News Archive – 2018

EUROPEAN UNION:
‘Make France great again!’ Trump mocks Macron over world wars as Merkel calls for ‘real true European army’
The Telegraph (London, UK), Nov 13, 2018 – Donald Trump has hit out at Emmanuel Macron with a volley of tweets saying the French were “starting to learn German in Paris” before US intervention in the world wars, rounding off the attack off with a mocking plea to “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!”
“Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia,” tweeted Mr Trump, just back from the Paris commemorations.
“But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two – How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”
….Mr Trump called the comments “very insulting”….
Minutes after his online outburst, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave her unprecedented backing to Mr Macron’s defence plans, saying she too wanted a “real true European army”, which would complement, but not rival, the Northern Atlantic Alliance, Nato.
Farage THANKS Merkel’s failure for getting Brexit ‘over the line’
Express (London, UK), Nov 13, 2018 – Nigel Farage thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a passionate speech in the European Parliament claiming her failed policies regarding immigration helped to get Brexit “over the line”.
“Without you, we would never have made it over the line with Brexit, and I want to thank you very much for that.”
He added: “Of course, many of these eurosceptic groups on the right, centre and the left will come back here after the next European elections will come back here in huge numbers, directly as a result of your immigration and asylum policy.
“You’re ‘we can cope’ led to a huge migrant tide, indeed a stampede that came across the Mediterranean. Young men, coming from very different cultures who were not going to integrate.

EUROPEAN UNION:
Macron urges European army to defend against Russia, US
Agence France Presse, Nov 6, 2018 – French President Emmanuel Macron called Tuesday for a “real European army” as the continent marks a century since the divisions of World War I, to better defend itself against Russia and even the United States….
Faced with “a Russia which is at our borders and has shown that it can be a threat”, Macron argued: “We need a Europe which defends itself better alone, without just depending on the United States, in a more sovereign manner.”

REGION-BUILDING:
Creating a New World Order Out of Regional Orders
By Alex Newman, The New American, Nov 5, 2018 – The Deep State’s globalist plan for what insiders refer to as the “New World Order” — basically, a global government controlled by themselves — begins with submerging the sovereignty of nation-states into regional “orders.” These are better understood as regional governments built using “free trade” deals as the foundation, with the European Union serving as the premier example. How do we know this is the plan? Because top Deep State globalists have said so publicly and repeatedly, and because that is the exact strategy being pursued openly.
This article originally appeared in the November 19, 2018 print edition of The New American.

NORTH AMERICA:
What’s Wrong With the USMCA?
The New American, Nov 5, 2018 – ….Chapter 30 of the USMCA establishes the creation of a “Free Trade Commission,” which is broader in scope and power than the original 1994 NAFTA Free Trade Commission. According to Article 30.2, the USMCA reads, “The Commission shall”:
(a) consider matters relating to the implementation or operation of this Agreement;
(b) consider proposals to amend or modify this Agreement;
(c) supervise the work of committees, working groups, and other subsidiary bodies established under this Agreement;
(d) consider ways to further enhance trade and investment between the Parties;
(e) adopt and update the Rules of Procedure and Code of conduct; and
(f) review the roster established under Article 31.8 (Roster and Qualifications of Panelists) every three years and, when appropriate, constitute a new roster.
In other words, the USMCA’s Free Trade Commission can make changes to the agreement itself, implement changes to the agreement, change the rules by which it operates, approve who serves on its lower subordinate committees, and oversee the work of those committees like an international bureaucracy or government — all without the consent or approval of Congress….
In fact, a North American Competitiveness Committee is to be established with “a view to promoting further economic integration among the Parties” (i.e., the United States, Mexico, and Canada) and “enhancing the competitiveness of North American exports.” (Emphasis added.) It reads as though the purpose is to make the North American bloc competitive with other trade blocs such as the EU, ASEAN, and Eurasian Economic Union, but of course, this is simply a ploy by the Deep State to abolish the modern international system of sovereign nation-states to, in turn, replace it with a transitional world order composed of interdependent transnational unions, with the view of further global integration toward a socialistic one-world economic union….
The new USMCA’s Free Trade Commission fits the criteria of James Madison’s definition of “tyranny”: Writing in The Federalist, No. 47, Founding Father James Madison stated, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” The USMCA underscores the urgent need not only to get out of the original NAFTA but to likewise reject the USMCA and all other so-called trade agreements that erode American sovereignty through the establishment of transnational executive commissions and that subordinate the United States to international regimes such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and ILO….
This article originally appeared in the November 19, 2018 print edition of The New American.

