On May 17, 2020, Iran’s foreign minister warned the United States against sending ships to block Iranian oil shipments from reaching Venezuela. Iranian news reports indicate that 4 US Navy warships have been placed in the Caribbean to ward off Iranian oil tankers...

In a virtual meeting held on May 15, 2020, trade ministers for the Group of Twenty (G20) pledged to ensure that pandemic response measures do not lead to “unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains” during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic...

The European Commission has recommended a cautious lifting of internal travel restrictions and border closures to allow for a summer tourism season in 2020. The tourism industry, which provides roughly 10% of the EU’s economic output and millions of jobs, has been ...

The Vietnamese government has encouraged fishing crews to ignore a ban imposed by China on summer fishing in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. Announced on April 30, China’s annual fishing ban will be in effect from May 1 until August 16, 2020. The ban applies to ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an end to a nationwide order for business closures despite Russia’s infection rates rising to the third highest in the world behind the US and Spain. The lockdown was lifted on May 12, one day after Russia reported its largest single-day rise in cases...

May 11, 2020, marks a new round of post-Brexit talks between the United Kingdom and the European Union. This penultimate round of trade talks provides a platform for the UK and EU to resolve discords around fisheries, transportation and aviation, energy, and the trade of goods and services...

Turkey has blocked Citibank, UBS, and BNP Paribas from conducting foreign exchange trades in an attempt to prevent further devaluation of the lira, which hit a record low in early March 2020. The Turkish currency dropped below levels seen during a 2018 crisis that caused ...

President Donald Trump has threatened to walk away from a trade truce between the US and China reached in January 2020, citing Beijing’s inability to reach the agreed terms. Phase 1 of this trade agreement is expected to commence in ...

The European Union is warning Balkan countries seeking accession into the bloc against alignment with China and Russia. These two countries have received heavy praise for sending doctors and medical supplies to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia in March, while the €3.3 billion in aid from the EU received far less attention.

The French government is planning to provide Air France with a €7 billion ($7.66 billion) loan intended to soften the economic shock of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The loans will be contingent upon the airline cutting some domestic flights and reducing carbon emissions...