G7 sanctions and Russia’s pivot to China | Guide to the Global Economy

AtlanticCouncil
29 Feb 202423:42

Summary

TLDRThis week's Guide to the Global Economy discusses Russia's economic stabilization two years into its invasion of Ukraine, focusing on its trade reorientation from the EU to China. It also covers a weapons swap deal between the U.S. and Ecuador, which aimed to provide old Russian military equipment to Ukraine, and the retaliatory Russian ban on Ecuadorian banana imports. Additionally, it examines concerning trends at the WTO, like the dropping number of formal trade consultations compared to informal complaints, and outlooks for reforming its dispute settlement system.

Takeaways

  • 😊 The team focused this week's research on the economic implications of the 2-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
  • 📉 There was an initial 50%+ drop in G7 exports to Russia after the invasion due to sanctions and companies pulling out.
  • 🚛 China has filled the gap, increasing exports to Russia by 43% as Russia reorients away from the EU.
  • 🛢 China is exporting industrial goods to Russia to support its war effort by providing raw materials, chemicals, etc.
  • 🚗 Chinese car exports to Russia jumped 900% as Western companies pulled out of Russia.
  • 💊 The EU still exports some goods to Russia like pharmaceuticals and food that are exempt from sanctions.
  • 😳 Russia's increasing reliance on China could leave it vulnerable as the subordinate partner long-term.
  • 👨‍💻 President Nabeua of Ecuador proposed exchanging Russian weapons for US military equipment to send to Ukraine.
  • 🍌 Russia banned Ecuadorian banana imports in retaliation, which could hurt 20% of Ecuador's banana export market.
  • 🤝 There is disagreement at the WTO over reforming the dispute resolution body, so major realignment is unlikely at the upcoming ministerial conference.

Q & A

  • What is the main topic of the research presented in the transcript?

    -The main research topic is analyzing Russia's trading relationship and economic implications two years after its invasion of Ukraine.

  • What happened to Russia's imports right after the invasion of Ukraine?

    -Russia's imports from G7 countries dropped by over 50% right after the invasion due to sanctions, export controls, and companies pulling out of Russia.

  • Why have China's exports to Russia increased recently?

    -China's exports to Russia have increased due to Russia reorienting its economy away from traditional suppliers like the EU and towards China. China also needs new export markets as other countries turn away from Chinese goods.

  • What goods is the EU still exporting to Russia and why?

    -The EU is still exporting goods exempt from sanctions like pharmaceuticals, food, and other items that are important for EU producers' livelihoods. There has been pushback on sanctioning these goods further.

  • What deal did Ecuador try to strike with the US regarding old Russian military equipment?

    -Ecuador's president proposed exchanging $200 million worth of old Russian military equipment for new US military equipment, with the intention of the US then sending the Russian equipment to Ukraine.

  • How did Russia retaliate when it found out about the proposed Ecuador-US deal?

    -Russia banned banana imports from Ecuador's 5 biggest banana companies, which account for 20% of Ecuador's banana sales.

  • What is significant about the divergence in WTO trade concerns and consultations after 2019?

    -It shows that while countries are raising many trade concerns, they are not moving to the formal adjudication process for resolving disputes due to issues with the WTO's appeals body.

  • Why has the WTO's appeals body been unable to function effectively since 2019?

    -The US has blocked appointments of new appeals judges since 2019 over concerns that the body oversteps its boundaries. This has left the appeals body without the quorum it needs.

  • Which two WTO members file the most trade consultations and complaints?

    -The United States and the European Union file the most WTO trade consultations and complaints.

  • What reforms are being discussed for the WTO appeals body and what is the likelihood of agreement?

    -Principles to govern appeals reforms have some agreement but specifics around composition and rules still have considerable disagreement, so major realignment is unlikely at the upcoming ministerial conference.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Russia's imports stabilize after initial post-invasion drop

This paragraph discusses how Russia's imports drastically dropped after the invasion of Ukraine due to sanctions and companies pulling out. There was a 50% drop in G7 exports initially. Over time, imports have stabilized again, with a rise in imports from China making up for declines from the EU. Russia has reoriented its economy towards China.

05:01

🚛 EU still exports some goods to Russia out of necessity

The EU still exports about $3 billion of goods to Russia per month that are exempt from sanctions like pharmaceuticals and food. This helps support EU producers and livelihoods. Further banning these remaining EU exports to Russia will be difficult given the economic impact.