EURASIAN UNION, EUROPEAN UNION:
Moldova vote may herald end of EU integration
Russia appears to have the upper hand in Chisinau
Eurasianet (Harriman Institute, Columbia University), Oct 15, 2018 – Since his election in 2016, the Moldovan president has criticized integration efforts with the EU and NATO and pursued closer ties with Russia, namely by gaining observer status in the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
A shift toward Russia could mean normalized trade flows and other economic wins like cheaper natural gas. It could also advance further integration within the EAEU and less confrontation over Transnistria.

EURASIAN UNION:
Armenian Deputy PM: We Should Give up the Dollar
Georgia Today, Oct 1, 2018 – Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, Mher Grigoryan, has suggested the country give up use of the US dollar for trade and transition to the unified currency of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

AFRICAN UNION – EAC:
Ready for a United States of East Africa? The wheels are already turning
The East African, Sep 30, 2018 – The East African Community has kicked off the process of forming a political federation by appointing a 12-member Committee of Experts to draft a regional constitution.
This is in line with a directive by the region’s heads of state to the Council of Ministers, asking it to begin drafting laws that will pave the way for the achievement of the last pillar of East African integration.
Julius Maganda, Uganda’s EAC Minister and chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, said each partner state has appointed two members to the CoE to conduct research, consultations and eventually draft the East African Community Constitution by 2021.

SOUTH ASIA – SAARC:
Roles of China, India challenge for regional connectivity: seminar
New Age Bangladesh, Sep 4, 2018 – A seminar on the opportunities and challenges in attaining regional connectivity has identified nearly two dozens of challenges, including influences of China and India, in getting a successful regional cooperation in South Asia.
The daylong seminar on Monday repeatedly stated how and why the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation, better known as SAARC, had turned into a ‘dead-horse’ instead of having successful cooperation like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and North American Free Trade Agreement.

EURASIAN UNION:
Turkey’s meeting in Tabriz could signal turn towards Eurasia – scholar
Ahval News, (Turkey), Sep 3, 2018 – Turkey, Russia and Iran are set to meet in the northwest Iranian city of Tabriz on Sep. 7, and the United States will have to sit on the side lines as three of the most influential states in the Syrian conflict hold critical discussions, scholar John C. K. Daly wrote in an op-ed for the Arab Weekly.
Similarly, after Turkey’s long-running accession bid to the European Union was frozen over human rights concerns in 2016, it could “seek affiliation with either the Eurasian Economic Union or BRICS — the grouping of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa,” he said.

NORTH AMERICA – NAFTA:
Will Chapter 19 be a deal-breaker for Canada in NAFTA talks?
U.S. critics view its bilateral panels as unconstitutional infringements on national sovereignty
Toronto Star, Sep 2, 2018 – The provision gives countries the ability to challenge each other’s tariff duty decisions in front of an expert panel made up of members from both countries, instead of leaving it to a U.S. or Canadian court to preside over its government’s own trade squabble.
The dispute mechanism focuses on punitive duties imposed on imports that a government believes are being unfairly subsidized by the exporting country, or dumped on the foreign market at a significantly lower price than they are sold for domestically.
Critics in the U.S. have long despised Chapter 19, and view its bilateral panels as unconstitutional infringements on national sovereignty. In a new draft trade deal between Mexico and the U.S. announced last week, the provision appears to have been dropped.
NAFTA talks set to resume with key dispute resolution system at centre of table
Globe and Mail (Canada), Sept 3, 2018 – ….One industry source said there was discussion of a Chapter 19 compromise that would keep the provision but subject it to an expiration date or renegotiation in a few years’ time. Such a move would allow Mr. Lighthizer to claim victory, but give Canada the hope of keeping the system in place in future, post-Trump negotiations.
A Canadian government source, however, said the United States had not proposed any compromises, including the expiration date, to Canadian negotiators.
The proposed U.S. deal with Mexico on Chapter 11 offers another possible compromise that could be applied to Chapter 19: An “exhaustion clause” that would oblige Canada to see its case through the U.S. courts system before taking it to a NAFTA panel.
A third possibility, said Ohio trade lawyer Daniel Ujczo, is that Chapter 19 be made non-binding, effectively defanging the provision but giving Canada a fig leaf to claim victory.

