why does btc always trade at ~$400 higher on this exchange?
I have no idea, honestly. It's probably got something to do with their deposit and withdrawal process but i'm not sure what is the exact thing that is causing the price being so high compared to other exchanges though.
BTC-e used to have cheaper rates than all other exchanges.
Do they have working fiat withdrawals yet? It wasn't totally clear to me from their first announcement whether all the payment options mentioned were operational yet. I suppose the price premium is accounting for the risk of trading there after what happened to BTC-e. Coins are more valuable (or fiat less valuable, however you want to view it) because they can be instantly withdrawn and sold elsewhere. That's why the alt/alt pairs are more normal. Fiat prices in the risk.