10:02

🍌 Ecuador's weapons deal with US prompts Russia to ban banana imports

Ecuador made a deal to exchange old Russian military equipment with the US for new American weapons. Russia perceived this as the weapons going to aid Ukraine's war effort. In retaliation, Russia banned Ecuadorian banana imports, which represent 20% of Ecuador's banana exports.

15:05

🌍 More weapons swaps by US likely as way to arm Ukraine

After backlash, Ecuador reversed its weapons deal with the US, prompting Russia to end its banana import ban. The incident shows the US is finding creative ways to gather Russian-made weapons to send to Ukraine, which finds them easily usable. More such weapons swaps are likely.

20:07

📉 WTO disputes increase but formal resolutions drop off

This paragraph examines WTO trade disputes and dispute resolutions over time. Trade concerns raised at WTO committees have increased sharply since 2019 while formal dispute consultations have dropped. This divergence is due to issues with the WTO's dispute resolution body.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡trade

Trade refers to the exchange of goods and services between countries. It is a key theme in the video, which examines Russia's trade relationships and imports, EU trade with Russia, China-Russia trade, and issues being discussed at upcoming WTO meetings. Examples of trade discussed include Russia's imports from China and the EU, EU food and pharmaceutical exports to Russia, and China-Russia automobile trade.

💡sanctions

Economic sanctions are penalties imposed by one country or bloc on another to achieve political aims. The video analyzes how Western sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine severely disrupted its imports and trade in the short term. It also examines how Russia has stabilized imports by turning to China, though this risks increased dependency.

💡imports

Imports refer to products and goods bought by a country from foreign suppliers. The video examines trends in Russia's imports from major partners like China and the EU after invasion-related sanctions. It tracks Russia's progress in restoring import volumes through alternate suppliers.

💡WTO

The WTO (World Trade Organization) regulates trade relations between nations. The video discusses issues at WTO like the high number of trade concerns vs low dispute consultations, the non-functioning of its appeals body, and upcoming reforms at the 13th WTO ministerial conference.

💡Ukraine invasion

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is a pivotal geopolitical event discussed. The video analyzes its economic impacts like sanctions, import/trade disruption in Russia and realignments with China. It also covers weapon support for Ukraine using Russian equipment.

💡China-Russia relations

The video examines how Russia's relations with and economic dependence on China have strengthened since the Ukraine invasion. With fewer trading partners, Russia has turned to China for imports, exports and absorbing its goods not sold elsewhere.

💡EU exports

The EU is discussed as a major trading partner and export source for Russia, especially for unsanctioned goods like food and medicine. EU exports to Russia dropped post-invasion but later partially recovered.

💡food exports

Food items are highlighted as a key European export to Russia exempt from sanctions. The EU has pushed back against bans on food exports that could economically hurt its producers.

💡automobile trade

The video uses surging Chinese automobile exports to Russia as an example of Russia's import realignment and import substitution away from Western suppliers towards China after the invasion.

💡weapon swaps

The video discusses the example of Ecuador offering old Russia-made weapons to the US in return for new equipment that would be passed on to aid Ukraine, as part of arrangements to arm Ukraine with usable Russian equipment.

Highlights

Russia has restabilized its import economy after sanctions through increasing trade with China

China's exports to Russia jumped 43% from 2022 to 2023 as Russia became one of the only large economies still seeing rapid Chinese trade growth

EU pharmaceutical and food exports to Russia continue despite sanctions due to producer pushback and exemptions

China's need for new export markets as countries turn away from Chinese goods ties it closer to Russia economically

In the long run, Russia's economic reliance on China gives China dominant power in the relationship

Biden offered Ecuador modern US weapons in exchange for $200 million of old Russian military equipment to send to Ukraine

Russia retaliated by banning Ecuadorian banana imports, a major Ecuador export, after the weapons deal

The US is finding creative ways to gather Russian weapons to send to Ukraine by trading with countries that have old Soviet-era equipment

More weapon swap deals between the US and countries with Russian equipment are likely in the future as the US tries to arm Ukraine

WTO trade disputes have stalled since 2019 due to the US blockade on appointing judges to the appeals body

