U.S. Tariffs Draw Rebuke From China, South Korea

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. January 23, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA U.S. Tariffs Draw Rebuke From China, South Korea China and South Korea criticized the Trump administration on Tuesday after it announced steep tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines, following through on promises President Donald J. Trump made during his campaign to crack down on what he called unfair trade with certain countries. South Korea's trade minister said Seoul will petition the U.S. move (Korea Times) at the World Trade Organization, while China, the world's largest supplier of solar panels, said the 30 percent tariff will "aggravate" the global trade environment (CNN). Trump used a rarely-applied provision in U.S. law that allows him to impose tariffs to safeguard domestic manufacturers (FT) from "serious injury." The White House signaled additional measures targeting Chinese products (NYT) could be on their way. ANALYSIS "Even though Trump was right to blame Chinese government subsidies to its solar manufacturers for bankrupting U.S. solar producers, his America First tariffs are a decade too late to matter," CFR's Varun Sivaram writes for Axios. "The U.S. solar industry employs between 260,000 and 374,000 workers, with about 38,000 in manufacturing and the bulk of the remainder in installation. 'Solar installer' is poised to become the fastest-growing job in the United States over the next ten years," Umair Irfan writes for Vox. "The U.S. solar industry imports about 80 percent of its supply right now, largely from China. So in terms of winners, the rooftop solar industry is definitely not a winner," Lynn Doan said in an interview with Bloomberg News. PACIFIC RIM U.S. Receives Refugees Held in Papua New Guinea Forty asylum seekers held in a detention center on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island (SMH) after attempting to reach Australia took a flight to the United States on Tuesday as part of a resettlement deal. It is the second such group to make the trip since September. SOUTH KOREA: South Korea has announced a ban on anonymous bank accounts used to trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (Korea Times). SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Watchdog's Review of Sexual Abuse by Afghan Troops Released The U.S. inspector general for Afghanistan suggested that U.S. lawmakers withhold funds from Afghan military units (WaPo) whose members are found to have sexually abused children, according to a previously classified review of rights violations in the country. The Pentagon rebuffed the report last year, calling it "speculative." PAKISTAN: A man suspected of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl in Pakistan's Punjab Province earlier this month was arrested on Tuesday. The child's death sparked national outcry (Dawn). MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Top U.S. Officials Tour Syria's Raqqa The U.S. military commander overseeing the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State and an administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development visited the city of Raqqa, which was once considered the capital of militant group's caliphate (Reuters) but was reclaimed by U.S.-backed forces (WSJ) three months ago. In Foreign Affairs, Benjamin Bahney and Patrick B. Johnston write that the Islamic State could rise again. YEMEN: Saudi Arabia, which has led a bombing campaign in Yemen to restore power to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, has pledged $1.5 billion in humanitarian aid (FT) to the country.   SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA South African Ruling Party Mulls Zuma's Fate The secretary-general of the ruling African National Congress said on Monday that the party had not yet decided whether President Jacob Zuma, plagued by scandal, should stay in office. The party leadership has the authority to recall a president (AP), as it did in 2008. ERITREA: Eritreans were the largest group of asylum seekers (Africa News) in Switzerland in 2017, according to new data from the Swiss government. EUROPE IMF Touts Promising Global Growth at Davos The International Monetary Fund's managing director told an annual gathering of the World Economic Forum (VOA) in Davos, Switzerland, that the global economy grew last year at a better-than-expected rate of 3.7 percent and that it is projected to top that over the next two years. AMERICAS EU Sanctions Top Venezuelan Officials The European Union endorsed new sanctions on Monday against seven officials close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Bloomberg). The measures, which include bans on travel and freezing of the officials' assets, follow a November ban on weapons sales (CNN) to the country. Harold Trinkunas writes in Foreign Affairs that the Venezuelan opposition has not been able to effectively challenge Maduro. LATIN AMERICA: China's foreign minister invited Latin American nations on Monday, in a meeting in Chile with more than thirty members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, to join his country's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative (Reuters) Wang Xinsong discusses in Foreign Affairs the governance problem behind China's Belt and Road Initiative. UNITED STATES Puerto Rico to Privatize Its Power Authority Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello announced on Monday plans to privatize the U.S. territory's public power company (VOA), which was accused of mismanagement after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria in late September. Nearly a third of customers are still without power.         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 23, 2018 at 11:02PM