A Thorny G7 Summit | Jordan Tax Bill Halted | Argentina's IMF Deal

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. June 8, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Trade Tit for Tat Spells Trouble for G7 Summit U.S. President Donald J. Trump is sparring with allies in the run-up to a summit of Group of Seven (G7) leaders in Quebec this weekend following trade retaliation for U.S. metal tariffs on Canada, Europe, and Japan. Trump will leave the summit before other leaders (WaPo) on Saturday and travel straight to Singapore, where he is set to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un next week, the White House said. Ahead of the G7 conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said world leaders should not water down the summit’s concluding agreement to win over the U.S. leader, proposing they could issue it without Trump’s signature (Guardian). German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas criticized the Trump administration (DW) for withdrawing from international accords and imposing the new tariffs on allies. Early on Friday, Trump said Russia should be readmitted into the forum (WaPo). ANALYSIS “The G-7 (originally the G-6) was founded to sustain an open international economic order, which includes combating protectionist tendencies. In that sense, these trains have been destined for collision,” Tarun Chhabra writes for the Brookings Institution. “As a lifelong free trader myself, tariffs have not been my preferred policy tool. But at a time when nations have become so unwilling to play by the rules and restore reciprocity, tariffs are a wake-up call to the dangers of a broken trading system that is increasingly unfree,” White House economic advisor Lawrence Kudlow writes for the Washington Post. “The US has gone to war with the good guys, not the bad. By slapping tariffs on America’s allies, Trump has put the US in the worst of all positions: he has alienated the very countries that could help the US fight strategically important trade battles with China,” Rana Foroohar writes for the Financial Times. PACIFIC RIM Pompeo Suggests Role for Congress in North Korea Deal U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hopes a June 12 summit between the North Korean and U.S. leaders will result in an agreement that Congress could have a say in (CBS), adding that doing so could give Kim Jong-un “comfort” of consistent U.S. policy. In this CFR interview, Melissa Hanham lays out what North Korean denuclearization could look like. CHINA: The United States is expected next week to open what it is calling the American Institute in Taiwan, viewed as a de facto embassy (SCMP) in territory China considers its own. The opening is expected to include no cabinet members from the Trump administration. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA International Partners Welcome Afghan Cease-Fire Top officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) hailed the Afghan government’s unilateral cease-fire with the Taliban (Tolo) marking the end of Ramadan. NATO and U.S. forces said they will abide by the cease-fire, which will not apply to operations against the self-proclaimed Islamic State and al-Qaeda or defense against an attack. This CFR InfoGuide looks at the Taliban, the most vigorous insurgent group in Afghanistan. PAKISTAN: Islamabad and Moscow agreed to look into the feasibility of an undersea gas pipeline project (Dawn) that would also involve New Delhi and Tehran. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA New Jordanian Leader Backs Down on Tax Bill Incoming Prime Minister Omar Razzaz pledged to withdraw a draft income tax law that sparked recent mass protests (Jordan Times), saying that the proposed legislation should be discussed more thoroughly. The demonstrations were the country’s largest (NYT) since the Arab Spring in 2011. YEMEN: The Red Cross evacuated seventy-five of its foreign employees (Reuters) in Yemen and moved them to Djibouti due to security threats; some 450 employees remain. The move comes after a staffer was killed in late April by a gunman in the city of Taiz. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Burundian Leader Vows to Step Down in 2020 President Pierre Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, said his government’s mandate will end in 2020. The announcement comes as a surprise, as Nkurunziza had recently backed changes to the constitution that extended presidential term limits (France 24). DRC: The International Criminal Court will rule today on an appeal (AFP) by former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba over his conviction for war crimes committed by his private army in the Central African Republic. EUROPE Austria to Crack Down on Political Islam Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said there is “no space in our country for parallel societies, political Islam, and radical tendencies.” The government is seeking to close several mosques (DW) and investigating dozens of Muslim clerics. In Foreign Affairs, Markus Wagner and Thomas Meyer discuss Europe’s rightward shift. TURKEY: Turkey suspended a migrant readmission deal with Greece (Al Jazeera) several days after Athens released from prison eight Turkish soldiers who Ankara says were part of a failed coup attempt in 2016. AMERICAS Argentina, IMF Agree to $50 Billion Loan The loan, requested by Argentina last month after a steep drop in the value of the peso, must still be approved by the International Monetary Fund’s board (FT). Political opponents of President Mauricio Macri criticized his decision to seek aid from the IMF, which they blame for Argentina’s 2001–2002 economic crisis. UNITED STATES U.S. to House Immigration Detainees in Federal Prisons Some 1,600 immigrants awaiting deportation hearings will be transferred to federal prisons (WaPo) due to a lack of space in detention centers, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said.         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: June 08, 2018 at 10:06PM