Despite WTO problems, the US and EU remain the most active in raising trade complaints and consultations and the US wins most of its complaints

While some WTO reform principles are agreed, substantial disagreement remains on practical changes to the appeals process

China and the EU are the most frequent targets of US trade complaints at the WTO

There is cautious optimism around potential WTO appeals reform at the upcoming ministerial conference

The US wins almost 90% of WTO cases it brings as a complainant, so has a strong interest in reforming rather than abandoning the appeals system

Transcripts

play00:01

[Music]

play00:07

I'm everyone welcome back to guide to

play00:09

the global economy I'm Sophia Bush and

play00:11

assistant director with the goo

play00:13

economics Center I'm filling in for Josh

play00:15

lipsky this week um and we're going to

play00:18

talk about the team's research so first

play00:21

we're going to talk about um Ecuador's

play00:25

uh economic relationship with Russia

play00:28

we're also going to talk about the

play00:29

upcoming WTO ministerial conference but

play00:32

first i'm going to talk to Neils Graham

play00:34

about our lead hey Sophia so this week

play00:37

you know commemorating the two-year

play00:39

anniversary of Russia's legal invasion

play00:41

of Ukraine we decided to focus on sort

play00:43

of economic implications of this and we

play00:45

wanted to do a real deep dive into

play00:46

Russia's trading relationship and that's

play00:48

been the real focus of the lead this

play00:49

week okay great let's take a

play00:52

look so really as you can see in the

play00:55

graph you know what we're really looking

play00:56

at is sort of how has Russia been able

play00:59

to restabilize its economy especially

play01:00

it's import economy following a

play01:02

combination of sort of G7 sanctions and

play01:04

sort of a broader Coalition G7 has put

play01:06

together as well as broader Western

play01:08

moral outrage along with Russia's

play01:10

Invasion where a number of companies

play01:11

have pulled out of Russia even beyond

play01:13

the sort of legal requirements here and

play01:15

so let's let's figure out what we're

play01:18

looking at here so I'm seeing a big drop

play01:21

off that's after the invasion I'm

play01:25

assuming that's because of sanctions and

play01:27

Export controls exactly right so in the

play01:30

immediate after after the invasion you

play01:31

know going back two years ago was a real

play01:33

surprise I think firstly for a lot of

play01:34

firms you know it was a real sudden sort

play01:36

of invasion a lot of folks in the

play01:37

immediate aftermath we saying this is

play01:39

not going to happen this is a true

play01:40

buildup so that that's the sort of a

play01:42

massive drop off you see there where so

play01:44

many companies so many sort of

play01:45

organizations trying to figure out what

play01:46

are we going to do now that this kind of

play01:49

massive Technic shift has happened in

play01:50

the geopolitical landscape and what you

play01:52

really saw is particularly for G7

play01:54

exports but also broadly globally and

play01:55

you see this with in the China line as

play01:56

well exports drastically fell so G7 in

play01:59

the immediate aftermath exports dropped

play02:01

some about like 50 a little bit over 50%

play02:04

and um afterwards it slowly recovered

play02:07

this was a combination of a few

play02:08

different factors first of which was

play02:09

sort of coming to terms with the

play02:10

invasion a lot of things still weren't

play02:12

clear you know companies were still

play02:13

trying to figure out what are my

play02:14

operations looking like in Russia what

play02:16

are my legal obligations to the US howle

play02:17

I personally feel about this on top of

play02:19

that you had long-term contracts that

play02:20

now returned into Force you did see some

play02:22

delivery of goods overall but on top of

play02:25

that you know long-term wise we do see a

play02:27

decline in sort of G7 trade really

play02:29

focused on the EU okay so this is not

play02:32

just because of firms being directly

play02:34

impacted by sanctions but them trying to

play02:37

navigate the um environment okay and

play02:40

what we're looking at is values not

play02:43

share exactly so the graph itself shows

play02:46

a three-month rolling average of imports

play02:48

um and this is also why it doesn't seem

play02:50

as Stark the initial drop off if you

play02:52

look at the pure trade data you know the

play02:54

the jump is a little bit more but we do

play02:55

a three-month rolling average to kind of

play02:57

uh smooth out some of the seasonality in

play02:59

between the individual data but either

play03:01

way we have this immediate Stark drop

