Tech migrants ‘key’ for US growth, warns OECD chief economist
High-skilled migrants are vital for the US economy, the OECD’s chief economist told AFP, after the United States imposed a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas widely used by the tech industry.Alvaro Pereira, who is leaving his post after being named governor of Portugal’s central bank, spoke to AFP as the Paris-based organisation released an updated outlook for the world economy.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a 38-member grouping of wealthy nations, upgraded the forecast to 3.2 percent growth in 2025, up from 2.9 percent in its last report in June.The OECD said the economy “proved more resilient than anticipated” in the first half of the year as companies rushed to import goods before US President Donald Trump’s tariffs took effect.It also raised the US growth outlook from 1.6 percent to 1.8 percent but warned it was expected to slow as higher tariffs start to bite.The OECD said cuts in the US federal workforce and Trump’s crackdown on immigration would also soften growth.”There’s obviously less labour growth and less labour growth means that obviously this will impact total GDP,” Pereira told AFP.He noted that the report was written before the new H-1B visa fee rule came into force over the weekend.”We do think that continuing to attract high-skilled individuals from the United States or from around the world is a key strength of the US economy,” Pereira said.”This will only become exacerbated with the AI boom, because basically there’s significant labour shortages in the ICT (information and communication technology) sector.”H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills — such as scientists, engineers and computer programmers — to work in the US, initially for three years but extendable to six.Such visas are widely used by the tech industry. Indian nationals account for nearly three-quarters of the permits allotted via lottery system each year.The US and Germany are the two OECD countries with the highest labour shortage in the ICT sector, Pereira said.- Tariff impact taking ‘longer’ -The OECD report said the impact of Trump’s tariffs had been mitigated by companies “front-loading” — importing goods before the levies came into force.”The impact of tariffs is taking longer to reach the economy,” Pereira said.”A lot of firms decided to act and export a stockpile (to) the United States … to avoid the tariffs.” But he warned that the OECD was already seeing “less growth and more inflation” than expected.”Usually when the world economy is doing really well, it’s growing around four percent, so were far away from that,” he said.
Pollution au Sri Lanka en 2021 : l’armateur de Singapour condamné refuse de payer un milliard de dollars
La compagnie maritime singapourienne Express Feeders, à l’origine de la pire pollution qu’ait connue le Sri Lanka, a indiqué mardi à l’AFP qu’elle refusait de payer le milliard de dollars de dommages et intérêts auquel elle a été condamnée dans cette affaire.”Nous ne payons pas parce que toute la base du commerce maritime repose sur la limitation de responsabilité”, a déclaré Shmuel Yoskovitz, directeur général de cet armateur lors d’un entretien exclusif avec l’AFP.La Cour suprême du Sri Lanka lui a ordonné en juillet le paiement d’un milliard de dollars en dommages et intérêts provisoires, pour le naufrage du MV X-Press Pearl qui transportait notamment 25 tonnes d’acide nitrique et 28 conteneurs de granulés plastique. Le navire avait sombré au large du port de Colombo en juin 2021 après avoir brûlé pendant près de deux semaines. La pêche avait dû être interdite pendant des mois.Un tel paiement “pourrait créer un précédent dangereux quant à la façon dont les accidents maritimes seront résolus à l’avenir”, a ajouté M. Yoskovitz.La Cour suprême du Sri Lanka a prévu une audience jeudi à Colombo pour examiner l’état d’avancement de la mise en œuvre de sa décision. Les défenseurs de l’environnement avaient saisi le tribunal, estimant que les autorités gouvernementales et les propriétaires du porte-conteneurs n’avaient pas réussi à empêcher l’incendie à l’origine de cette catastrophe écologique sans précédent. Le gouvernement sri-lankais a déclaré qu’il suivrait “les conseils du procureur général quant aux mesures à prendre”, a déclaré le porte-parole du gouvernement et ministre des Médias, Nalinda Jayatissa, à des journalistes à Colombo.- “étape essentielle” -Le bureau des Nations unies au Sri Lanka a souligné que le principe du “pollueur-payeur” était inscrit dans plusieurs accords internationaux, notamment la Convention des Nations unies sur le droit de la mer.”La décision de la Cour suprême est une étape essentielle vers la justice et la responsabilité”, a-t-il publié sur le réseau social X.Selon M. Yoskovitz, Express Feeders a déjà dépensé 170 millions de dollars pour retirer l’épave, nettoyer les fonds marins et les plages et indemniser les pêcheurs touchés, car c’était “la bonne chose à faire”.Ils ont ensuite obtenu une ordonnance d’un tribunal maritime de Londres en juillet 2023, limitant leur responsabilité à un maximum de 25 millions de dollars. Le Sri Lanka a fait appel de cette décision. Des milliers de tonnes de granulés en plastique – un granulé fait en moyenne 0,5 cm -, destinés à l’industrie de l’emballage sri-lankaise avaient été relâchés par le navire, polluant un tronçon de 80 kilomètres de plage le long de la côte ouest de l’île.La compagnie singapourienne avait présenté ses excuses au Sri Lanka. Le navire transportait également 81 conteneurs de produits chimiques dangereux, dont 25 tonnes d’acide nitrique et des lingots de plomb.Colombo estime que l’incendie a été causé par une fuite d’acide nitrique, dont l’équipage semblait avoir connaissance neuf jours avant que l’incendie ne commence. Les ports du Qatar et de l’Inde avaient refusé de décharger l’acide nitrique qui fuyait.
