Expressing pessimism that the U.S. can change China's behavior, Trade Representative Tai wants to prioritize increasing U.S. competitiveness in strategic industries and working with American allies to boost supply-chain resiliency.
"We're trying to read the tea leaves of what the Russian government is most concerned about when they have threatened foreign companies that have halted operations or pulled out of Russia," said Thad McBride, a partner with Bass, Berry & Sims.
Russian alternative to SWIFT may begin processing bilateral payments to and from India, providing a path for Russia to bypass the strict Western sanctions regime.
Even dovish FOMC members are now supporting faster and larger rate hikes—likely including a half-point increase in May and a total of more than 2 percentage points in hikes before the end of 2022.
As LIBOR rises—blowing past 1% yesterday, for the first time in nearly two years—more struggling junk-rated borrowers may end up with negative cash flow, unable to pay interest payments on their loans.
Despite the geopolitical tensions, the Russian government is making payments on its sovereign debt and Western governments are allowing circuitous transfers to get those funds to the debt holders.
