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Saudi Arabia, Türkiye Announce Engineering Automation Project for the Middle East

The Saudi-Turkish Business Forum held in Riyadh called for boosting trade relations between the two countries. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi-Turkish Business Forum held in Riyadh called for boosting trade relations between the two countries. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia, Türkiye Announce Engineering Automation Project for the Middle East

The Saudi-Turkish Business Forum held in Riyadh called for boosting trade relations between the two countries. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi-Turkish Business Forum held in Riyadh called for boosting trade relations between the two countries. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi-Turkish Business Forum has set a goal of exceeding $10 billion in the trade exchange between Riyadh and Ankara.

The event witnessed the signing of several cooperation agreements in industrial development, and announcement of the establishment of a joint engineering automation project that will be implemented in the Middle East.

The Saudi-Turkish Business Forum, organized by the Federation of Saudi Chambers, kicked off in Riyadh on Sunday. It was attended by several officials, and over 450 Saudi and Turkish companies, and government agencies from both countries are taking part.

Speaking at the form, Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi affirmed that Saudi Arabia is undergoing an unprecedented renaissance and transformation thanks to the ambitious leadership and Vision 2030.

He explained that the Kingdom boasts six features that make it the land of opportunities, citing investment potential in minerals, tourism, housing, infrastructure, services, communications, and digitization in Saudi Arabia.

He added that the forum will contribute to finding new possibilities for economic cooperation with Türkiye.

Turkish Minister of Trade Mehmet Mus said Saudi Arabia and Türkiye are two emerging economic powers with significant competitive advantages and they have expressed their desire to increase trade volume to $10 billion in the coming years.

Mus also stated that the Turkish economy is expanding rapidly and that a comprehensive investment incentive system is in place, boasting a massive market with one billion consumers in Türkiye, the European Union, and the free trade zone.

The Minister pointed out that the volume of foreign investment amounted to $285 billion, which reflects a suitable investment environment, urging Saudi companies to enter the Turkish market and capitalize on the opportunities.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Saudi Chambers Hasan al-Hwaizy explained that Saudi-Turkish relations, which were formalized in 1929, are one of the best international models, which positively reflected in the formation of the Saudi-Turkish Council as a platform for cooperation.

In 2022, the two countries agreed to develop and diversify intra-trade and facilitate trade exchange, he added, indicating that 1,140 Saudi companies invested in Türkiye and 390 Turkish companies currently operate in Saudi Arabia in various sectors.

Trade exchange ranged between $4.5 billion and $6.1 billion from 2017 to 2022.

Head of the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board, Nail Olpak indicated that the recent visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Türkiye pushed the bilateral economic relations forward.

Olpak also explained that the joint road map contributed to the rapid growth of trade and investments, noting that Turkish companies look forward to participating in Saudi projects.

The forum resulted in the signing of three commercial cooperation agreements between Saudi and Turkish business representatives to localize the manufacturing of welding equipment and supplies, as well as the production of high-tech trucks and tanks.

It also saw an agreement to launch a joint Saudi-Turkish automation and engineering project for the Middle East region.

Saudi Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Majid al-Hogail met in Riyadh with the Turkish Trade Minister and several representatives of Turkish companies specialized in the construction and contracting sector.

The officials stressed the need to enhance cooperation between their countries in the municipal and housing sectors and the importance of exchanging experiences to achieve common interests.

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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.