported to British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant today to keep its blast furnaces burning. Ministers have taken control of British Steel and are in a race against time to get materials such as coking coal and iron ore to the site. The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will visit the port in Immingham, North Lincolnshire, as supplies from two ships are unloaded and transported to the plant. The materials, sent from the US, are enough to keep the furnaces running for weeks, the department for business and trade said, adding that they have been paid for out of its existing budget. The government raced to secure raw materials for British Steel after passing emergency legislation on Saturday to seize control of the company. The Guardian, April 15

UK consumers plan to ‘buy British’ as Trump’s trade war bites, survey shows
The vast majority of UK consumers plan to “buy British” over concerns that imported products will surge in price after Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, according to data that underlines the impact of the US president’s trade war. Some 71 per cent of people said they wanted to support UK businesses by buying more items that were “Made in Britain”, after Trump imposed a 10 per cent tax on British imports this month, Barclays said on Tuesday. About two-thirds of consumers were concerned that imported products would become more expensive, according to the survey carried out on behalf of Barclays by Opinium Research, and two in five were already looking for UK-made alternatives. UK products are subject to 10 per cent US import tariffs, with steel and cars facing a 25 per cent charge. US tariffs are being levied at 10 per cent on EU goods during the current 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs, and reach 145 per cent for products from China. Financial Times, April 15

UK wage growth rises in February
Wage growth in the UK rose in the three months to February ahead of the introduction of higher payroll taxes and a lifting of the national living wage. The Office for National Statistics said average weekly earnings growth, excluding bonuses, rose by 5.9 per cent in a rolling three-month period to February, up from 5.8 per cent in the previous month. A measure of wage growth including bonuses was unchanged at 5.6 per cent and the unemployment rate was stable at 4.4 per cent. Both figures were in line with expectations. The Times, April 15