play03:03

50% in total Imports and we have a slow

play03:05

recovery not really from uh kind of your

play03:07

traditional sources of Russian Imports

play03:09

namely the EU but rather this real Stark

play03:11

rise in imports from China in particular

play03:14

is this just part of China's postco

play03:17

recovery is it just within the trend

play03:20

line no I think a few different things

play03:21

are at play here you know first a lot of

play03:23

the attention in Washington has been

play03:24

focused on really the direct support

play03:26

China has provided the sort of Russian

play03:28

military effort when I say that you know

play03:29

I'm saying explicit direct lethal Aid

play03:31

this is still a red line that China's

play03:33

yet to cross but this is the sort of

play03:35

industrial support sending China things

play03:36

or sending sorry Russia things like

play03:38

rubber chemicals raw materials iron a

play03:41

range of different minerals it needs to

play03:42

keep its war machine war economy running

play03:45

so this is part of it on top of this you

play03:47

know it speaks to a broader Trend within

play03:49

Russia and you can kind of see if we go

play03:50

back to kind of 2020 and even Beyond

play03:52

there's been a slow rise in terms of

play03:54

Chinese uh Imports or Chinese exports to

play03:56

Russia overall and this speaks to a

play03:58

longer term partnership Russia and China

play04:00

been pursuing really since 2016 of tying

play04:02

the two economies closer and closer

play04:04

together so it's kind of you have to

play04:06

take it within that context as well

play04:07

where you would see a lot of this

play04:09

increase with or without the invasion

play04:10

The Invasion did however supercharge it

play04:12

and really allow this partnership to

play04:14

Blossom in new ways okay so is it just

play04:17

these sort of industrial goods and

play04:19

inputs or or is there anything else

play04:21

that's going on here no it's it's Prim

play04:26

industrial goods are a real large

play04:27

portion of it same with the sort of

play04:29

mechanical inputs that you'd need to

play04:31

kind of again run a wartime economy

play04:32

whether it's building different things

play04:33

you need for sort of uh military

play04:35

equipment but on top of this it's just a

play04:37

complete reorientation of the Russian

play04:39

economy away from traditional suppliers

play04:41

like the EU towards China so we're

play04:43

really seeing a flood of consumer goods

play04:46

uh from China to Russia and I think cars

play04:48

are a real great example of this you

play04:49

know the immediate aftermath of the

play04:50

invasion a lot of Western car

play04:52

manufacturers pulled out of their joint

play04:54

ventures within Russian car or within

play04:55

Russian car companies on top of that

play04:58

cars were one of the different Goods

play04:59

that were really banned especially

play05:00

luxury cars by the G7 so what you saw is

play05:03

a complete reorientation towards the

play05:05

Chinese car market and Chinese Imports

play05:07

or Chinese exports to Russia of cars

play05:09

jumped 900% when you compare 2019 to

play05:12

2023 and this is shared across a range

play05:14

of other Goods but I think cars are

play05:15

really illustrative of this yeah I mean

play05:18

that's a pretty intense data point but

play05:21

okay if I'm looking at this chart again

play05:24

so the EU exports Dro but then they rise

play05:27

again so what is making up that rise

play05:31

like what is the EU still exporting sure

play05:34

so there's a range of goods that are

play05:36

firstly kind of exempt from sanctions so

play05:38

what you're seeing in terms of the

play05:39

remaining EU exports is sort of I guess

play05:41

three trillion or three billion dollars

play05:43

worth of goods a month coming out of the

play05:44

EU are combination of things that are

play05:46

exempt entirely from sanctions and these

play05:48

are things like Pharmaceuticals so

play05:49

Pharmaceuticals EU is still sending

play05:51

around 600 uh million a month or so on

play05:54

top of that you have a lot of food

play05:55

stuffs as well the EU is a large

play05:57

agriculture producer this is one area

play05:58

for example or China has not really been

play06:00

able to pick up China is not a big food

play06:01

exporter so the EU has continued to send

play06:03

food to Russia overall on top of that

play06:06

there are range of other Goods just kind

play06:07

of strange things that aren't sanctioned

play06:09

things like Spanish perfumes for example

play06:11

or maybe specific cooking wear Goods

play06:13

that are built in the baltics for

play06:14

example that aren't necessarily

play06:15

sanctioned and that the G7 may move

play06:17

