By Anthony Zurcher

In response to Turkey shooting down a Russian jet last week, President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree putting into effect a set of harsh economic sanctions. In addition to covering imports from Turkey and limiting Turkish companies/nationals located in Russia, the sanctions also will end charter flights between the two nations and forbid tourist packages to Turkey. These provisions are expected to have a considerable effect, as Turkish exports to Russia are worth more than $1.52B each year. Neither side is showing any signs of backing down following the controversial jet shooting, which Turkey claims was a violation of its airspace. Mr. Putin has firmly maintained that the jet was in Syrian territory and is expecting a formal apology that has yet to materialize.

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December 01, 2015

By Craig Tarasoff

The World Trade Organization has ruled that the US has not brought its meat labeling regulations in compliance with international fair trading rules. This follows a 2012 WTO ruling that the United States’ meat-labeling program, which required retailers to label meats with their countries of origin, unfairly discriminated against Canada and Mexico. The US has missed its deadline to change its regulations to provide equal treatment to meat and pork imported from those two countries. According to Reuters, if the US does not make changes acceptable by the WTO Appellate Board, Mexico and Canada can impose trade sanctions on the US.

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November 25, 2014