Ghana deports at least six west Africans expelled by US to TogoTue, 23 Sep 2025 11:50:47 GMT
Ghana has deported at least six west Africans to Togo after they were expelled to Accra as part of an immigration crackdown by US President Donald Trump, their lawyers said Tuesday.Eleven deportees in total had sued the Ghanaian government to stop their further deportation, but one of their lawyers, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, told a judge at …
OECD raises world growth outlook as tariffs contained, for now
The world economy will grow more than previously forecast this year after absorbing the shock of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but their full impact remains uncertain, the OECD said Tuesday.In June, the Paris-based organisation had cut its forecast from 3.1 percent to 2.9 percent, warning at the time that Trump’s tariffs would stifle the world economy.But in an updated outlook on Tuesday, it raised the projection to 3.2 percent, saying the economy “proved more resilient than anticipated” in the first half of 2025.”The impact of tariffs is taking longer to reach the economy,” OECD chief economist Alvaro Pereira told AFP in an interview.The OECD report said “front-loading” — companies rushing to import goods ahead of Trump’s tariffs — “was an important source of support”.The economy also got a boost from strong AI-related investments in the United States and government spending in China.The updated figure is still a slight slowdown from 3.3 percent in 2024.”The full effects of tariff increases have yet to be felt — with many changes being phased in over time and companies initially absorbing some tariff increases through (profit) margins,” the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.”But (they) are becoming increasingly visible in spending choices, labour markets and consumer prices,” the report said.- ‘Significant risks remain’ -World growth is due to slow to 2.9 percent in 2026 “as front-loading ceases and higher tariff rates and still-high policy uncertainty dampen investment and trade”, the OECD said.Trump imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on imports from around the world in April.He later hit dozens of countries with even higher duties, but the US leader also left the door open for negotiations, striking deals with Britain, Japan and the European Union, among others.The United States has yet to find a compromise with China, though the world’s two biggest economies have temporarily de-escalated their tit-for-tat tariffs while they negotiate.The overall effective US tariff rate rose to an estimated 19.5 percent in August, the highest level since 1933, the OECD said.”Significant risks to the economic outlook remain,” the OECD said.”Amid ongoing policy uncertainty, a key concern is that bilateral tariff rates could be raised further on merchandise imports,” it said.The OECD also warned that inflation could rise as food and energy prices climb, and companies begin to pass the cost of higher tariffs to consumers.”On the upside, reductions in trade restrictions or faster development and adoption of artificial intelligence technologies could strengthen growth prospects,” it said.- Growth due to slow -The OECD also upgraded the growth outlook of the United States for 2025 from 1.6 percent to 1.8 percent but that is much slower than 2.8 percent last year.US growth is expected to slow even further to 1.5 percent next year due to higher tariffs and elevated “policy uncertainty”.The OECD also pointed to the impact of Trump’s immigration crackdown and cuts in the federal workforce.The report was written before the White House raised the H-1B visa fee for high-skilled workers to $100,000, which has rattled the tech industry.”We do think that continuing to attract high-skilled individuals from the United States or from around the world is a key strength of the US economy,” said Pereira, noting that there is a labour shortage in the tech sector.The OECD raised the growth outlook of other major economies: to 4.9 percent in China, 1.2 percent in the eurozone and 1.1 percent in Japan.But it flagged a drop in industrial production in recent months in several countries, including Brazil, Germany and South Korea, and moderating consumption in the United States, China and the eurozone.