towards sanctioning but they've gotten a

play06:19

lot of push back up to now I think the

play06:20

other real important thing to remember

play06:23

is that Russia is buying a lot of these

play06:25

Goods but these goods are the livelihood

play06:27

of so many different EU sort of

play06:29

producers

play06:30

different Mom andp Pop shops and so

play06:31

forth so there's a real push back right

play06:33

now on uh the EU side especially on kind

play06:36

of the uh increasing ban of non sort of

play06:39

war effort vital Goods overall you know

play06:41

we have to balance the pain that we are

play06:43

putting on the Russian economy with the

play06:45

sort of corresponding pain that

play06:46

different producers especially in the EU

play06:48

are feeling and that's the real tight

play06:49

walk the G 7 has to walk right now and

play06:51

that's the real reason why since really

play06:53

in the past you know eight or so months

play06:54

we haven't really seen substantial new

play06:56

efforts to uh kind of harm trade between

play06:58

the G7 and a rush overall but going

play07:00

forward you know I I I think I want to

play07:03

really Echo the points that it's going

play07:05

to be very very hard to further

play07:06

disintermediate the trade between sort

play07:08

of G7 and Russia we've already touched

play07:09

on kind of these key Goods but that

play07:11

doesn't mean it's not necessar

play07:12

necessarily possible I think one key

play07:14

example of this is the recent sanctions

play07:16

packages that Biden has promised around

play07:18

the death of uh Russian opposition

play07:20

leader Alexander naldi and we could see

play07:22

this further impact trade flows

play07:23

especially as the war drags onto the

play07:25

third year there may be more support to

play07:27

take additional action so we could see

play07:28

this picture sort of muddling in the

play07:30

future but as of right now as you can

play07:31

kind of see in the final few bars of the

play07:33

graph uh at least Russian's import story

play07:35

has really stabilized and returned back

play07:37

to the 2019 levels is there anything we

play07:40

should be thinking about that maybe

play07:42

could be risky sure so just as China or

play07:45

just as Russia is increasingly turning

play07:47

to China uh for these different Goods in

play07:49

the short term it's really helping their

play07:50

war effort in the long run it's really

play07:52

building a strong dependency uh from

play07:54

Russia onto China you know this is what

play07:56

we're seeing when folks talk about the

play07:58

new vacillation of Russia to China

play08:00

overall comparing it to the relationship

play08:01

maybe the Soviet Union and China had

play08:04

back in the 1960s except the tables are

play08:06

now flipped with China being the sort of

play08:07

dominant partner here I I think that's

play08:09

totally fair you know Russia has few

play08:10

other places to turn and it's going to

play08:12

be increasingly tying its economy its

play08:13

livelihood to the Chinese economy but I

play08:16

also don't want to diminish the sort of

play08:17

Chinese side of this as well you know as

play08:19

China is increasingly turning to Russia

play08:21

to buy its different Goods it's facing

play08:23

really strong headwinds around the world

play08:25

you know Chinese trade from 2022 to 2023

play08:27

dropped about 5% in dollar terms for

play08:30

Russia this was a surge of about 43%

play08:32

Russia is really the only large economy

play08:35

that China is still seeing rapid trade

play08:37

growth with and especially as countries

play08:38

like the EU in particular turn away from

play08:40

Chinese Goods with their things like

play08:42

their EV probe they just recently

play08:43

announced a new Probe on subsidies of

play08:45

Chinese trains they are going to need

play08:47

new markets to absorb these different

play08:48

goods and Russia is a key example of it

play08:50

so while I don't want to diminish the

play08:52

sort of relationship that Russia is

play08:53

incredibly reliant on China China too

play08:55

needs Russia as a new sort of export

play08:57

Market where it can buy the goods that

play08:59

it's no longer being able to sell in its

play09:00

own domestic Market or abroad in places

play09:02

like the EU or the United States okay

play09:05

all right well thanks Neils we'll keep

play09:07

an eye on this thank

play09:12

you okay for the next section we're

play09:14

gonna talk to Alexandre who's one of our

play09:17

young Global professionals with the GE

play09:19

economics Center hi Alexandre hi Sophia

play09:22

okay so you looked into Ecuador this

play09:25

week um what made you look into it and

play09:28

what did you find yeah uh thanks s for

play09:30

this question so when I was starting

