Tag: tariffs

  • US – EU trade war?

    US – EU trade war?

     

    Not without other economic strengths, such as being the largest Romanian river port and a university city, or its position next to the Moldovan and Ukrainian borders, Galati has been revolving for decades around its steelworks, in turn the largest in the country.

     

    Opened in 1966, the plant had over 50,000 employees six years later. A 2011 survey showed that two-thirds of the population of Galati had worked or were still working in the mill or in its related plants. The city and county’s star football team itself, a champion of Romania 14 years ago, is called “Oţelul” (“Steel”).

     

    After the collapse of the communist dictatorship, the plant was privatised. Today it is owned by Liberty House Group, founded by the Indian-born British businessman Sanjeev Gupta. And it is now feeling the full impact of the general crisis in the energy-intensive European industry.

     

    On Wednesday, dozens of Liberty Galati employees protested over delays in the payment of salaries and other rights. The plant has been out of work for 9 months, and its management obtained court approval for a settlement procedure which allows for a 4-month postponement of the payment of creditors’ claims.

     

    For the time being, the Galati steelworkers are not considering an all-out strike, and say they are still waiting for clarifications from the management. The Social-Democratic MEP Dan Nica, who has been living in Galaţi for 40 years, warns against the danger of the plant closing, which would leave thousands of families without incomes:

     

    Dan Nica: “The European industry is in the worst situation it has ever been. The Galaţi plant is in great danger of ceasing its operations, and tens of thousands of people may be losing their jobs. The same is true for the aluminium industry, the same is true for the cement industry, the chemical fertiliser industry, because we failed to take appropriate measures: high energy prices, imports from countries outside the European Union that are made with high carbon dioxide emissions and that have invaded the European Union market, the lack of financing from any source, EU programmes, the European Investment Bank that refuses to finance all these programmes.”

     

    In addition, experts say, the increase in American duties on steel imports will severely impact the EU steel industry and implicitly Romania. The MEP Iuliu Winkler (Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania:

     

    Iuliu Winkler: “This means adding an extra 25% to the costs, so it actually comes to deepen the crisis affecting the steel industry in both the European Union and Romania, because it is a crisis generated, first and foremost, by the price of energy. Energy is about 3 times more expensive in Europe than in the United States and that destroys the whole concept of ​​European competitiveness.”

     

    In terms of volume, Romania is the third-largest European steel exporter to the United States and, together with Germany, the main aluminium exporter. (AMP)

  • February 27, 2025 UPDATE

    February 27, 2025 UPDATE

    ENERGY The Romanian government passed an emergency order to extend the cap on electricity prices beyond the 31st of March deadline, until 30th June this year, and the one on natural gas prices until the beginning of April next year. The latter move is intended to prevent a rise in natural gas prices when the stocks for next winter are refilled. The energy minister Sebastian Burduja said recently that the government wishes to protect Romanian households and support the competitiveness of Romanian businesses. After the energy market was deregulated in January 2021, Romania was one of the European countries the worst hit by soaring electricity and gas prices.

     

    DEFICIT Romania’s budget deficit reached 0.58% of GDP in January, as against 0.45% in the same month last year, according to data made public by the finance ministry on Thursday. The institution said total revenues amounted to almost RON 47 billion, down 1.4%, amid lower EU funding and some current returns, such as VAT and excise duties. Expenditure, on the other hand, which amounts to RON 58 billion, went up by 4.5% compared to the corresponding period last year. The finance ministry mentions that this year’s state budget is based on an economic growth rate of 2.5% and a budget deficit of 7% of GDP. In 2024, the deficit went up to 8.65% of GDP, from 5.61% in 2023.

     

    FARMERS Romanian farmers stand in solidarity with their counterparts in Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria, who are staging protests against EU agricultural policies, which they see as unfair, and against massive imports of agricultural products from third countries. The Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation, which includes a number of Romanian organisations in the field, said in a statement that Romanian farmers are faced with market distortions caused by duty free imports from Ukraine, the negative impact of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement on the competitiveness of European agricultural production, and by a growing bureaucratic burden caused by EU regulations. All of these pose a threat to food security, destroy local supply chains and affect farmers’ incomes, the Alliance says. Its representatives view the protests as a strong signal that the current agricultural policies must be revised in order to ensure a sustainable future for farmers across the European Union.

