HEADLINES
On the EU side: This week launched the new round of Brexit negotiations.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier met with Brexit Secretary David Davis on Monday and talks between negotiating teams will continue throughout this week in Brussels. Friction is ever-present within Theresa May’s cabinet as they continue to strongly disagree on the contentious issue of the Irish border, thus potentially further complicating negotiations with EU officials. On that note, the EU Commission’s Brexit Task Force released a position paper on transitional arrangements on Tuesday. The document outlines the basic pillars of the agreement, suggesting the EU will be using sanctions against the UK if at any part of the transition period the latter violates the terms of the agreement.
On the US side: 
The US Department of Commerce released the official December 2017 trade data. Additionally, the EU is now joining South Korea in requesting consolations with the US on its policies regarding solar panels. 
Upcoming: 
TPP is slated to be signed next month- let’s see if that happens given President Trump’s statement that he is thinking of rejoining. 
The seventh (9 day!) round of Nafta negotiations is scheduled for February 26 in Mexico City.

SPOTLIGHT
Our Atlantic Council’s most recent EconoGraphic!

The Atlantic Council’s Global Business and Economics Program provides an explanation of how secondary sanctions work. 

Slightly different from extraterritorial sanctions or primary sanctions, secondary sanctions are designed to block circumvention attempts by sanctioned regimes. Secondary sanctions are designed to bolster the effect of primary sanctions by removing access to the US financial system from any firm transacting with a sanctioned entity, starving the sanctioned entity of willing money laundering partners

TRADE
Official Report:  U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce
News: U.S. Trade Deficit Is Wider Than Any Month or Year Since 2008, Sho Chandra, Bloomberg
Opinion: How Many More Jobs Would There Be Without The Trade Deficit? Phil Levy, Forbes 
Analysis: Trade Deficit Truths, John. G. Murphy, US Chamber of Commerce
Analysis: Trump is Losing his War on the US Trade Deficit. Does it Matter?, Shawn Donnan, Financial Times
Analysis: Trade Deficit Disorder, Daniel Ikenson, Cato Institute
Report: Deepening NAFTA and Signing New Trade Agreements: A US Trade Strategy to Boost the Economy and Reduce the Trade Deficit, Frank Lavin, Hanna Deringer, Fredrik Erixon, European Centre for International Political Economy
News: U.S.- China Trade Deficit Hits Record, Fueling Trade Fight, Ana Swanson, The New York Times
Analysis: The Rise of China and the Fall of the “Free Trade” Myth, Pankaj Mishra, The New York Times 
Report: The Broken Multilateral Trade Dispute System, Terence P. Stewart, Asia Society Policy Institute
News: Trudeau Threatens to Leave NAFTA Rather Than ‘Take Any Old Deal’, Greg Quinn, Bloomberg
News: Mexico Consumer Confidence Dips Amid NAFTA Uncertainty, Reuters
News: Mexico Aims for EU Free-Trade Deal By End of February, Reuters 
News: EU to UK on Brexit: ‘The Time Has Come to Make a Choice’, George Parker, Financial Times
News: New HM Trade Commissioners to Lead UK Trade and Investment Overseas, UK Government
Opinion: The ‘Brexit Dividend’ is a Myth and the Media Should Stop Pretending It Exists, Adam Bienkov, Business Insider 
Analysis: Britain’s Most Painful Brexit Choice is All About Trade, Charles RIley, CNN Money
Opinion: Germany Must Speak to Trump Voters to Keep Free Trade Alive, Kristofer Harrison, The Hill
News: EU Seeks U.S. Compensation for Solar Panel Tariffs: WTOReuters

TWEET/FACTOID OF THE WEEK

Did you know  … that, according to researchers at Oxford University, the PyeongChang is set to be the second most expensive Winter Olympics on record? Here are the other most expensive Winter Olympics:
1. Sochi, Russia – 21.89 Billion USD
2. Torino, Italy – 4.36 Billion USD
3. Vancouver, Canada – 2.54 Billion USD
4. Salt Lake City, United States – 2.52 Billion USD
5. Lillehammer, Norway – 2.23 Billion USD

GLOBALIZATION
Interview: Wall Street is Freaking Out, Ashish Kumar Sen, Bart Oosterveld, New Atlanticist
Opinion: Rethinking Protectionism, Garimella Subramaniam, The Hindu
Analysis: The Power of Collective Investor Action to Safeguard Workers in Global Supply Chains, David Schilling, Thomson Reuters Foundation News
Analysis: How to Interpret a Market Plunge, The Economist
Opinion: Bitcoin is Fiat Money too, B.G., The Economist
Policy Brief: Heartland Security: Global Engagement Once Fueled the American Middle Class – and Can Again, Harry Krejsa, Center for a New American Security
Opinion: Why China’s Entry into the WTO Has Been Good for the U.S., Simon Lester, Cato Institute
Analysis: The New Robot Revolution in Manufacturing | Moving Upstream, Jason Bellini and Matt McDonald, Wall Street Journal
Opinion: Globalism and Nationalism, Or Rosenboim, Foreign Affairs
Analysis: A Driverless Future Threatens the Laws of Real Estate, Jack SIdders and Jess Shankleman, Bloomberg
Blog Post: How Rising Inequality Hurts Everyone, Even the Rich, Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post

WHAT WE ARE READING
Analysis: Taking Stock of the Transatlantic Relationship After One Year of Trump, Ellen Scholl, New Atlanticist
Analysis: 5 Takeaways on German Coalition Deal, Matthew Karnitschnig, Politico EU
Report: Europe’s Economy: Three Pathways to Rebuilding Trust and Sustaining Momentum, Jacques Bughin, Eric Labaye, Sven Smit, Eckart Windhagen, Jan Mischke, and Sarah Forman, McKinsey Global Institute 
Opinion: Well-Designed Stress Test Scenarios are Important for Financial Stability, Nellie Liang, Brookings Institute
Opinion: Political Connections and the Informativeness of Insider Trades, Alan D. Jagolinzer; David F. Larcker; Gaizka Ormazabal; and Daniel J. Taylor, CATO
Report: Changing Economic Fortunes for Americans: Implications for Foreign Policy. Edward Alden, in Domestic Determinants of Foreign Policy in the European Union and the United States, Daniel S. Hamilton and Teija Tiilikainen, eds., CTR and FIIA 
Analysis: Italy – Five Economic Challenges for Italy’s Next Prime Minister, Valentina Romei, Financial Times 

UPCOMING EVENTS
February 14: The Bubble Economy – Is This Time Different?American Enterprise Institute
February 21: World Economic UpdateCouncil on Foreign Relations
February 23: Human Capital and the Future of Economic Growth and Security, Council on Foreign Relations 
February 13: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: The New Business Tax Landscape, Brookings
February 13: Charting Europe’s Path Forward, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Your Newsletter Team:
Marie Kasperek, Associate Director, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council
Alexatrini Tsiknia, Intern, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council 
Zachary Coles, Intern, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council

Please send us suggested news stories, opinion pieces, publications, and upcoming events that you would like us to highlight! Email mkasperek@AtlanticCouncil.org with your ideas and suggestions.

The views expressed in this newsletter and linked external articles and content do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its sponsors.

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