International
Definitive green light in the EU to extend the suspension of tariffs on Ukraine for one more year
The European Union gave the definitive green light on Monday to extend for one more year, from next June 6 to June 5, 2025, the suspension of tariffs and quotas on imports of Ukrainian products as a measure to support Kiev in the face of Russian aggression.
This measure, approved by the Council of the EU (the countries), is a “vital” support of the Union for the Ukrainian economy in the face of the “devastation caused by Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression,” said the executive vice president of the European Commission and head of Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, in a statement.
The suspension of tariffs for one more year, to which the plenary of the European Parliament had given its approval on April 23, will guarantee “that we keep Ukrainian products in circulation, taking into account at the same time the concerns of the EU agri-food sector,” Dombrovskis said.
The new extension includes safeguard measures to protect certain European products, essentially agricultural, in the event that Ukrainian imports not subject to tariffs generate problems in their local markets, something that some States had complained about in recent months.
“Thanks to the income generated by Ukrainian exports to and through the EU, Ukraine will have more financial means to win this war and will be in a stronger position to recover from it,” said the Community executive vice president.
The suspension of tariffs and exports of Ukrainian cereals by the so-called European solidarity lines have made it possible that, despite the war, trade in Ukrainian products has remained relatively stable, the European Commission stressed in a statement.
EU imports from Ukraine amounted to 22.8 billion euros in 2023, compared to 24 billion euros in 2021, just before the war that broke out in 2022.
According to what was approved in the EU, the Commission can act quickly and impose any measure it deems necessary if there is a significant disturbance in the Union market as a whole or in the markets of one or more Member States of the Community club as a result of Ukrainian imports.
As part of the reinforced safeguard measures to protect the farmers of the Twenty-seven, the Commission can activate “an emergency brake” for particularly sensitive agricultural products such as poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, grains, corn and honey.
If imports of these products exceed the average volume of imports recorded in the second half of 2021 and all of 2022 and 2023, tariffs may be reimposed.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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