     

    INVESTIGATION Călin Georgescu, the far-right front-runner in the cancelled presidential elections in Romania, is under criminal investigation for 60 days, after being questioned by the General Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday. While inquiries are being conducted, he is not allowed to leave the country and must check in with the police regularly. Georgescu is accused of six offences, some in aggravated form, including instigation to actions against the rule of law and presenting false information and giving false statements in respect of his wealth declaration and the funding of his election campaign.

     

    TATE BROTHERS The Romanian body investigating organised crime and terrorism confirmed that the case prosecutor allowed Andrew and Tristan Tate to leave Romania, but emphasised that the brothers are still under criminal investigation and must return to Romania. The two, who are holding dual British-American citizenship, are believed to have left the country on Thursday morning on board a private plane, heading for Florida. They were first arrested three years ago and are charged with rape, kidnapping and money laundering. Last week, the Financial Times wrote that the current administration in Washington is putting pressure on Romania to cancel the restrictions against the Tate brothers, which the Romanian authorities have denied.

     

     

    TARIFFS The tariffs the US could introduce on trade with the European Union would have less impact on Romania, as the country’s main trade partners are EU member states, said the National Bank chief economist Valentin Lazea. He added that 72% of Romania’s foreign trade is with EU states and mentioned the example of tariffs applied in the past on steel and aluminium, which did not affect Romania much, given that exports of these metals to the US are negligible. Lazea warned however that there will be an inflationary effect of the global increase in tariffs, which will push prices up. The US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, in the first meeting of his cabinet at the White House, that he will soon levy 25% customs duties on European products imported into the United States. (AMP)

  • May 15, 2019 UPDATE

    May 15, 2019 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT Romanias right-of-centre president, Klaus Iohannis, announced that on Wednesday he communicated to the Social Democratic Party in writing why he had turned down the partys nominations for the new ministers of justice, European funds and the diaspora. The letter sent to the main partner in the ruling coalition reads that the 3 nominees have no experience in the field they are supposed to manage. In a press conference, the head of state also criticized the leftist Government, which in his opinion has had no notable achievements so far and is not interested in the problems facing the citizens. In April, the PM Viorica Dancilă nominated Deputy Eugen Nicolicea to replace Tudorel Toader as justice minister, Deputy Oana Florea for the Ministry of European Funds replacing Rovana Plumb, and Senator Tit Liviu Brăiloiu for the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad, replacing Natalia Intotero. Rovana Plumb and Natalia Intotero resigned in order to run in the European Parliament elections, whereas Tudorel Toader lost the political support of the Social Democratic Party. The 3 ministries are currently run by interim ministers.




    EDUCATION Cooperation between Europe and Asia in the field of education has grown and a wide range of opportunities have been created through the EU financing instruments, like ERASMUS+ and Horizon 2020, the EU Commissioner for Education Tibor Navracsics said in Bucharest on Wednesday, at the 7th meeting of European and Asian education ministers—ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting). The conference is part of the calendar of events organized in the context of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council. The meeting, which will continue on Thursday, focuses on “Connecting education: inclusion, mobility and excellence in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. ASEM is a platform of cooperation between Europe and Asia, launched in 1996 in view of strengthening dialogue between the 2 regions. ASEM currently has 53 partners: 28 EU member states, Switzerland, Norway, 21 Asian countries and 2 international organisations, the EU and the ASEAN Secretariat.




