U.S. Allies Protest Trump Tariffs

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. March 2, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA U.S. Allies Protest Trump Tariffs Fears of potential trade wars erupted as countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas protested U.S. President Donald J. Trump's decision to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports as soon as next week. Trump invoked a Cold War–era law allowing presidents to restrict imports deemed a threat to national security (WSJ). The U.S. steel and aluminum markets complain they face a flood of cheap products (FT) on the global market from China, though analysts say other countries, including Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Russia, and South Korea, are most likely to feel the brunt of the tariffs (CNBC) as top exporters to the United States. Trump reaffirmed the U.S. move amid global backlash, writing on Friday that "trade wars are good" (Twitter). ANALYSIS "The president's announcement yesterday was the clearest and most disturbing sign yet that he is quite prepared to take ill-considered actions that will chip away at the foundations of the global trading system," writes CFR's Edward Alden. "The U.S. steel industry has for decades gone to the government trough for new restrictions on its foreign competition, and the results [of] these import measures are always the same: immense consumer costs and very few, if any benefits to the industry and its workers," Scott Lincicome writes for the Cato Institute. "[These] remedies will provide the additional measures required to ensure the competitiveness of the steel industry in the U.S.," writes the steel and mining firm ArcelorMittal. PACIFIC RIM UK Probe Proposes Reparations for Child Migrants A UK investigation into child sexual abuse said the British government should compensate an estimated two thousand surviving migrants (BBC) sent to Australia and other former British territories as children by charities and the Catholic Church. Many of the migrants interviewed said they suffered physical and sexual abuse. CAMBODIA: Australia told Prime Minister Hun Sen that his threat to assault protesters if they burn an effigy of him (VOA) during an upcoming trip there is "not acceptable." In Project Syndicate, CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick writes that the United States has not paid enough attention to Cambodia's slide toward dictatorship. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Myanmar Military Buildup Triggers Alarm at Border Bangladesh's foreign ministry summoned Myanmar's ambassador in Dhaka (Dhaka Tribune) after Myanmar troops gathered in trucks loaded with ammunition near the border where thousands of Rohingya refugees have sought shelter (BBC). This CFR Backgrounder looks at the Rohingya refugee crisis.  INDIA: New Delhi said there was no change in its policy toward the Dalai Lama (Hindustan Times) following reports government officials were told to skip events marking the sixty-year anniversary of the Tibetan spiritual leader's exile.  MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Eight Turkish Soldiers Killed in Syria The servicemen died in fighting against Kurdish militias in northwest Syria; thirteen others were wounded. The defense minister said forty-one Turkish soldiers and 116 militants for the Free Syrian Army have died since January 20 (Hurriyet), when the Turkish operation began.  In the Atlantic, CFR's Steven A. Cook discusses why Turkey is attacking Syria's Afrin. PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Prince William will visit the territories this summer (Middle East Eye), the first British royal to do so since 1948. The UK ambassador to Israel said the trip "wouldn't be a political visit" (Ynet). SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Environmentalists Protest China-Backed Kenya Railroad Protesters called on the Kenyan government to comply with a court order to suspend the construction of a rail line cutting through the Nairobi National Park (AFP) after a Chinese firm set up equipment on park grounds last week. BENIN: President Patrice Talon will visit Paris next week in what is expected to be a test of French President Emmanuel Macron's vow to return artifacts from former African colonies (VOA) to the continent. EUROPE Germany Says Government Hack Ongoing The Interior Ministry said it allowed hackers "controlled" access to government networks (DW) in an attempt to track down the perpetrators of what they called a sophisticated cyberattack. Lawmakers had raised concern that they were not informed of the hack earlier. SPAIN: Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont announced that he will not seek to regain the presidency (BBC) in the northeastern region. He has been in exile in Belgium since an independence referendum opposed by Madrid last October AMERICAS Venezuela Delays Presidential Election The National Electoral Council announced it is postponing an upcoming presidential election (LAHT) by one month to May 20. An opposition coalition has vowed to boycott the vote. COLOMBIA: Presidential candidate Rodrigo Londono was hospitalized with heart problems (BBC) ahead of a May election. Londono was leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a now demobilized Marxist rebel group. UNITED STATES U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to Leave Post Roberta Jacobson announced her resignation after thirty-one years of government service, noting her difficulty making the decision given her "profound belief in the importance of the U.S.-Mexico relationship" (AP) and "knowledge that it is at a crucial moment."         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: March 02, 2018 at 11:03PM