play09:33

brainstorming a bit for this edition of

play09:35

the uh Guide to the global economy I

play09:38

wanted to find a story connected to some

play09:40

major cultural pop uh events happening

play09:44

during the season and of course I

play09:46

thought about Carnival so I started

play09:49

doing a research on Latin America and

play09:52

then I found this story very interesting

play09:55

story about Ecuador basically I

play09:58

discovered this tweet um published by

play10:02

the new elect newly elected president um

play10:06

president

play10:07

naboa um of Ecuador he's only 36 year

play10:11

old so a very young leader uh that uh

play10:15

published this video when he uh tells

play10:18

about this exchange that he was planning

play10:22

to do with the us and this exchange

play10:25

involved um weapons and particular L

play10:30

they wanted to exchange scrub metal

play10:33

coming from Ecuador to the US in

play10:36

exchange of uh new modern US made uh

play10:42

military equipment okay so he's saying

play10:44

this on social media yeah so what is it

play10:48

scrap metal is it what what exactly is

play10:52

actually happen well it's not really

play10:55

scrap metal actually um he's referring

play10:59

to Russian uh old military equipment uh

play11:04

that was uh created during the Soviet

play11:07

era and its value is about $200 million

play11:12

so it's not really scrub M scrub metal

play11:15

and it can actually be very useful for

play11:18

uh military purposes especially maybe

play11:22

Ukraine okay so the US doesn't actually

play11:26

want these old weapons that they're

play11:28

calling scrap metal but how are they

play11:31

able to send it to Ukraine how is all of

play11:34

this actually happening yeah it's

play11:35

interesting so basically the US made

play11:38

this deal with NOOA saying that they

play11:41

will give to Ecuador this uh us made um

play11:45

equipment in exchange of uh russian-made

play11:49

weapons the point here is that the US

play11:52

does not really want to use that Russian

play11:56

made uh weapons but instead uh um

play12:00

President Biden wants to direct this uh

play12:03

equipment to a third country which is

play12:06

indeed Ukraine um this was uh not super

play12:12

clear from the original deal um but it

play12:16

was then discovered that this was the

play12:19

real intentions behind this agreement

play12:21

between the two countries okay so but

play12:25

why does Ukraine want old weapons why

play12:27

wouldn't we just be able to send them

play12:29

the new weapons yeah so it's very

play12:31

convenient for ukrainians using uh old

play12:34

russian-made weapons for several reasons

play12:38

um first of all they most of their um

play12:42

equipment uh the beginning of the war

play12:44

was made of Russian made weapons

play12:47

especially coming from the Soviet era um

play12:51

so they are feeling already comfortable

play12:54

with using these type of weapons and

play12:57

also um this type of donation

play12:59

complements what they already have so

play13:02

it's quite useful in addition to that um

play13:05

sending us made weapons will not really

play13:08

be convenient uh because uh it will also

play13:11

involve the sending um American soldiers

play13:16

to explain to ukrainians house to use

play13:19

this uh uh this equipment and another

play13:22

aspect to consider is that through these

play13:25

swaps the US can also engage with other

play13:28

count countries in this case Ecuador so

play13:31

it's also a way for the US to um improve

play13:34

their alliances in other region so it's

play13:38

a it's a mix of the of factors right

play13:41

okay that makes

play13:42

sense but I mean I'm sure Russia

play13:46

couldn't have been happy about this and

play13:48

even though they're calling it scrap

play13:50

metal I'm I'm sure that's you know a

play13:53

pretty easy thing to see through exactly

play13:56

they knew that it wasn't about scrub

play13:59

metal uh it was about serious military

play14:02

equipment and uh because of that after a

play14:06

few days after this deal between noo and

play14:09

and Biden um the Russian foreign

play14:12

Ministry decided to ban um banana

play14:16

Imports coming from the five biggest

play14:20

banana companies in Ecuador and this is

play14:22

actually a very important decision

play14:25

because Russia is the uh Main uh

play14:29

importer of uh Ecuador's banana sales

play14:33

and uh this would represent a a

play14:36

significant hit causing potentially 20%

play14:39

of Market drop so it's uh yeah it's

play14:44

pretty significant and uh of course this

play14:49

uh was uh the reason why they uh put

play14:54

this decision in place was uh not so

play14:58

clear cut uh they first said that this

play15:01

