عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Arabia Develops 33 Tools to Protect National Products

The Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources speaks during a dialogue session on the sidelines of the Industry Week activities in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources speaks during a dialogue session on the sidelines of the Industry Week activities in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia Develops 33 Tools to Protect National Products

The Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources speaks during a dialogue session on the sidelines of the Industry Week activities in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources speaks during a dialogue session on the sidelines of the Industry Week activities in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef said that the Saudi market has contributed to building strong local industries that compete in international markets, adding that work was underway to develop 33 tools that limit unfair competition practices.

Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005 in a historic step aimed at increasing domestic and foreign investments, creating job opportunities for citizens, and facilitating the access of Saudi products and services to international markets.

Al-Khorayef pointed to the presence of several incentive programs and initiatives that support entrepreneurs to enter the industrial sector, highlighting opportunities offered by the industry and mineral wealth system to SMEs to enable entrepreneurs to conduct their business with ease.

The minister’s comments came on Sunday during the activities of the Industry Week, which is organized by the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises in Riyadh.

During the dialogue session, the minister of Industry and Mineral Resources revealed opportunities and possibilities offered by the system to SMEs and women entrepreneurs to launch their projects in the industrial sector.

He also underlined the efforts deployed by the government and private sectors to push the pace of work in the industrial sector, in addition to the programs and initiatives presented to this sector by various relevant government agencies.

Meanwhile, a report issued by the Saudi Ministry of Investment showed that the number of new foreign investment licenses recorded an increase of 673.4 percent during the second quarter of 2022 on an annual basis.

It noted that the number of investment licenses issued in the second quarter of 2022 amounted to 4,455, compared to 576 licenses in the same period in 2021.

According to the report, the number of investment licenses reached 9,383 in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 2,085 licenses in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The increase in the number of licenses is a result of the state’s efforts to promote foreign direct investment, in addition to correcting the conditions of violators of the anti-commercial cover-up system, as part of a program launched by the Ministry of Commerce to eliminate commercial concealment and limit the spread of commercial fraud in cooperation with 10 government agencies, according to the report.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

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)
TT
TT

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.