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Intra-Gulf Trade Exceeds $100 Billion

The 64th meeting of the Trade Cooperation Committee of the GCC Trade Ministers was held on Thursday in Muscat. (Omani News Agency)
The 64th meeting of the Trade Cooperation Committee of the GCC Trade Ministers was held on Thursday in Muscat. (Omani News Agency)
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Intra-Gulf Trade Exceeds $100 Billion

The 64th meeting of the Trade Cooperation Committee of the GCC Trade Ministers was held on Thursday in Muscat. (Omani News Agency)
The 64th meeting of the Trade Cooperation Committee of the GCC Trade Ministers was held on Thursday in Muscat. (Omani News Agency)

Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, said that the volume of intra-Gulf trade exceeded $100 billion, as a result of efforts to enhance areas of economic cooperation between the six countries.

Addressing an economic conference in Oman, Al-Budaiwi called for accelerating work to complete economic and development projects and to reach Gulf economic integration, with the aim to strengthen the position of the GCC countries as a global financial, investment and economic hub, and to confront global economic challenges in light of the current geopolitical crises and their repercussions on GCC countries.

Al-Budaiwi was speaking during the 64th meeting of the Trade Cooperation Committee of the GCC Trade Ministers, which was held on Thursday in Muscat.

He also attended the inauguration of the first edition of the Gulf Pioneers platform and the 50th meeting of the GCC Industrial Cooperation Committee.

Al-Budaiwi noted that the Gulf Pioneers platform aims to facilitate communication and provide the necessary data and information for Gulf entrepreneurs, as well as enable them to develop and improve their businesses

He indicated that the platform contributes to highlighting the various investment opportunities in the region and facilitates communication between Gulf entrepreneurs, investors, financiers, customers and job seekers.

For his part, Qais Al-Yousef, Omani Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion, praised the efforts made by the GCC General Secretariat to promote economic cooperation among the countries.

Dr. Saleh bin Saeed Masan, Undersecretary for Commerce and Industry at the Omani Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, said that Oman, the current chairman of the council, submitted two proposals, including an award for honoring GCC innovators, and the establishment of a Gulf industrial forum.

Meanwhile, the 50th meeting of the GCC Industrial Cooperation Committee discussed a number of issues, including finding a unified definition of the Gulf national product and its standards.

The heads of federations and chambers of the GCC states also held a consultative meeting to promote the growth of the economic sector.

 

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Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd."

Earlier on Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the one-month reprieve on hefty tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that has been granted to automotive products is likely to be extended to all products that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

Lutnick told CNBC he expected Trump to announce that extension on Thursday, a day after exempting automotive goods from the 25% tariffs he slapped on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier in the week.

Trump "is going to decide this today," Lutnick said, adding "it's likely that it will cover all USMCA-compliant goods and services."

"So if you think about it this way, if you lived under Donald Trump's US-Mexico-Canada agreement, you will get a reprieve from these tariffs now. If you chose to go outside of that, you did so at your own risk, and today is when that reckoning comes," he said.

Nonetheless, Trump's social media post made no mention of a reprieve for Canada, the other party to the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Lutnick said his "off the cuff" estimate was that more than 50% of the goods imported from the two US neighbors - also its largest two trading partners - were compliant with the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Lutnick's comments "promising" in remarks to reporters in Canada.

"That aligns with some of the conversations that we have been having with administration officials, but I'm going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response and look at the details of it," Trudeau said. "But it is a promising sign. But I will highlight that it means that the tariffs remain in place, and therefore our response will remain in place."

Lutnick emphasized that the reprieve would only last until April 2, when he said the administration plans to move ahead with reciprocal tariffs under which the US will impose levies that match those imposed by trading partners.

In the meantime, he said, the current hiatus is about getting fentanyl deaths down, which is the initial justification Trump used for the tariffs on Mexico and Canada and levies on Chinese goods that have now risen to 20%.

"On April 2, we're going to move with the reciprocal tariffs, and hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we'll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation," Lutnick said. "But if they haven't, this will stay on."

Indeed, Trudeau is expecting the US and Canada to remain in a trade war.

"I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Ottawa.