was because of a suspected disease found

play15:04

found in previous shipments but in the

play15:09

the Ecuador food agency disagree with

play15:12

this position they said that only 0.3%

play15:15

of previous shipments was affected by

play15:18

this pest so probably there are other

play15:20

reasons behind this Choice okay that's

play15:24

pretty uh pretty interesting so it seems

play15:27

like it would be really reasonable to

play15:29

conclude that this was a retaliatory

play15:32

economic measure it's it's reasonable

play15:35

and uh uh we can also further um justify

play15:41

this conclusion uh by considering the

play15:44

most recent updates about this story

play15:47

because just a few days ago we

play15:49

discovered that actually um Ecuador

play15:52

reversed his decision its decision to

play15:55

engage with us in this uh exchange of

play15:57

weapons

play15:59

and just after Ecuador made this um

play16:03

change his position um Russia decided to

play16:07

end its ban on banana sales so okay so

play16:12

they made the decision Russia retaliated

play16:15

and now everything's reversed exactly

play16:18

yeah okay I mean that's okay so this is

play16:21

really interesting but is this I mean it

play16:25

seems kind of like a niche issue is it

play16:29

just like us Ecuador Russia or are there

play16:33

any other impacts or Global um

play16:36

implications apparently it's not that

play16:39

Niche so from what we can really

play16:42

understand from this story is that the

play16:44

US is finding new ways to arm Ukraine um

play16:49

and to support Ukraine's war efforts uh

play16:53

the way the US is trying to do that is

play16:55

by gathering um Russian made weapons for

play16:59

the reasons we said before and they can

play17:03

uh find this type of of situation in

play17:07

other countries not only Ecuador uh we

play17:10

can have countries rich in Russian made

play17:13

weapons especially in Latin American so

play17:15

we can expect um an increase in this

play17:18

type of swaps and exchanges in that

play17:21

region but uh on top of that we can also

play17:24

say that us is already engaging with

play17:28

other countries in this type of

play17:30

exchanges like Greece so even outside

play17:33

this region so um we will probably going

play17:37

to look at these

play17:38

exchanges um happening more often in the

play17:42

future okay so do you have any examples

play17:45

of like other Latin American countries

play17:47

that could be involved here yeah one

play17:50

country for example is uh Brazil uh we

play17:53

also have Nicaragua so there are many

play17:57

there are many different countries that

play17:58

we could mention the main point is um

play18:02

that the US is looking for countries

play18:04

rich in this old type of uh of equipment

play18:09

okay well thanks alisandra that was a

play18:12

really interesting find and really good

play18:13

research and I think we should keep our

play18:16

eye on uh Brazil thank you

play18:23

sofhia okay for by the Numbers this week

play18:26

I'm gonna bring in Ryan Murphy program

play18:28

assistant with the GE economics Center

play18:30

and the economic statecraft initiative

play18:33

hey Ryan hi Sophia thank you for having

play18:34

me of course good to have you here okay

play18:37

let's look at your

play18:39

research excellent so what you're

play18:41

looking at here and the numbers for this

play18:43

uh addition is six versus 244 and what

play18:46

that means is there were six

play18:48

consultations last year in 2023 at the

play18:50

World Trade Organization or WTO and

play18:52

there were 244 trade concerns raised and

play18:55

so you see this massive Divergence

play18:57

particularly after 2019 between these

play18:59

two numbers okay so this is pretty

play19:02

timely since the uh 13th ministerial is

play19:05

coming up um okay so let's dive into

play19:08

this a little bit more so on this

play19:11

leftand chart we have requests for

play19:13

consultations can you walk us through

play19:17

what that really means and why we should

play19:20

care about it absolutely so when talking

play19:22

about concerns and consultations it

play19:23

sounds very dry but it really is how a

play19:26

bit a little just a little bit very Min

play19:28

in the WTO but what we're talking about

play19:30

is how countries resolve their trade

play19:32

disputes with one another uh and so when

play19:34

we're looking at trade concerns this is

play19:35

the result of committees that are formed

play19:37

with a lot of WTO members uh for

play19:39

specific issue areas and that's where

play19:41

they bring up uh things regulations

play19:43

rules laws of other members um that are

play19:47

concerning to them or that seem like

play19:48

unfair Trade Practices and the critical

play19:50

