HARARE, ZIMBABWE — Officials in Zimbabwe, which is facing a growing problem of substance abuse — especially among unemployed youth, say arrests have surged in 2024, with close to 2,400 people taken into custody so far.

Officials say economic difficulties are hampering efforts to curb the problem.

Zimbabwean Information Minister Jenfan Muswere said the Cabinet recently approved a review of fines ranging from $30 to $400 or imprisonment not exceeding two years for any business convicted of selling illicit drugs.

He said that in addition to the 2,373 people who have been arrested in 2024, 48 bases in six provinces have been raided and destroyed.

“The fight against the scourge of drug and substance abuse will continue across all provinces of Zimbabwe,” Muswere said. “Religious organizations have embraced the fight against drug and substance abuse through campaigns encouraging particularly the youths to live drug-free lives.”

Oscar Pambuka, who was recently released from jail after serving time for drug use, said more tools are needed to fight the vice, such as creating more jobs.

He said he started taking crystal methamphetamine after he and his wife divorced and he had no job.

“I began to associate with the new characters,” Pambuka said. “They became my new friends. And within those associations, I fell in love with a drug called crystal meth. … It used to make me feel comfortable. It used to give me temporary joy.”

But his drug use led to losing financial resources and his networks, he said, because many people don’t want to associate with drug users. He also lost weight — 20 kilograms (44 pounds) between 2016 and 2020 — although he started regaining some in jail.

“I thank God for the incarceration,” he said.

Officials say Zimbabwe’s economy has been hurt by U.S. sanctions against the government for alleged corruption and human rights abuses in the early 2000s.

Critics attribute the economic decline to corruption and bad policies by Harare.

Inflation is running at an annual rate of 55% — lower than the hyperinflation that plagued Zimbabwe in the past but still high enough to make the cost of living difficult for most ordinary Zimbabweans.

Representatives from government and United Nations agencies in Zimbabwe are expected to meet with President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare this Wednesday to devise a national plan on drug and substance abuse.
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Gia Lai Province — Vietnam’s coffee growers have been hit hard by the worst drought in nearly a decade this year, and that could mean a morning espresso is about to get more costly.  

The country is the world’s second biggest coffee producer and the top producer of robusta beans, the variety most commonly found in espressos and instant coffees.  

Domestic forecasts for next season’s harvest in Vietnam remain grim, with the nation’s Mercantile Exchange expecting a 10-16% fall in output due to the extreme heat.  

Doan Van Thang is a 39-year-old coffee farmer from the central Gia Lai province.  

“The drought dried up this whole area and the surrounding areas, and the water shortage is so severe that compared to last year, the harvest of coffee cherries is very low. We lost a lot of the output. It’s very small, very low this year.”  

With the price of coffee beans hitting a record high, farmers are enjoying the extra cash.  

They are also trying out new tactics to protect trees in the heatwave, like letting them grow for longer, allowing their roots to access deeper water reserves.  

Growers also soften the soil around plants, or cover it with leaves to improve absorption of rainwater and fertilizers.  

And a return of rainfall in recent weeks has improved the outlook, boosting confidence among farmers and officials.  

But it remains unclear whether the improved weather conditions and new farming practices will help boost output and drive down prices of robusta beans.

“We farmers should be happy when the price increases, but due to this drought, we are not very happy because the price increases but the output decreases. So in general, we’re happy and we’re sad at the same time because the climate changes erratically, and we can’t grasp those changes, so we are more sad than happy because the output has decreased much more compared to previous years.”  

The United States Department of Agriculture has been far less pessimistic than domestic projections – estimating Vietnam’s next harvest to be roughly steady.  

Whatever the impact on the harvest, coffee costs for drinkers around the world are likely to rise.  

While record wholesale prices have so far had a limited impact on consumer prices, there are signs that might be changing.  

Recent data from Eurostat showed coffee inflation up by 1.6% in the European Union in April and 2.5% in robusta-loving Italy.  

That’s still well below price rises from a year earlier, but it was higher than 1% in the March EU reading – a sign roasters may have started to pass their higher costs on to consumers.
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BEIJING — Beijing wants the EU to scrap its preliminary tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles by July 4, China’s state-controlled Global Times reported, after both sides agreed to hold new trade talks. 

