In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea. This blockade has effectively brought Iran's economy to a standstill, as it relies heavily on international maritime trade.
"This is a system shock," says Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group. "You have a material energy supply disruption and a structural shift toward fragmentation."
The Iranian choke hold on the Strait of Hormuz evidently had a lot to do with it. By cutting off roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply over the past five weeks, Iran's blockade of that narrow waterway caused an energy crisis and fears of a global recession that the White House could not abide for long.
"We worked hard," WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, adding that the US and Brazil in particular "need more time" to work out their differences over the agreement to impose levies on cross-border online orders.
The ongoing conflict between the US and Israel against Iran is creating significant challenges for Gulf Arab nations, which are already feeling the economic strain from rising tensions and instability in the region.
The priority now is turning this EU-Mercosur agreement into concrete outcomes, giving EU exporters the platform they need to seize new opportunities for trade, growth and jobs.
