China regretted the complaint filed by the European Commission (EC) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the patent rights of European companies, Reuters reports.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that the country will consider the complaint in accordance with WTO dispute resolution procedures.
“The Chinese government has always attached great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights and has taken decisive measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of owners of intellectual property rights at home and abroad,” the ministry said.
As Vesti.Ekonomka wrote, the EU decided to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization about the Chinese practice of technology transfer. The block’s unexpected decision intensifies pressure on Beijing amid a trade dispute between the US and China.
On the same day that the EU complained to the WTO of US duties on steel and aluminum, the bloc stated that it was applying to the WTO in order to bring about changes in Chinese intellectual property law.
The EU noted that the rules on intellectual property in the PRC put European companies in China at a disadvantage.
“Today we file a complaint with the WTO against both the United States and China, and this demonstrates that we do not choose either side,” Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade, told reporters in Brussels. “We stand for a multilateral system, for rule-based global trade.”
The EU, like China, is opposed to duties on imports of steel and aluminum, which the US president imposed for reasons of national security. EU countries were exempted from these duties until June 1, and the bloc turned to the WTO after the exemption was not extended.
The EU also intends on June 20 to introduce retaliatory duties on American goods.
Iran hopes to supply 11 ATR and Airbus aircraft
Iran expects the delivery of 11 aircraft manufactured by ATR and Airbus by the end of the year, despite the US withdrawing from the nuclear deal, IranAir Executive Director Farzane Sharafbafi said.
“We expect that by the end of this year, eight ATR planes and three Airbus planes will be transferred to IranAir according to the Gregorian calendar,” Sharafbafi said, “Prime” reports.
Airbus said earlier that it would take some time to study the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran.
For its part, the US Treasury, after Washington’s decision of May 8 to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran, said it would withdraw export licenses for the supply of aircraft to Iran and gave manufacturers 90 days to curtail aircraft exports.
Iranian airline IranAir ordered 200 passenger aircraft: 100 aircraft from Airbus, 80 from Boeing, 20 from ATR. These transactions depend on US licenses, as they use American-made components in aircraft. The value of the contracts is $ 38.3 billion.
Rosstat: annual inflation by April 1 – 2.4%
Inflation in Russia in May remained at 0.4% versus 0.3% in March, 0.2% in February and 0.3% in January, Rosstat reports. In January-May, inflation amounted to 1.6%, annual inflation by April 1 – 2.4%.
In May inflation was influenced by multidirectional factors. On the one hand, prices for fruits and vegetables began to decline (- 1.3%), which allowed counting on a slowdown in inflation. On the other hand, the ruble fell in April due to US sanctions, while gas prices rose in May immediately by 5.6%.
The head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said on the eve that the Bank of Russia is worried about rising gas prices, which is why inflation may increase in 2018 by 0.2-0.4%. At the same time, Nabiullina emphasized that the rise in price of gasoline will not lead to inflation exceeding the target (4%) in 2018.
Meanwhile, food prices fell 0.1% in May (0.6% higher in May 2017), including food products without fruits and vegetables rose 0.1% (in May 2017 they fell 0.1% %). Prices for non-food products rose in May by 0.9% (0.2%). Services increased in price by 0.4% (in May 2017 – by 0.4%).
Fruits and vegetables fell in price by 1.3% in May (in May 2017, rose by 5.8%). Including cucumbers fell by 16.9%, bananas – by 12.4%, tomatoes – by 10.5%, garlic – by 4.1%, grapes – by 2.2%, oranges – by 1.4% . At the same time, lemons became more expensive by 19.9%, cabbage – by 16.6%, beets – by 11.7%, carrots – by 7.3%, onions – by 4.7%, apples – by 2, nine%.
Sugar rose in May by 5.7%, meat and poultry – by 0.5%, fish and seafood – by 0.4%. Chicken eggs fell by 7.9%, cereals – by 0.6%, milk and dairy products – by 0.2%.
The Ministry of Economic Development expects inflation in 2018 at the level of 2.7-3.2%.
