Int'l Roadmap to Rehabilitate Sudanese Economy

Customers look on as a vendor displays the fresh produce in Khartoum, Sudan December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Customers look on as a vendor displays the fresh produce in Khartoum, Sudan December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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Int'l Roadmap to Rehabilitate Sudanese Economy

Customers look on as a vendor displays the fresh produce in Khartoum, Sudan December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Customers look on as a vendor displays the fresh produce in Khartoum, Sudan December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Sudan has agreed a roadmap to "rehabilitate" the country in a trilateral agreement with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank.

The IMF revealed in a report in Dec. that “Economic conditions in Sudan remain challenging on the back of persistent fiscal deficits, high inflation, and low access to financing.”

“Bold and comprehensive reforms are needed to stabilize the economy and strengthen growth,” it added, noting that: “The expansion of social safety nets to support the reforms and improvements in the business environment and governance are crucial to unlocking growth.”

The report continued: “In 2018, economic activity contracted by an estimated 2.3 percent and GDP is projected to contract by 2.5 percent in 2019. Inflation increased to 60 percent in November 2019.

Representative of the World Bank stated that the aim of the visit was to achieve economic development in Sudan to integrate into the global markets, the International Monetary Fund, and the African Development Bank on a roadmap for the rehabilitation of the country.

Minister of Industry and Trade Madani Abbas Madani stressed the importance of the steps taken by the state in boosting confidence in the markets, achieving development, increasing production, protecting the investor, and developing the industrial and marketing sector through a clear strategic plan.



Trump Vows New Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China

FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Trump Vows New Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China

FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

US President-elect Donald Trump vowed on Monday to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.

He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.

In a series of posts to his Truth Social account, Trump vowed to hit some of the United States' largest trading partners with duties on all goods entering the country.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on ALL products coming into the United States,” he wrote, according to AFP.

He said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

The President ignored the US, Mexico and Canada three-decade-old free trade agreement, now called the USMCA.

In another post, Trump said he would also be slapping China with a 10% tariff, “above any additional Tariffs,” in response to what he said was its failure to tackle fentanyl smuggling.

“No one will win a trade war,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China's embassy in the United States, told AFP by email, defending Beijing's efforts to curb fentanyl smuggling.

“China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” Liu added.

Canada said it was “essential” to US energy supplies, and insisted the relationship benefits American workers.

“We will of course continue to discuss these issues with the incoming administration,” said the statement from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Tariffs are a key part of Trump's economic agenda, with the Republican vowing wide-ranging duties on allies and adversaries alike while he was on the campaign trail.

Many economists have warned that tariffs would hurt growth and push up inflation, since they are primarily paid by importers bringing the goods into the US, who often pass those costs on to consumers.

But those in Trump's inner circle have insisted that the tariffs are a useful bargaining chip for the US to push its trading partners to agree to more favorable terms, and to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas.