US-EU: China And IRA In Focus For Biden-Scholz White House Meeting On March 3
Feb-16 14:12
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has confirmed that President Biden will welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House on March 3.
- Jean-Pierre said: "The Chancellor’s visit is an opportunity to reaffirm the deep bonds of friendship..."
- Jean-Pierre said the leaders will discuss "a range of regional and global security issues," including working together on "shared challenges posed by China."
- As was the case with French President Emmanuel Macron's State Visit on November 30, the meeting is likely to be overshadowed by the dispute over the US Inflation Reduction Act and Biden and Scholz's divergent positions on decoupling the economic links with China.
- Scholz was critised domestically and internationally for leading a German delegation on commercial junket to China in November.
- FP wrote of that trip: "Scholz’s Germany-first approach has confused his coalition government’s development of China policy and alienated partners in Europe and beyond."
- CSIS: "There is no doubt that Scholz made mistakes in designing and marketing the trip. The chancellor traveled with a delegation of business leaders in tow, drawing awkward parallels with the business-first paradigm pursued by former chancellor Angela Merkel."
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US: UK: FM Cleverly To Tell US And Canada To Go Faster And Further With Ukr Aid
Jan-17 14:07
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly plans to tell his US and Canadian counterparts to go "further and faster" in Ukraine military support on a North American tour which follows a watershed UK decision to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine.
- Sky News: “...Cleverly is set to use this British pledge to persuade the Americans and the Canadians to follow the UK's lead. He is expected to stress the need for the right battlefield tools to be given to the Ukrainians quickly to allow them to win the war.”
- Cleverly's trip comes before a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group on Friday at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany where 50+ defence representatives of pro-Ukraine nations are expected to discuss the provision of battle tanks.
- The move is seen as contingent on new German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius' approval of the transfer of German-made Leopard battle tanks.
- Cleverly said in a statement: "Today we stand united against Putin's illegal war, and we will continue to use our uniquely strong defence and security ties to ensure that, in the end, the Ukrainian people will win."
STIR: Effective Fed Funds Rate
Jan-17 14:03
FRBNY EFFR for prior session:
- Daily Effective Fed Funds Rate: 4.33% volume: $110B
- Daily Overnight Bank Funding Rate: 4.32% volume: $281B
CANADA DATA: Monthly Inflation Cools Slightly But Still Above Target
Jan-17 13:59
- Monthly rates of more traditional measures of core CPI inflation broadly stabilised in M/M terms having cooled notably from the spike in the spring. It adds to another month of softer inflationary pressure but not yet quite back to a level consistent with the 2% target, and helps OIS now price a 24bp hike for next week from 21bp prior.
- Ex food & energy edged back from 0.35% to a seasonally adjusted 0.28% M/M in Dec, where it’s been in three of the past five months before inching slightly higher in between.
- Alternatively, excluding the eight most volatile items, monthly inflation edged to the lowest since Mar’21 at 0.20% M/M with the help of indirect taxes, whilst adjusting for indirect taxes it held at 0.27% M/M, still off the October low of 0.20%.
