Speakers
Amal Ahmad
Assistant Professor of Economics, Wageningen University
Bessma Momani
Associate Vice-President and International Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo
Manal Shehabi
Applied Development Economist and Senior Research Fellow, Institute for New Economic Thinking, University of Oxford; Seminar Leader for Economics for Public Policy, the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Tarik M. Yousef
Senior fellow and Director, Middle East Council on Global Affairs
Moderator
About the Webinar
As part of his ‘America First’ policy and in an attempt to close the US trade deficit, President Donald Trump announced sweeping trade tariffs targeting almost every country in the world. Countries in the MENA region were affected differently by Trump’s increased tariffs. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia were subjected to the baseline 10%, while Jordan and Morocco were hit with tariffs up to 20%, and other countries like Algeria, Syria, Tunisia, and Iraq were hit with higher tariffs of 28-40%. Trump’s tariffs caused initial shockwaves in the global financial markets before a 90-day suspension was put in place, but Trump’s recent statements indicate that the suspension will likely be temporary. The MENA region has already been impacted through a drop in oil prices and increases in production levels, economic uncertainty and dampened growth, and a slowdown in investments and economic diversification, which might also lead to spending cuts and increased taxation. Additionally, the region’s strategic positioning at the crossroads of global trade is likely to be affected by changes in the supply chains and trade volumes, while the pegging of some MENA currencies to the dollar could raise inflation levels in those economies.
Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) is convening a panel of experts to discuss the details of Trump’s tariff policies and the ensuing global trade war, as well as their impacts on the economic, political, and geostrategic developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. What formula was used to calculate the tariff rates for the Arab countries? What are the short- and long-term implications of these tariffs on different countries in the MENA region? What role do trade agreements between the US and Arab countries like Jordan play? How do tariffs impacts countries under US sanctions like Syria? How would oil-dependent economies react? What products are exempt from the new tariffs and how would that affect markets? How would the 17% rate imposed on Israel impact US-Israeli relations? How do we expect the Trump administration to proceed with these trade policies? How would potential Ukraine-Russia and US-Iran agreements and lifting of sanctions impact the global and MENA markets? What are the political and geostrategic implications of the resulting global trade war and increased Chinese influence? Are there viable opportunities for Arab countries to benefit from diversified supply chains and increased local production and exports?
Featured image credit: Shutterstock/Noushad Thekkayil