Provisional European Union duties of up to 38.1% on imported Chinese-made EVs are set to kick in by July 4 while the bloc investigates what it says are excessive and unfair subsidies. 

China has repeatedly called on the EU to cancel its tariffs, expressing a willingness to negotiate. Beijing does not want to be embroiled in another tariff war, still stung by U.S. tariffs on its goods imposed by the Trump administration, but says it would take all steps to protect Chinese firms should one happen. 

Both sides agreed to restart talks after a call between EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and China’s Commerce Minister on Saturday during a visit to China by Germany’s economy minister, who said the doors for discussion are “open.” 

China’s Global Times, citing observers, said the best outcome is that the EU scraps its tariff decision before July 4. 

But the Commission, analysts and European trade lobby groups stressed that talks would be a major undertaking and China would need to come willing to make major concessions. 

“Nobody will dare to do this now. Not before the elections in France,” said Alicia Garcia Herrero, senior fellow at Bruegel, an influential EU affairs think tank, on whether the planned curbs could be dropped. 

“The Commission can’t change a decision it has been pondering for months on months on months,” she added. “Yes, China is putting pressure on the member states, but they would need to vote with a qualified majority against the Commission.” 

The tariffs are set to be finalized on Nov. 2 at the end of the EU anti-subsidy investigation. 

“The EU side emphasized that any negotiated outcome to its investigation must be effective in addressing the injurious subsidization,” a Commission spokesperson said on Monday. 

The Chinese commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. 

Talks are a ‘good sign’  

Siegfried Russwurm, head of Germany’s biggest industry association BDI, said it was a “good sign” that both sides would hold talks in the ongoing dispute. 

“You know the old saying: as long as there are talks you’re not shooting at each other,” he told German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. 

Russwurm, who also serves as chairman for German conglomerate and car supplier Thyssenkrupp, said tariffs was the last thing Germany needed as a major exporting nation. 

At the same time, Brussels’ move to apply tariffs of varying degrees suggested a thorough analysis has taken place and that this was not an effort that targets the entire Chinese car sector in equal measure. 

Meantime, Maximilian Butek, executive director at the German Chamber of Commerce in China, said there was “zero chance” that the preliminary tariffs would be removed by July 4 unless China eliminated all the issues flagged by the European Commission. 

EU trade policy has turned increasingly protective over concerns that China’s production-focused development model could see it flooded with cheap goods as Chinese firms look to step up exports amid weak domestic demand. 

China has rejected accusations of unfair subsidies or that it has an overcapacity problem, saying the development of its EV industry has been the result of advantages in technology, market and industry supply chains.  

“When European Commission President Von der Leyen announced she would investigate China’s new energy vehicles … I had an intuitive feeling it was not only an economic issue but also a geopolitical issue,” said Zhang Yansheng, chief research fellow at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. 

Armed and ready 

Trade relations between the 27-strong bloc and the world’s No. 2 economy took an abrupt turn for the worse in May 2021 when the European Parliament voted to freeze ratification of what would have been a landmark investment treaty because of tit-for-tat sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. 

They came to blows again that year when China downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania and told multinationals to sever relations with the Baltic state after Vilnius invited democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, to open a representative office in the capital. 

Although calling for talks, Beijing has also indicated that it has retaliatory measures ready if the EU does not back down, and that it considers Brussels wholly responsible for the escalating tensions. 

The Global Times, which first reported China was considering opening a tit-for-tat anti-dumping investigation into European pork imports — which the commerce ministry confirmed last week — has also teed up an anti-subsidy investigation into European dairy goods and tariffs on large engine petrol cars. 

Chinese authorities have dropped hints about possible retaliatory measures through state media commentaries and interviews with industry figures. 

“It seems probable that Beijing will raise tariffs up to 25% for Europe-made cars with 2.5 or above liter engines,” said Jacob Gunter, lead analyst at Berlin-based China studies institute MERICS. 

“Pork and dairy are already on the table for Beijing, and likely more agricultural products will be threatened,” he added. 

“On the EU side, there are a variety of ongoing investigations … so we should expect some sort of measures targeting distortions on [Chinese] products ranging from medical devices to airport security scanners to steel pipes.” 
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