Photo : AP Photo/Euronews
22 April 2025, Tuesday | NIAS Europe Daily Brief #1117
By Fleur Elizabeth Philip
REGIONAL
European luxury brands in the middle of US-China trade war after TikTok videos
On 21 April, European luxury brands such as Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Prada are facing allegations for the sources of their goods being produced in China. Bags from these companies cost thousands of euros for production, trademark and sales, whereas content creators on TikTok claim that these bags were made in China, and the Chinese manufacturers are the ones behind the production of the luxury goods. These brands responded that their goods are produced in Europe. Trend setter Wang Seng on TikTok spoke on behalf of the Chinese handbag manufacturers, and said: “Luxury brands take the almost finished bags back to their own country to do repackaging and logo installation. This method supposedly makes the bags appear as made in Italy, or made in France.” Some of the TikTok videos appear to be targeting American consumers, who are known for buying European luxury goods in mass numbers. In response to these claims, Hermes and Louis Vuitton, on their websites, have put up lists of their production plants and their manufacturing products, none of which include China. The US purchases their products in huge numbers, and with the trade war going on between the US and China, these brands are stuck in the middle. (Estelle Nilsson-Julien, “How the US-China trade war took to TikTok and put Europe's luxury fashion houses in the middle,” Euro News, 21 April 2025)
TÜRKIYE
Government to bring slight changes to the economic policies to face the trade uncertainties
On 21 April, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said: “Türkiye looks forward to changing the economic policies, for better economic management, to protect itself from global uncertainties." Türkiye’s major risk factor is its aggression towards countries that are turning away from the US, such as China. Top economic officials which including Yilmaz, Trade Minister Omer Bolat, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Sinsek, and the Ministry of Energy and Agriculture, met together on 18 April, in Giresun to discuss the details of the Eastern Black Sea Project Action Plan (DOKAP). Türkiye had a balanced trade with the US, with 10 per cent baseline duties, by which the Turkish have described it as “best of worst tariffs.” Bolat and the other ministers gathered look forward to a mutual understanding and negotiations with Washington. After the dialogue, Bolat said: “Türkiye is preparing to tackle the American tariffs, and it will not be a warehouse where the goods will be unloaded, especially by rival countries.” Onto the economic framework, Yilmaz said: “The basic framework of the program will be preserved, which is to reduce inflation, maintain employment, production, and exports. There are no significant risks, and there are no major deviations in the program. But there will be slight changes that include an increase in the defence spending, and price stability.”(“Türkiye vows 'dynamic' management in face of global trade headwinds,” The Daily Sabah, 21 April 2025)
THE UK
First Minister excludes far-right party from the political summit in Scotland
On 20 April, First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, stands by his decision not to invite Far-right Reform UK to the political summit, to discuss threats coming from the far-right. According to Swinney: “The summit would focus on shared values and Reform’s approach to immigration would cause enormous concern.” The Reform Party denies any allegation of being a far-right extremist and claims that the meeting is an anti-democratic attempt to grow its electoral support. Swinney added: “Parties must unite to lock out the far-right from Scottish politics.” Thomas Kerr, Reform party’s councillor, responded to the allegations: “As the Reform party is right wing, and Swinney is left wing, debates are normal. But because they disagree with the immigration policies, they want to clamp down and ensure they secure the borders, which is fundamentally wrong. The key point of the summit was the taxpayer's cash, and the first minister has overstepped his mark in an anti-democratic summit.”(“FM defends excluding Reform UK from anti-far right summit,” BBC, 20 April 2025)
REGIONAL
UK detects Russia’s RAF Typhoons intercepting over the Baltic Sea
On 20 April, the UK Defence Ministry detected two Russian aircraft over NATO airspace over the past week. Two interceptors, A pair of RAF Typhoons, took off from Malbork Air Base in Poland, intercepted the Russian Ilyushin II-20 M ‘Coot A’ over the Baltic Sea. The first incident occurred on 15 April, while on 17 April, two Typhoons intercepted an unknown aircraft in Kaliningrad. The UK and NATO’s Operation Chessman, which oversees personnel across the RAF, was deployed from Sweden. This was followed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s statement to increase NATO’s defence spending by 2.5 per cent of its GDP. There have been previous incidents of RAF jets across the western skies. In 2024, two Typhoons based at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland, intercepted a Russian Bear F-bomber flew over the North Sea. Before that, in 2023, 21 aircraft were interrupted in 21 days. According to the Minister of Armed Forces, Lukr Pollard said, “Russian aggression is growing and security threats are on the rise. The mission shows our ability to operate side by side with NATO’s newest member, Sweden, and to defend the Alliance’s airspace whenever and wherever needed, ig keeping the people safe at home.” (Jamie Whitehead, “RAF jets intercept Russian aircraft near Nato airspace,” BBC, 20 April 2025)