SOUTH AMERICA – UNASUR:
Trump to visit Colombia in December
Bogata Post, Sep 2, 2018 – ….The issue of Venezuela and the increasingly despotic Maduro regime will also likely feature among discussions between the two heads of state. President Trump has privately pressed for more aggressive options though Colombian President Duque has expressed reservations to a military solution to the problem of Maduro’s rule. Instead, Duque insists on maintaining diplomatic pressure on the regime, which includes Colombia’s recent withdrawal from the Latin American alliance UNASUR in protest of Maduro’s continued grip on power in Venezuela.

EUROPEAN UNION:
Globalist Macron Vows to Kill Nationalism, While Italy’s Salvini Declares EU ‘Filth’
‘European sovereignty’ must become ‘model for a humanist refoundation of globalisation’
Breitbart, Aug 29, 2018 – Emmanuel Macron has vowed a globalist bloc determined to impose a progressive EU superstate on the continent will defeat “extremist” pro-national sovereignty conservatives at European Parliament elections next year.
Declaring that the world is at a “moment of great transformations”, the French President outlined his vision for a “European sovereignty” in which Brussels would have autonomy comparable to that of China or the United States of America.
Europe must become “the model for a humanist refoundation of globalisation”, he told the annual French ambassadors’ conference Monday, vowing to “redouble efforts” against patriotic conservative parties in the face of a world “where nationalisms have reawakened”.

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL:
White House considering Gulf summit, seeks new strategic alliance
‘Middle East Strategic Alliance’ a potential ‘Arab NATO’

Jerusalem Post, July 28, 2018 – Sources told The Jerusalem Post that the White House is planning a conference in mid-October that would convene Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Cooperation Council members either in Washington or at Camp David, the president’s official retreat. The parties would discuss formation of a Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) that would enhance defense ties and commitments….
Planning for the summit is still in early stages, according to Reuters, which characterizes MESA as a potential “Arab NATO” that would provide American protection for Arab powers concerned with Iran’s increasingly military presence in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

AFRICAN UNION:
Could African Union Law Shape A New Legal Order For The Continent?
The design of AU institutions is broadly similar to that of the EU with comparable institutions
HuffPost South Africa, July 14, 2018 – ….Laws of the supranational organisation evolve progressively with the institutions. It is therefore not surprising that the emerging AU law is also showing characteristics similar to EU law.
For example, the powers and jurisdiction of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights and that of the European Court of Justice are broadly similar. Also, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights have increasingly made reference to the European jurisprudence in their case law.
The emergent AU law is seen as distinct and separate from international law and the domestic laws of member states. EU law is now seen as a “supranational law” – beyond individual nation states. It’s arguable that, with time, AU law will evolve to the same level….
The emerging continental court system is also a significant step away from nation-state sovereignty. The continental court system’s decisions are binding on member states and supersede domestic courts in its area of competence.

AFRICAN UNION – EAC:
East African Court of Justice, National courts seek to harmonise laws
The New Times (Rwanda), June 18, 2018 – Strengthening cooperation between the East African Court of Justice and national courts will benefit East African community Citizens and accelerate regional integration, Dr Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, President of the East African Court of Justice, has said….
“We are obliged to further promote the potential of integration through interpretation of EAC integration treaty where laws harmonization is part of it. That is why EAC citizens will benefit from the process as they enjoy free movement across the region,” he said.

NORTH AMERICA – NAFTA:
Trump says NAFTA talks could lead to trilateral deal
China Global Television Network, June 10, 2018 – “We’ll either leave it the way it is as a threesome deal with Canada, the United States and Mexico, and change it very substantially or we’re going to make a deal directly with Canada, directly with Mexico,” Trump said….
“So we are either going to have NAFTA in a better negotiated form or we’re going to have two deals. Both of those things could happen,” Trump said…. “No tariffs, no barriers, that’s the way it should be, and no subsidies,” he said, warning that other countries could lose access to the United States if they don’t reduce trade barriers.

