Trump Tells Davos 'America Open for Business'

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. January 26, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Trump Tells Davos 'America Open for Business' President Donald J. Trump on Friday touted his administration's efforts to improve the U.S. business environment, saying there has "never been a better time" to invest in the United States (Bloomberg). At a gathering of business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland, Trump commended a recent U.S. tax overhaul, which lowered the corporate tax rate, and a rollback of regulations on businesses. Trump urged attendees to bring new ventures to the United States (NPR), telling the World Economic Forum that business and consumer confidence are at their highest in decades. Ahead of Trump's speech, financial leaders from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase praised Trump's economic policies (WaPo). ANALYSIS "No one expects Donald Trump to depart Davos a card-carrying globalist, but it would serve him well to return home recognizing that 'making America great again' requires that the world not come apart," writes CFR President Richard N. Haass for Time. "Every conversation at Davos either starts or ends with Trump. American business people take the attitude of: 'I don't like what he says but I like what he does'," Roula Khalaf writes for the Financial Times. "A year ago, some Davos participants predicted Trump's protectionist rhetoric would lead to sluggish economic growth and lackluster stock market gains. It didn't. And the president isn't about to let that go unnoticed," Kathleen Hunter and Shannon Pettypiece write for Bloomberg. PACIFIC RIM U.S. Aircraft Carrier to Dock in Vietnam In a first since the end of the Vietnam War, a U.S. aircraft carrier will dock in the Vietnamese port of Danang in March (NYT), officials from both governments said during a visit to Hanoi on Thursday by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. SOUTH KOREA: Seoul has filed two complaints with the World Trade Organization (FT) over the Trump administration's announcement of new tariffs on solar panels and washing machines earlier this week. CFR's Varun Sivaram writes that the new solar tariffs create far more losers than winners. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA U.S. Adds Taliban, Haqqani Suspects to Terrorism Blacklist The United States has imposed new sanctions on six men with links to the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network who are accused of funding and providing weapons to militants (RFE/RL) involved in attacks on U.S. forces. At least one of the men (Reuters) is a Pakistani national. INDIA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hosting leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in New Delhi on Thursday, called for a "rules-based order" for oceans and seas (VOA) amid regional concerns over Chinese dominance in waterways. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Kurdish Forces Call for Syrian Government to Step In Kurdish authorities governing the Syrian border city of Afrin have called on the Syrian government to intervene and protect its border (Guardian). Turkey began an offensive last week against Afrin's Kurdish forces, which it believes to be allied with Turkish separatists it considers a terrorist group. In the Atlantic, CFR's Steven A. Cook discusses why Turkey is attacking Afrin. MOROCCO: Hundreds demonstrated outside a courthouse in the capital of Rabat (Middle East Eye) on Thursday in support of four reporters who are on trial for publishing information about the country's deficit that the government deemed confidential. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Nigeria Protests U.S. Terms for Sale of Fighter Aircraft Nigeria's defense minister said his country will protest conditions the United States has put on a $494 million sale (Reuters) of twelve Super Tucano aircraft. Among the conditions are delivering the aircraft in 2020 and not allowing Nigerian technicians to study the planes' production. SOUTH SUDAN: South Sudan has signed a $248 million deal with China (Sudan Tribune) to build a national air traffic management system. EUROPE Migrants Arriving in Italy on Rise Again The number of migrants who crossed the Mediterranean from Libya (Guardian) and reached Italy in the first weeks of 2018 increased 15 percent compared to the same period the previous year. The total arriving in Italy had dropped steeply from 2016 to 2017. AMERICAS Party Backs Presidential Bid for Brazil's Lula The president of Brazil's Workers' Party said on Thursday that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be the party's candidate in an October election (WSJ) after an appeals court decided a day earlier to uphold a corruption conviction against da Silva. A judge ordered da Silva to surrender his passport (BBC) while he is under investigation in a separate case. VENEZUELA: Caracas has declared Spain's ambassador to Venezuela a persona non grata, citing interference by the Spanish government (LAHT) in internal affairs. UNITED STATES White House Proposes Deal for Dreamers' Citizenship, Border Wall Funds The White House has proposed legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants (VOA) brought to the United States as children and include a $25 billion trust fund for construction of a southern border wall. This CFR Backgrounder looks at the U.S. immigration debate. The Trump administration is expected to issue an executive order soon (Politico) that would reverse a 2009 order by President Barack Obama to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison camp.         Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. Forward This Email | Subscribe to CFR Newsletters | Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: January 26, 2018 at 11:14PM