1. December manufacturing PMI data came lower than expected in China
2. The US decided to raise duties on some goods from the EU
3. In Switzerland 91-year-old person dies 5 days after the vaccination

December Manufacturing PMI Data Came Lower Than Expected in China

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector came in as 51.9 points in December, decreasing by 0.2 percentage points from November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday. The median expectation of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 52 points.

In December, the service sector saw a slower recovery, with the sub-index for business activities standing at 54.8. The figure was down from 55.7 in November but still remained at a relatively elevated level of the year, said Zhao Qinghe, senior statistician at NBS, while analyzing the December reading.

Looking at the December manufacturing indicator in China, the economic recovery may have started to stabilize towards the end of the year, leaving the peak behind after the export-triggered production increase. Although the figures are still above the threshold of 50, indicating a growth in the sector compared to last month, the decline in the manufacturing index is the sharpest monthly decline since May. This decrease means that the growth in the manufacturing sector has slowed down.

Bo Zhuang, the chief Chinese economist at TS Lombard, stated that:

“This is a gradual transition to a flat course. We have surpassed the peak in a strong recovery, as exports show. I think PMI may be peaking with credit growth increase.”

The new export orders sub-indicator dropped to 51.3 points at 51.5 points, indicating that the increased demand due to the Christmas holidays has normalized.

The US Decided to Raise Duties on Some Goods from the EU

Members of the US Trade Mission on Wednesday announced a tariff hike on certain products imported from the European Union, including aircraft parts and wine from France and Germany. This was reported on Thursday by Reuters, citing a statement from the US trade mission, reports UNN.

According to it, the department is increasing the cost of energy for parts that are used in the preparation of aircraft, for certain types of non-sparkling wines, as well as for cognacs and other types of brandy.

As noted by the agency, the office was not notified when the increase in duties would take effect, but stressed that the details would be disclosed “in the near future.”

According to Reuters, the increase in tariffs is a new step in a long-standing dispute between the US and the EU over subsidies to aircraft manufacturers. This is a lawsuit involving the American company Boeing and the European corporation Airbus.

The trade conflict between Washington and Brussels over Boeing and Airbus has been going on since 2004. Both sides accuse each other of violating the WTO and providing their aircraft builders with unauthorized government subsidies. In 2019, the WTO dispute resolution body found violations of the organization’s rules in the Airbus case, which gave the legal right to introduce countervailing duties from the United States.

However, in 2020, a similar decision was made in favor of the EU in the Boeing case. The administration of the current US President Donald Trump introduced EU customs tariffs in the Airbus case for a total of about $ 7.5 billion in 2019.

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In Switzerland 91-year-old Person Dies 5 days After the Vaccination

After the start of vaccination against coronavirus in Switzerland, an elderly man died after receiving a drug developed by Pfizer / BioNTech, as reported by Reuters.

The gender of the deceased is not indicated, but he or she is known to be 91 years old, and he or she also suffered from several diseases before receiving the vaccine. How much time elapsed between injection and death is also not specified.

However, the Swiss pharmaceutical regulator Swissmedic said that “a link between death and the Covid-19 vaccine is highly unlikely.”

In addition, the “natural cause of death” was indicated on the death certificate of the deceased.

Pfizer expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased, but noted that “serious side effects, including deaths not associated with the vaccine, are likely to occur with the same frequency as among the elderly and at-risk in general.”

Swiss drugs regulator swissmedic on Wednesday said it saw no connection between the death of a 91-year-old person in the canton of Lucerne and the vaccination, adding the deceased individual suffered from multiple previous illnesses.

“Clarifications carried out by the cantonal health authorities and swissmedic determined that as a result of the illness history and the course of disease that a link between the death and the COVID-19 vaccine was highly unlikely,” the regulator said in a statement.