EUROPEAN UNION:
United States of Europe moves CLOSER as Angela Merkel backs Emmanuel Macron EU reforms
Express (London, UK), June 3, 2018 – Angela Merkel has backed key planks of Emmanuel Macron’s vision for an ever-closer European Union for the first time, including a joint EU army and financial rescue fund. In an interview with German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung she said she was in favour of Mr Macron’s plans for a combined military force.
Merkel outlines proposals for overhauling EU, including joint budget
MarketWatch, June 3, 2018 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel outlined proposals for overhauling and strengthening the architecture of the European Union in an interview published on Sunday, including combining nations’ defense capabilities and building a common investment fund for the eurozone….
The proposals, including beefing up an existing backstop for cash-strapped members of the eurozone and creating a joint budget for the currency union, came after capital markets briefly sank after the formation of a populist Italian government last week, evoking memories of the 2010 eurozone crisis. They also come against a backdrop of mounting trans-Atlantic tension after President Donald Trump slapped the EU with steep tariffs on steel and aluminum. Some analysts have predicted his aggressive stance could prompt EU members to bury their differences on a number of divisive issues.

SAARC:
Joint efforts sought to attain South Asian Economic Union’s objectives
United News of Bangladesh, May 4, 2018 – The 12th informal meeting of Saarc Finance Ministers was held here on Friday underscoring the need for concerted efforts to attain the objectives of South Asian Economic Union. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank.
Finance Minister of Nepal Yuba Raj Khatiwada….underscored that concerted efforts should be made to attain the objective of South Asian Economic Union in a phased manner as desired by Saarc leaders
The Secretary General of Saarc, Amjad Hussain B Sial….recalled that in order to enable Saarc to achieve regional economic integration, the ADB agreed to provide support to Saarc in economic integration studies, infrastructure, connectivity and energy.

EUROPEAN UNION, NORTH AMERICA (NAFTA):
In message to Trump, Europe and Mexico forge trade pact
New York Times, April 21, 2018 – The European Union and Mexico on Saturday announced a major update to their existing free trade pact signed nearly two decades ago, a development that will allow almost all goods, including agricultural products, to move between Europe and Mexico duty-free.
The deal, which has yet to be formally signed, is expected to increase trade in dairy, pork, services, digital goods and medicines between the economies. It will also give Mexico greater access to an advanced consumer market, as negotiations with the Trump administration over the modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement still appear to be on uncertain ground.
And it sends a message to Mr. Trump that some of America’s closest trading partners are moving ahead with deals of their own — potentially leaving American exporters on the losing end in foreign markets.

SOUTH AMERICA:
Six South American nations suspend membership of anti-U.S. bloc
Reuters, April 20, 2018 – Half of the nations belonging to Unasur, a South American bloc set up a decade ago to counter U.S. sway in the region, have decided to suspend their membership, a Brazilian official told Reuters on Friday.
The governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay believe the bloc has been rudderless under the current rotating presidency of Bolivia, according to a statement sent to Brazilian ministers, seen by Reuters….
Unasur was created in 2008 when leftist populism advocated by the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was at its strongest in South America. But in recent years, the bloc has been paralyzed by divisions as center-right governments have risen to power in several countries….
Unasur sought to bypass the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS), which leftists considered a tool for promoting U.S. policy in Latin America.
Venezuela’s economic collapse and political turmoil post-Chavez has divided the region.

NORTH AMERICA:
Trump links US border wall to NAFTA renegotiation, warns Mexico ‘must stop drug, people flows’
‘They must stop … or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA,’ Trump tweeted.
CNBC, April 1, 2018 – President Donald Trump on Sunday explicitly linked his proposal to build a barrier between the U.S. and Mexico to ongoing NAFTA negotiations, as he renewed a warning that the flow of illicit drugs and undocumented immigrants from the country “must stop.”
Mexico aids Easter invasion of over 1,000 illegals into US
Washington Examiner, March 31, 2018 – Mexican officials have aided a “Holy Week” caravan of over 1,000 migrants headed to the U.S. border to demand Easter asylum, according to reports. Mostly Hondurans, they posted celebration videos on Facebook and chanted “We are migrants. We are not criminals. We are workers.”

