EQ weekly roundup 19-9-18

‘No preference’ for EU workers, says new Brexit report

EU workers should be given ‘no preference’ for visas to come to the UK after Brexit, says a new report. 

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) also recommends that it should be easier for higher-skilled workers to migrate to the country.It is thought the report will shape the government’s post-Brexit immigration policy. 

It has called on the government to scrap a limit on high-skilled workers altogether – currently 20,700 each year for those from non-EU countries. 

The report made 14 proposals after analysing the impact of migration from the European Economic Area (EEA), taking evidence from more than 400 businesses, industry bodies and government departments. 

The committee said it did ‘not see compelling reasons to offer a different set of rules’ for workers from the EEA. 

The government has said it will ‘carefully consider’ the proposals. 

US hits China with biggest tariffs yet 

The US is imposing new tariffs on $200bn (£150bn) of Chinese goods as it escalates its trade war with Beijing. 

These will apply to almost 6,000 items, marking this the biggest round of US tariffs so far.Handbags, rice and textiles will be included, but some items expected to be targeted such as smart watches and high chairs have been excluded. 

The Chinese commerce ministry said it had no choice but to retaliate but is yet to detail what action it will take. 

The US taxes will take effect from 24 September, starting at 10% and increasing to 25% from the start of next year unless the two countries agree a deal. US President Donald Trump said the latest round of tariffs was in response to China’s ‘unfair trade practices’.  

He also warned that if China retaliated then the US would ‘immediately pursue phase three’ and impose further tariffs on another $267bn worth of Chinese products.  

Such a move would mean almost all of China’s exports to the US would be subject to new duties. 

Robots ‘to create 133m jobs by 2022’

Millions of jobs are likely to be displaced by automation but we have less to fear from robots than some might think, a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) has suggested. 

The Swiss think tank predicts that robots will displace 75 million jobs globally by 2022 but create 133 million new ones – a ‘net positive’. 

The WEF, which runs the famous Davos networking event, said that robots and algorithms would ‘vastly improve’ the productivity of existing jobs and lead to many new ones in the coming years. 

As a result we would see more data analysts, software developers and social media specialists, as well as job roles based on ‘distinctively human traits’ such as customer service workers and teachers. 

However, the think tank said the gains would come amid ‘significant disruption’ as some roles become ‘increasingly redundant’. 

It sees robots swiftly replacing positions in accounting firms, factories and post offices, as well as secretarial roles and cashier work.  

Musk to fly billionaire around moon

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has unveiled the first private passenger it plans to fly around the Moon. 

Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, 42, has announced: ‘I choose to go to the Moon.’ 

The mission is planned for 2023 and would be the first lunar journey by humans since 1972. 

But this is reliant on a rocket that has not been built yet, and Musk cautioned: ‘It’s not 100% certain we can bring this to flight.’ 

The company said the flight on board the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) – a launch system that was unveiled by Musk in 2016 – represented ‘an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of travelling to space’. 

Maezawa made headlines last year after paying $110.5m (£85.4m) for a painting by the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat at an auction in New York.