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Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
IRAN. Modern Croesus declares his economic D-Day.
BRICS. Emerging markets accelerate a parallel architecture.
USMCA. Washington divides and rules in trade negotiations.
KOREAN PENINSULA. The Kims push Trump on nuclear recognition.
INTERNATIONAL LAW. Washington sanctions the ICC’s president.
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IRAN. Crushing it
Modern Croesus declares his economic D-Day.
Donald Trump announced an “economic D-Day” for “any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran.” Bonds steadied after the Treasury doubled its buyback size.
INTELLIGENCE. Trump’s warning of “the most crushing economic operation ever taken” involving “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale” has so far failed to rattle markets, which is either a sign of the success of the Treasury’s operations or a suggestion the threat is empty. Yet lacking any realistic military options, the risk of sanctions or secondary tariffs on Iran’s partners shouldn’t be dismissed. Nor should the risk of another trade war.
FOR BUSINESS. When oil prices peaked in March, Trump was not only quick to waiver Russian crude, but Iranian stocks at sea. An increasingly sceptical US public won’t support higher prices and the bond markets, already digesting $40 trillion in US debt, won’t countenance another “Liberation Day”. Still, while Iran has already been sanctioned as much as it can, there’s ample room for tariffs against China, India and Russia. Trump’s desperate and thus dangerous.
BRICS. Behind the wall
Emerging markets accelerate a parallel architecture.
India opened the Digital BRICS Forum and Expo Thursday ahead of ministerial talk to finalise join digital policies. The Reserve Bank of India said it would discuss payment integration and central bank digital currencies with its counterparts.
INTELLIGENCE. A BRICS-coin, or dedollarisation, has largely been a fantasy, but as