ASEAN:

Why Australia joining ASEAN is a great idea
This is a bombshell
‘Not that the 10-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations is any substitute for the US ally. Nor is it any protection against a rampant China. It’s just that there aren’t many other options.’
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), March 15, 2018 – ….Recently it even declared the ambition of making ASEAN “EU-like” as a single community. But ASEAN is a long way from the European Union’s structure of rules and institutions. It has no common political principle like democracy, it has no regional parliament, no shared defence force, not even any rules for many areas of activity…. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has endorsed the idea that Australia should join: “I think it’s a good idea,” he told Fairfax Media. This is a bombshell.
Australian leaders as far back as John Gorton and as recently as Malcolm Turnbull have fantasised about this idea in private. They have not spoken it in public, however, wary of the postcolonial insecurities of the ASEAN capitals.
A confident, modernising Widodo has broken through those insecurities. He sees that Australia would strengthen ASEAN against the challenge of an assertive China.

EUROPEAN UNION:
Undaunted Trump threatens tax on EU cars as trade war escalates
International Business Times, Singapore Edition, March 4, 2018 – “If the EU (European Union) wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on US companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the US,” he wrote. “They make it impossible for our cars to sell there.”
The entire scenario turns into a similar trade war US unleashed on Japan during the 90s when Japanese manufacturers were forced to shell out more investments and shift their manufacturing units to the US.
Trump to Impose Sweeping Steel and Aluminum Tariffs
Trump Tweet: ‘When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.’
New York Times, March 1, 2018 – ….The action, which came against the wishes of Mr. Trump’s pro-trade advisers, would impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, effectively placing a tax on every foreign shipment of those metals into the United States….
Mr. Trump’s authority to impose such sweeping tariffs stems from a Commerce Department investigation that concluded last month that imported metal threatened national security by degrading the American industrial base….
The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, called the measure “blatant intervention to protect U.S. domestic industry”…. “We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk,” Mr. Juncker said.

GCC:
Trump calls UAE, Saudi leaders, urging Gulf cooperation to counter Iran
Xinhua (China), Feb 28, 2018 – The White House said in a statement that in Trump’s call with the UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the two leaders discussed regional development and opportunities to further enhance bilateral partnership on security and economic issues.
Trump expressed the hope that all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states could better counter Iran’s “destabilizing” activities and defeat terrorists and extremists. The two leaders also said that a united GCC is important “to mitigate regional threats and ensure the region’s economic prosperity.”

SAARC (SOUTH ASIA):
Diplomatic isolation no more? Modi government invites Pakistan for key WTO talks in Delhi
Sign of melting of ice between India and Pakistan
Financial Express (India), Feb 26, 2018 – ….India is learnt to have extended an invitation to Islamabad to attend the informal World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Delhi. According to The Indian Express, Pakistan Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik will be attending the two-day conference starting on March 19-20…. Significantly, the report states that India has “withdrawn its objections to participating in multilateral meetings with Pakistan,” adding that the change in New Delhi’s stance came after it was “pressurized” by the international community to “reach out” to the government and civil society of the neighbouring country. The development has once again raised questions on whether India will participate in the SAARC summit, which will be held in Pakistan, or not.

MERCOSUR (SOUTH AMERICA):
U.S. and Brazil: How Two Regional Giants Are Split on Trade and Politics
Sratfor Worldview, Feb 26, 2018 – For decades, the United States encouraged Brazil to join a free trade area in the Americas, but Brasilia rejected Washington’s overtures as it sought to first consolidate its regional leadership through the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). For Brazil, Washington’s desire to promote free trade in the Americas represented an impediment to the creation of a more autonomous regional South American bloc, such as Mercosur. Additionally, Brazilian industries that had benefited from protectionist measures exerted pressure on the government to reject any U.S. entreaties on free trade….
U.S. proposals for a free trade area in the Americas have largely foundered because of Mercosur’s opposition. Other countries in Latin America, however, have banded together to create a rival bloc dedicated to free trade, much to Brazil’s chagrin. In 2012, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, all of which enjoy close ties with the United States, created the Pacific Alliance to counter Mercosur. Brasilia perceived Washington’s hand behind the Pacific Alliance, decrying the new entity as a tool designed to weaken Mercosur’s role in the region.

EURASIAN UNION & IRAN:
Iranian market in Russia’s Volga region to be established
Will smooth the path for Iran’s membership in EEU
Tehran Times, Feb 17, 2018 – During a meeting at Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Saratov Region in Russia, under the title of Regional Cooperation in Eurasian Economic Union: Collaboration with Iran, the experts and representatives from socio-political unions, governmental organizations, and trade societies of Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan investigated possibilities of regional cooperation between Iran and Volga region.
The participants unanimously backed the idea of establishing an Iranian market in the Russian region, which will smooth the path for Iran’s membership in EEU.