    TARIFFS Calls and text messages within the EU are cheaper as of May 15. Consumers calling from their home country to another member state will pay a maximum 19 eurocents per minute (plus VAT) and 6 eurocents per text message sent (plus VAT). According to the European Commission, the new tariffs are applicable in all member states, and they will soon be valid in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein as well. Business clients will not be subject to price regulation, given that many providers have special offers already in place for such consumers. The new ceilings, alongside the scrapping of roaming tariffs operated 2 years ago, are part of a review of regulations in the EU telecoms sector.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • February 26, 2019

    February 26, 2019

    JUDICIARY The Romanian Judge Forum and the “Movement for Safeguarding the Status of Prosecutors believe the Justice Ministers proposal to pass a memorandum giving the Higher Council of Magistracy reasonable time to issue advisory opinions is not enough. Judges and prosecutors stress that magistrates are also disgruntled with the newly set up special division investigating offences in the justice system. On Monday, after a meeting of representatives of judges and prosecutors with PM Viorica Dancila, Minister Toader announced that a dialogue mechanism would be in place to ensure that the bills drafted by the government reach the Council at least 5 days ahead, so that they may be analysed, discussed and approved. He also said the Cabinet would scrap an article in the recent emergency decree, which allowed judges to become chiefs of prosecutors offices and which gave the Council plenum, rather than its prosecutor division, the authority to approve the appointment of senior prosecutors. Also on Monday President Klaus Iohannis asked the Cabinet to cancel the decree. Previously, magistrates in several major cities had protested against the new changes in the justice laws, and some prosecutors offices suspended work this week. The Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and terrorism also decided, for the first time ever, to suspend its activity until March 8, and to only deal with emergencies in this period. Civil society also rallied on Sunday night, in the capital Bucharest and other important cities.




    EPPO The former chief of Romanias National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruţa Köveşi, is heard today by the Committee on Civil Liberties and the Committee on Budgetary Control in the European Parliament, as part of the selection of the first-ever European Chief Prosecutor. A French and a German prosecutor have also been shortlisted for this position. The new European Chief Prosecutor is appointed by the European Parliament and the Council. The European Public Prosecutors Office will be an independent body in charge with investigating and prosecuting crimes involving EU funds, including fraud, corruption and cross-border VAT fraud of over 100 million euros. The list of offences may be broadened in the future to include terrorism. The EPPO is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2020.




    ELECTIONS The pro-Russian Socialist president of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, warned that unless parties agreed to form a governmental coalition after the inconclusive ballot on Sunday, he would call for early elections. His party came first, with 35 out of 101 seats in Parliament, followed by the ruling Democratic Party with 30 seats, and the pro-European Opposition with 26. OSCE observers noticed cases of vote buying, abusive use of administrative resources and obstruction of the voting process in the diaspora, but say that overall the election respected fundamental rights.





    ENERGY Romanias National Energy Regulatory Authority has decided to keep the current regulated electricity tariffs in place for household end-users after March 1. Following the enforcement of Decree 114, only the distribution tariffs are to be raised, by an average 2.5%. The Energy Minister Anton Anton explained that the Authority had been consulted prior to the adoption of the Decree last year, so as to make sure that household users are not affected by prospective price hikes.




    BORDER Over 60 million people and more than 16 million vehicles entered and left Romanian territory last year, with a substantial increase in transit over the border with the Republic of Moldova as well. According to a report made public by the Border Police Inspectorate General, in 2018, over 25% of the total number of crimes reported in Romanian checkpoints took place on the Moldovan border. Checks identified nearly 3,000 Romanian and foreign citizens subject to APBs, the report also says.




    SUMMIT North-Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Vietnam, ahead of his meeting with the US president Donald Trump tomorrow. After their first meeting in Singapore last year, this time attention will focus on persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear programme. Kim Jong-un on the other hand wants international sanctions against his country lifted. According to Donald Trump, North Korea might quickly become an “economic powerhouse in case of complete denuclearisation.




    TENNIS Horia Tecău (Romania, 28) / Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands, 20 ATP), the champions of the ATP 500 Series “Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in 2017 and 2018, in the doubles competition, the only pair to have won 2 editions in the history of the tournament, take part in this years event as well. They are playing today against Jürgen Melzer (Austria, 90) – Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia, 458). The tournament has over 2,700,000 US dollars in total prizes.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)