By Jack Parbrook
On the 20th of January, Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States of America for a second time. Bizarre stunts and bold polices have ensured he and his associates continue to dominate headlines and social media feeds. Trump’s celebrations featured band Village People, whose song YMCA was a favourite at Trump’s rallies, and what some have interpreted as a Nazi salute by Elon Musk, head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
From coveting Greenland to threatening tariffs on both America’s allies and adversaries, Trump’s ‘America first’ foreign policy does not lack controversy. His approach to international tax is no exception. Trump has withdrawn US support of Pillar 2, an OECD agreement to impose a minimum effective tax rate of 15% on organisations with revenues in excess of 750 million euros and prevent multinationals shifting their profits to low-tax jurisdictions. Particular exception is taken by Trump to the Under Taxed Profits Rule (“UTPR”); under the UTPR, in cases where a given entity pays an effective tax rate below 15% in a given jurisdiction, another jurisdiction may levy a top-up-tax to ensure the group’s profits are not taxed at less than 15%. The absence of US support could neuter the agreement, as countries enforcing the UTPR fear punitively high tariffs and other retaliatory measures from the US.
Trudeau To Go: Justin Trudeau Resigns as Canada’s Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as Canada’s Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party on the 6th of January. Trudeau has served as Prime Minister since October 2015, but became increasingly unpopular with his party and the country due to discontent on issues ranging from the environment, to housing, to defence amongst others.
Canada’s Parliament has been suspended until March, by which time the Liberal Party will have elected a new leader. The top contenders to replace Trudeau as leader of the party are Chrystia Freeland, who resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet and the post of deputy Prime Minister last month, and Mark Carney, former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. Leadership of the party and the country may be something of a poisoned chalice. Whoever leads the party will have to face a general election this year – one they will almost certainly lose to Pierre Poilievre’ Conservatives, who have a near 30 point lead in the polls. Whoever wins the election will then have to contend with Trump, who continues to threaten potentially ruinous tariffs on the country.
In Brief
The MV Glenn Sannox made its first scheduled voyage between Troon and Arran this month. This comes after years of delays, hundreds of millions of pounds of budget overruns, and political scandal, including a launching ceremony in 2017 where some of the windows were painted on and funnels were made out of plywood.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, potentially bringing an end to the wave hostilities that began in October 2023. If the ceasefire is not broken, the deal will see the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and more.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own, and may not reflect the opinions of the St Andrews Economist
Image Source: File:TrumpPortrait.jpg – Wikimedia Commons
