Sovereign Consultants

Global coffee prices fell sharply on Friday after US President Donald Trump announced the removal of a 40% import tariff on agricultural products from Brazil — including coffee and cocoa — amid rising concern over soaring food prices in the United States.

Trade between the Gulf and Asia has surged to record levels, outpacing trade with Western economies and underlining the region’s accelerating “pivot to Asia”, according to this year’s edition of the Asia House flagship report, The Middle East Pivot to Asia.

The report finds that total Gulf–Asia trade reached US$516 billion in 2025, up 14.4 per cent on the previous year and roughly double the value of Gulf-West trade (US$256 billion). Gulf–China trade alone rose to US$257 billion, overtaking trade with the US, UK and Eurozone combined for the first time.