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Morocco's Economy Grows by 2.3%

The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
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Morocco's Economy Grows by 2.3%

The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)

Morocco's national economy grew by 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2023, compared with 2.2 percent in the same quarter of 2022.

Driven by external demand, this growth was achieved against a backdrop of high inflation and an improvement in the national economy's financing capacity.

According to the Higher Planning Commission (HCP), the country's leading statistics institution, non-agricultural activities recorded a 2.1 percent volume increase, compared to a rise in agricultural activities by 6.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the added value of the primary sector increased in terms of volume, recording an increase of 6 percent during the second quarter of 2023.

It was due to an increase in agricultural sector activities by 6.3 percent, paired with a slower 0.5 percent growth in fishing.

Furthermore, the added value of the secondary sector recorded a 2.8 percent drop compared to 1 percent during the second quarter of last year.

The decrease is due to a decline in the added values of each extraction industry by 9.4 percent compared to a 7.5 percent decrease.

Public works and construction increased by 2.8 percent instead of a 1.8 percent decrease. Manufacturing industries saw a 2.1 percent rise compared to a 1.8 percent increase.

Electricity and water activities increased by 1.4 percent compared to a 1.5 decrease during the same period.

At the same time, the added value in the tertiary sector slowed to 4.4 percent, marked by a rise in real estate services and a slowdown in accommodation and catering.

Services such as the transport and warehousing sectors slowed by 5.3 percent, while education, health, and social services dropped by 5.1 percent.

General public administration and social security services also fell by 4.8 percent.

Other services experienced a slowdown, including research and development and business services, information and communication, financial services and insurance, and trade and repair of vehicles.

In the first quarter of 2023, the Moroccan economy recorded a rise of 3.5 percent.

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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.