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Anonymous ID: e4a700 May 13, 2018, 4:23 p.m. No.1401465   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1509 >>1533

Germany Dithers on Shielding Firms From Fresh US Sanctions

 

G ermany wants to help its companies continue doing business in Iran after the US decision to reimpose sanctions against Tehran, but it could be difficult to shield them from any fallout, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Sunday.

 

US President Donald Trump’s decision on Tuesday to unilaterally renege on the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and reimpose sanctions against Tehran came with the threat of penalties against any foreign firms involved in business there, Reuters reported.

 

Germany, along with France and Britain, has said it remains committed to the nuclear deal. The foreign ministers of the three European powers will meet their Iranian counterpart in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday to discuss a way forward.

 

“I do not see a simple solution to shield companies from all risks of American sanctions,” Maas told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

 

Maas said talks with the Europeans, Iran and the other signatories to the agreement are, therefore, also about how it can be possible to continue trade with Iran.

 

“After all, Iran is ready to talk. It’s clear that there should also be economic incentives; that will not be easy after the US decision,” he added.

 

https:// financialtribune.com/articles/economy-domestic-economy/86352/germany-dithers-on-shielding-firms-from-fresh-us-sanctions

Anonymous ID: e4a700 May 13, 2018, 4:32 p.m. No.1401541   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1566 >>1573

Oil Imports Priced in Yuan to Benefit China

 

C hina could be a chief beneficiary of the US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, as it would give China leverage to demand oil imports be priced in yuan, several currency experts said.

 

US President Donald Trump is preparing to impose new sanctions on Iran, the White House said on Wednesday, following the American withdrawal from the multinational 2015 agreement that stalled Iran's nuclear program, Global Times reported.

 

The sanctions would aim to limit the global trade of the oil producer's crude. However, the effects may be muted, as major Asian importers, including China, are likely to continue buying Iranian oil.

 

Oil is priced and traded in US dollars because of the dominance of the dollar-denominated Brent and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks. Pricing imports in yuan would, therefore, spare China the cost of exchanging dollars and increase the use of yuan in global financial trade, which could ultimately reduce the dollar's international clout.

 

"Iran's exports are expected to decrease, as are foreign investments in the country. That would hurt not just Iran's economy but also the dollar's liquidity, as the global trade of oil undergirds the greenback," said Edward Al-Hussainy, senior analyst, global rates and currency at Columbia Threadneedle in Minneapolis.

 

This provides Iran with an incentive to approach the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, to discuss a yuan-denominated deal.

 

During the last round of sanctions prior to the nuclear deal, Iran's oil supplies fell by around 1 million barrels per day. But the country's oil minister said Thursday that Trump's decision to quit the pact would not affect Tehran's exports.

 

In the interest of exerting more control over the price of oil imports, China in March launched its own crude futures exchange that could become a yuan-denominated benchmark to rival Brent and WTI.

 

"China is the largest commodity producer in the world and the largest commodity consumer in the world, so it would make sense that Chinese futures that are close to the areas of supply and demand would be a more natural benchmark than the US markets," said Marwan Younes, founder and chief investment officer of New York-based Massar Capital Management.

 

China China China

 

https:// financialtribune.com/articles/energy/86342/oil-imports-priced-in-yuan-to-benefit-china

Anonymous ID: e4a700 May 13, 2018, 4:43 p.m. No.1401636   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1648 >>1658 >>1703

NASA Sending Chopper to Mars

 

 

N ASA has long been able to check out Mars on the ground with rovers and landers and from far above with orbital spacecraft. Now, it wants to prove that it can sustainably fly around the planet’s thin atmosphere at low altitude—with a tiny helicopter. The space agency announced on Friday it will send the Mars Helicopter to the Red Planet with the previously announced Mars 2020 rover, set to launch in two years from Florida, reported CNN. The hope is that an aircraft looking like a flying mechanical scout will eventually give scientists another vantage point from which to observe Mars. The helicopter will be mankind’s first attempt to fly a heavier-than-air craft in an atmosphere other than Earth’s, the space agency said. Its mission will be to take five test flights after it lands with the rover.

 

https:// financialtribune.com/articles/economy-sci-tech/86301/nasa-sending-chopper-to-mars