Morning Brief: September 4

• China has imposed new duties on fiber optic imports from the United States. At the same time, China accused American companies of circumventing anti-dumping measures. The rates will range from 33.3% to 78.2% and will be valid until April 2028. Among the affected companies are Corning (37.9%), OFS Fitel (33.3%) and Draka Communications (78.2%). This is the first investigation in China's history to circumvent protective measures, the country's Ministry of Commerce said.

• Canada, following the EU and Britain, lowered the ceiling on Russian oil prices from $60 to $47.6 per barrel. The new restrictions came into force on September 3. Ottawa explains the decision by seeking to limit Russia's income from energy exports. In July, the EU imposed the 18th package of sanctions, including lowering the price ceiling and banning the import of petroleum products from the Russian Federation. Later, similar measures were supported by the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

• The introduction of a visa-free regime for Russians will increase China's income from tourism. Taking into account the forecast of the tourism industry for a 30% increase in the flow, in the first year of visa-free travel, we can talk about additional hundreds of millions of dollars that travelers from Russia will spend in the country. 

• Trump said that Russia and Ukraine are not ready to conclude a deal yet. In an interview with CBS, the US president noted that he remains committed to reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, despite growing uncertainty about the prospects for personal talks between Putin and Zelensky.

• Russia and China have signed documents for the supply of 106 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The head of the Ministry of Energy, Tsivilev, notes that this is «a huge alternative against our supplies to Europe, which the European partners refused on their own.» Rosneft also agreed with China on additional supplies of 2.5 million tons of oil per year through Kazakhstan.