Tag: tariffs

Markets are unpredictable, and 2025 has started with extreme volatility. Aggressive tariffs and abrupt national announcements have forced investors to navigate constant surprises. These events have increased uncertainty and volatility across financial markets. However, uncertainty can create opportunities for active managers with a long-term investment horizon.

The rail sector in South Africa is at a breaking point and urgent action is required. From a freight perspective, Transnet's incapacity to dispatch locomotives is at an all-time high. The National Logistics Crisis Committee estimates that the country's macro logistics system loses circa ZAR1 billion a day.

A trade in the commercial sense is a mutually beneficial exchange. With the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement having come into operation in 2021, it would be fitting to remind ourselves of the benefits of free and unfettered trade, especially for the African continent and its people.

Dumping is described as international price discrimination, wherein a product is cheaper in the importing market than it is in the market that is exporting said product. This practice is frowned upon, as exemplified by calls to curb dumping through measures like tariffs or outright bans on certain imports.

As member states of the World Health Organization prepare to gather in Geneva on May 18th for the World Health Assembly, a global coalition of 31 think tanks calls on governments to commit to open trade, collaboration and innovation in the fight against Covid-19 and future disease outbreaks.

Amid an increasingly unstable geopolitical landscape, the looming possibility of a global trade war carries the risk of severe negative macroeconomic consequences, in that both the US and Chinese economies could begin to decelerate, triggering a world-wide recession.