thing to note here is that this is not a

play19:51

formal arbitration process the formal

play19:54

arbitration process and this goes back

play19:56

all the way to the original Gat uh

play19:57

through the the uguay round um is this

play20:00

idea of consultations consultations is

play20:02

the first step uh between two countries

play20:04

to resolve a potential trade dispute and

play20:07

so while you see countries that are

play20:08

really concerned and bringing these

play20:10

topics to the table uh you're not seeing

play20:12

them move from the table you're seeing

play20:13

them quite literally tabled uh before

play20:16

they get uh to this kind of more formal

play20:19

adjudication okay and so we're talking

play20:21

about trade disrupting measures like

play20:25

tariffs subsidies that sort of thing

play20:27

right exactly yes okay so these two

play20:31

graphs are pretty Stark and you

play20:34

mentioned that 2019 was really a turning

play20:37

point that's about five years ago now

play20:41

what was happening around this time

play20:43

absolutely yeah so what we see uh even

play20:45

as early as 2017 is the United States

play20:48

having a blockade on the appointment of

play20:50

WTO appol body judges and the appet body

play20:54

is um about seven members uh they

play20:56

adjudicate uh some of these disput Utes

play20:58

that come through this consultation

play20:59

process and it's critical that they have

play21:01

a quorum the Quorum is three members uh

play21:03

and in December of 2019 that fell below

play21:06

Quorum and so this body has not been

play21:08

functioning effectively since 2019 uh

play21:10

since the Trump Administration um and

play21:12

this has continued through the Biden

play21:14

Administration so uh even as recently as

play21:16

the G20 media in New Deli um Katherine

play21:18

Tai us trade representative had talked

play21:21

about this body needing a fundamental

play21:23

rethink uh and so there's a real issue

play21:26

here at least from the perspective of

play21:27

the United States that's maintaining

play21:29

this blockade um of this body uh

play21:31

overstepping its boundaries and

play21:33

therefore they have not made future

play21:35

appointments uh to this group okay so I

play21:38

want to go Beyond the Lines a little bit

play21:41

so how are these two data points

play21:44

distributed among the WTO members are

play21:47

there any particularly active members

play21:51

Yes actually surprisingly the United

play21:53

States and the European Union you are uh

play21:56

the most active members for both

play21:58

consultations and trade complaints and

play22:00

one of the really interesting data

play22:01

points is that for cases where the

play22:03

United States is a complaintant usually

play22:05

against China or the European Union they

play22:07

win almost 90% of their cases and so

play22:09

while there is this concern um at the

play22:12

federal level um with the administration

play22:14

that the appet body the resolution

play22:16

process is flawed the United States

play22:19

actually does when it is pursuing trade

play22:21

complaints for unfair Trade Practices it

play22:23

actually does win the majority of these

play22:25

cases so it does seem like it would be

play22:29

in the US interest to get that

play22:32

fundamental rethink do you think that's

play22:35

likely do you think that's going to

play22:36

happen so we should keep our eyes on the

play22:38

13th ministerial conference that'll be

play22:40

at the end of the month uh through the

play22:41

26th and 29th in Abu Dhabi um one of the

play22:44

things that's been happening uh is and

play22:47

this was announced at the last

play22:48

ministerial uh a review of this

play22:51

resolution body um reforms to it and

play22:53

those have been operating on two tracks

play22:55

there's some agreement on the first

play22:56

track over the general princip

play22:57

principles that should govern the body

play22:59

but to the actual composition of the

play23:01

appal body the actual uh rules and

play23:03

regulations that would apply day-to-day

play23:05

um there's still considerable

play23:06

disagreement so while you may see some

play23:08

progress here on this general principles

play23:10

um I wouldn't expect to see a major

play23:12

realignment at this 13th ministerial

play23:15

okay well we'll keep our eye on it

play23:18

thanks so much Ryan for looking into

play23:19

this it's very timely well thank you so

play23:22

much for watching this has been Guide to

play23:24

the global economy I'm Sophia Bush and

play23:26

assistant director with the geoeconomics

play23:28

Center and if you like this video you

play23:31

can go ahead and subscribe or you can

play23:34

also follow us on Twitter thanks so

play23:40

much