#Brentcrude drops toward $59 as US jobs data pushes dollar up

US unemployment rate fell to the lowest since May 2008 in February

Brent crude fell towards $59 a barrel on Monday as a promising US jobs report pushed the dollar up. Photo: Bloomberg

Brent crude fell towards $59 a barrel on Monday as a promising US jobs report pushed the dollar up, offsetting geopolitical tensions and the threat of output cuts in Libya and Iraq... (Read more)

EXTERNAL EXPANSION LTD., www.externalexpansion.net

#US-#Cuba detente likely to lead to repeal of #tradeembargo

One of the first steps will be the removal of the Caribbean republic from the annual US terror list

A car with a Cuban flag parked near the Cuban Capitol in Havana. The Cuban revolution has survived through a combination of welfare provision and selective repression as the equal distribution of scarce resources meets the iron fist of state power. Photograph: Enrique De La Osa/Reuters

Michael McCaughan

The sudden shift in US policy toward Cuba represents the decline of a previously unquestioned conviction – that beneath the calm surface of Cuban society lies a seething, discontented population impatiently awaiting the signal to rise and overthrow their government... (Read more)

External Expansion Ltd. (www.externalexpansion.net)

#US: Defying Expectations, #Japan’s Economy Falls

The Shiodome business district in Tokyo. Japan’s gross domestic product fell by an annualized pace of 1.6 percent last quarter, threatening a planned tax increase. Credit Thomas Peter/Reuters

TOKYO — Japan’s economy unexpectedly fell into recession in the third quarter, a painful slump that called into question efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to pull the country out of nearly two decades of deflation.

The second consecutive quarterly decline in gross domestic product could upend Japan’s political landscape. Mr. Abe is considering dissolving Parliament and calling fresh elections, people close to him say, and Monday’s economic report is seen as critical to his decision, which is widely expected to come this week... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#Ireland: Europe’s Irish presence in the #transatlanticcorridor

David O’Sullivan, the new EU ambassador to the US, is assuming the role at an important political moment

David O’Sullivan: the chief operating officer of the European Union’s diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service

Sitting in his office in the European External Action Services (EEAS) headquarters in central Brussels, David O’Sullivan apologises for the bareness of the room. Most of his belongings have already been shipped to Washington, he explains. The distinctive blue flag of the European Union is still there, however, soon to be joined by the stars and stripes of the US flag as the Churchtown native prepares to take up his new role as EU ambassador... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

Russian sanctions start to bite as growth forecasts are downgraded

Lending restrictions are not causing immediate panic but, with food shortages and price rises, the winter outlook is grim.

Six months after the confrontation over Ukraine first blew up, the damage is starting to be counted in dollars, euros and roubles. And as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met his counterparts from Ukraine, Germany and France, he will have been aware that it is Russia that has most to lose from a protracted economic stand-off with the west....

(Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

EU, US extend sanctions on Russia over ‘Ukraine violence’

Co-ordinated approach targets trade, energy, banks, technology, arms and finance sector

The new round of sanctions targets Russian oil, rather than gas, outlawing exports of oil exploration equipment to Russia. About 30 per cent of the European Union’s gas supply comes from Russia.Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

(Read more)

EU must not leave Asian relations to the US

Opinion: For the most part, European states have no security presence in Asia

Under the Obama administration, US policy has rebalanced or pivoted towards Asia.

(Read more)

US wants new law to clamp down on companies moving overseas

Ireland among countries that benefit from US corporate ‘inversions’ to cut tax bills

Jacob “Jack” Lew, US treasury secretary. Mr Lew has urged members of Congress to pass legislation immediately to stop US companies from shifting their legal addresses overseas

(Read here complete new)

Carmakers Are Central Voice in U.S.-Europe Trade Talks

Efficiency is seldom the goal for automakers dealing with the current trade rules. Cargo vans are fully assembled in Germany before some of the parts are removed for the trans-Atlantic journey.

(Click here to complete new)

Big shift expected in US cotton export ports

The widening of the Panama Canal could eventually lead to a 90 percent increase in cotton exports for U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, and a 66 percent reduction in cotton exports through West Coast ports.

JOC.COM. Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor | Jul 03, 2014 4:08PM EDT (Click here to complete new)

Russia: Ukrainian Gas System Unlikely to Find U.S., EU Investors

Ukraine's move Friday toward attempting to sell nearly 50 percent in its gas pipeline system to EU and U.S. investors does not mean that Western buyers will rush to take up the offer, as the system's value depends on a steady supply of Russian gas, energy analysts told The St. Petersburg Times...

By Ivan Nechepurenko. The St. Petersburg Times. Published: July 5, 2014. (Click here to complete new)

A Conduit for Russian Gas, Tangled in Europe’s Conflicts

South Stream Pipeline Project in Bulgaria Is Delayed

NEW YORK TIMES By STANLEY REEDJUNE 30, 2014 (Click here to complete new)

China customs squeezes US DDG exports

JOC.com. Mark Szaconyi. Jun 26, 2014 12:27PM (Click here to original new)

The growth of U.S. exports of containerized distillers dried grains to China has fallen in the last five months.

Shipping lines. Scattering the fleet.

The Economist. Jun 19th 2014. (Click here to original link)

China’s regulators scupper a vast container-shipping alliance.

Sailing on alone SIZE is considered a great advantage in the container-shipping industry. The largest of the colossal vessels that now tote metal boxes between the world’s ports are twice as big as those launched a decade ago.

Spain’s economic recovery. Bouncing back

THE ECONOMIST. Jun 26th 2014. (Click here to original link)

A surprisingly strong recovery, largely export-driven.

Rejoice, Rajoy, rejoice SPAIN is, as ever, in transition. Two old totems of pride, King Juan Carlos and the national soccer team, have crashed and burned.

Trading the yuan

THE ECONOMIST Jun 21st 2014 | HONG KONG | (Click here to original new)

Buzz about the rise of China’s currency has run far ahead of sedate reality

IF HEADLINES translated into trading volumes, the yuan would be well on its way to dominating the world’s currency markets. It once again graced front pages this week after moves to lift its status in London, the world’s biggest foreign-exchange market. This was the latest instalment of a five-year-long public-relations campaign. Since 2009, when China first declared its intention to promote the yuan internationally, a string of announcements and milestones has cast the Chinese currency as a putative rival to the dollar.

The hype rests on several seemingly impressive numbers. Yuan deposits beyond China’s borders have increased tenfold in the past five years. The “dim sum” bond market for yuan-denominated debt issued outside China has gone from non-existence to a dozen issuances a month. And the yuan is the second-most-used currency in the world for trade finance.

U.S. Catfish Program Could Stymie Pacific Trade Agreement

THE NEW YORK TIMES (By RON NIXONJUNE 27, 2014) (Click here to original new)

Catfish from a farm in Vietnam are unloaded off boats to be processed for export. Credit Justin Mott for The New York Times

 

WASHINGTON — Ten Asian and Pacific nations have told the Office of the United States Trade Representative that the Agriculture Department’s catfish inspection program violates international law, and their objections could hamper Obama administration efforts to reach a major Pacific trade agreement by the end of next year.

They say that the inspection program is a trade barrier erected under the guise of a food safety measure and that it violates the United States’ obligations under World Trade Organization agreements. Among the countries protesting are Vietnam and Malaysia, which are taking part in talks for the trade agreement — known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and have the ability to derail or hold up those negotiations.