NORTH AMERICA – NAFTA:
Exclusive Leaked Docs: DHS Staffers Advocating for ‘Buy American, Hire American’ NAFTA Reform Told to ‘Stand Down’
Free flow of workers
Breitbart, Feb 8, 2018 – Senior administration officials quashed a letter from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staff recommending the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer negotiate to end a little-known visa program that permits tens of thousands of Canadian and Mexican white-collar workers to work in America….
Sources familiar indicate that senior USTR staff do not want the president to know about the TN visas in NAFTA, and they fear Lighthizer, if aware, would negotiate for a position that is favorable to the president’s viewpoint.
Lesser known than the hotly debated H-1B and EB-5 visa program, the employment-based TN visa program is the result of provisions governing temporary entry for business persons included in NAFTA. The TN program allows Canadian and Mexican professionals to work in the U.S. in various occupations, including, but not limited to: accountants, engineers, teachers, pharmacists, lawyers, hotel managers, and land surveyors. Visa holders are permitted to reside in the U.S. for three years, but the program is uncapped, so holders can renew this status an unlimited number of times. Spouses and dependent children may also, if eligible, be granted dependent status (TD) to accompany the TN visa-holder.

EURASIAN UNION:
Russia will seek stronger integration of EAEU once it presides in 2018, vows diplomat
‘Supranational regulation and elimination of specific exemptions from the common market’
TASS (Russia), Jan 31, 2018 – The agreement is the basic document defining the accords between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for creating the Eurasian Economic Union for the free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce and conducting coordinated, agreed on or common policies in key sectors of the economy, such as energy, industry, agriculture and transport.
Is This Putin’s Utopia?
Common market for pharmaceuticals this year, electricity by 2019, and financial markets by 2025
Coda Story, Jan 29, 2018 – There are really two Eurasian Unions. One is economic — based on a free trade pact. The other is geopolitical and ideological, driven primarily by Russia’s desire to remain a global power….
The EEU is run day-to-day by the Eurasian Economic Commission from a nondescript office park in Moscow. Led by former Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the commission is developing plans to further integrate the member states’ economies — a common market for pharmaceuticals this year, electricity by 2019, and financial markets by 2025.

EUROPEAN UNION, MERCOSUR (South America):
Catching a Mercosaurus
Deal would signal EU’s determination to lead global trading order in absence of US
Financial Times (London, UK), Jan 30, 2018 – Ministers from Brazil, Argentina and the rest of the trade bloc will be in Brussels on Tuesday to embark on what officials describe as “the beginning of the endgame” of negotiations on a trade deal that has been discussed on and off for 20 years.
The deal has assumed great political importance for both sides. For Europe, it would send a powerful signal of its determination to lead the global trading order in the absence of the US. For Mercosur, a bloc which over the years has struggled to overcome internal disagreements, it would be a major step forward to sign a meaningful trade agreement with a large trading partner.

EUROPEAN UNION:
Trump hints at fight over $1 trillion trade with Europe
President Trump has warned that the U.S. administration may soon address “very unfair” trade with the European Union
CNN Money, Jan 29, 2018 – “I’ve had a lot of problems with the European Union, and it may morph into something very big from … a trade standpoint,” Trump said in an interview with British broadcaster ITV on Sunday.
In targeting the EU, Trump risks undermining a trading relationship that covers 800 million people and more than half the world’s economic output.

AFRICAN UNION – EAC:
Bitcoin Adoption in Africa Hinders EAC Plans for a Unified Currency
Bitcoin.com, Jan 2, 2018 – Due to a declining economy and eroding national currencies, the East African Community (EAC), an intergovernmental central bank organization composed of six countries in eastern Africa have plans to adopt a unified currency. However, the growing popularity of bitcoin and other digital currencies are hindering the East African central bank’s abilities to establish a harmonized EAC currency.

EURASIAN UNION:

Eurasian Economic Union kicks off New Year with new customs code entering into force
Powers transformed from national to union level
TASS (Russia), Jan 1, 2018 – The new Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) comes into force on January 1. Five countries – Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia – have been working on the Code for two years…. Thanks to the efforts by EAEU members, the code has a centralizing role. A greater part of the powers is transferred from the national to the union level by the code. The number of rules and regulations that are now determined solely by the union (unified for the participating countries) has increased from 114 to 297.