China Slaps Tariffs on U.S. | K-pop in Pyongyang | Bahrain Finds Oil

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. April 2, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA China Slaps Tariffs on $3 Billion of U.S. Products Beijing announced tariffs of up to 25 percent on 128 U.S. products, including foods, wine, and scrap aluminum, that will affect up to $3 billion worth of exports (CNN). China’s Ministry of Commerce said its “suspension of some of its obligations to the United States is its legitimate right (Nikkei)” as a member of the World Trade Organization. The duties come in response specifically to the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports (FT), not its promise to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports, raising the prospect that Beijing could announce further reciprocal measures. ANALYSIS "The response was seen as relatively measured because it left out key US exports to China such as soyabeans, of which the US exported about $14 billion last year," Tom Hancock writes for the Financial Times. "Whereas the US imports tens of thousands of Chinese products, China imports a narrow range of products from the US, such as soybeans, corn, computer chips, and aircraft. China’s imposition of higher tariffs on imports from the US would thus have a bigger impact on US producers than vice versa," Justin Yifu Lin writes for Project Syndicate. "The [Trump] administration must make it clear that what it seeks is a renewed economic relationship with China on fairer terms, not a broader conflict with China," writes CFR’s Edward Alden. PACIFIC RIM Kim Meets South Korean Musicians in Pyongyang North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met members of the South Korean pop music group Red Velvet after they performed in Pyongyang (Korea Times). Kim called their show a “present” to North Koreans (Bloomberg). In Foreign Affairs, Victor Cha and Katrin Fraser Katz discuss how to coerce North Korea without going to war. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Nineteen Dead in Kashmir Clashes Security forces said they killed twelve militants in several areas in India-controlled Kashmir (Hindustan Times) in clashes on Sunday. Three soldiers and four civilians were also killed (NYT), making it one of the deadliest days in Kashmir in recent years. PAKISTAN: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai returned to her hometown in Pakistan’s Swat Valley (AP) for the first time since she was attacked by Taliban militants in 2012. She said she plans to return to Pakistan permanently after finishing university in the United Kingdom. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Bahrain Oil Find Largest in Decades Bahrain, the nation with the smallest oil industry in the Gulf (National), announced its largest oil-field discovery since 1932. The field is located off its west coast in the Khaleej Al Bahrain Basin (BNA). KUWAIT: A Kuwait court sentenced a Syrian-Lebanese couple to death for the murder of their Filipina maid (Al Jazeera), whose body was found in their freezer in February. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte banned domestic workers from employment in Kuwait after her death. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Ethiopia’s New PM Calls for Eritrea Dialogue Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his swearing-in Monday (AFP), called to end “years of misunderstandings” with neighboring Eritrea, with which Ethiopia had fought a two-year war. Ahmed, who came to power after the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in February, is the first Ethiopian leader of Oromo ethnicity (BBC). SOMALIA: Al-Shabab militants attacked three African Union bases and two Somali military positions (VOA) on Sunday, leaving at least twelve militants and a civilian dead, as well as an unclear number of military casualties. EUROPE Russia Governor Resigns Over Mall Fire Governor Aman Tuleev, who led the Siberian province of Kemerovo for twenty-one years, has become the most senior official to resign since a shopping mall fire killed sixty-four people (FT). GERMANY: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany is ready to “rebuild trust bit by bit” with Russia (Reuters) to settle regional conflicts and work toward disarmament. The announcement comes after Germany joined other Western countries in expelling Russian diplomats following a nerve agent attack blamed on Moscow in the United Kingdom. CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich discusses the future of Russia’s relations with the West. AMERICAS Center-Left Candidate Wins Costa Rica Election Former Labor Minister Carlos Alvarado Quesada, from the governing party, won three-fifths of the vote (Reuters) in a presidential runoff on Sunday. His vice presidential candidate, Epsy Campbell, will become the first black Costa Rican to hold the office. GUATEMALA: General Efrain Rios Montt, a dictator who ruled Guatemala from 1982 to 1983 following a coup, died at age ninety-one. He was convicted in 2013 of genocide (NYT) against the indigenous Ixil ethnic group, but was being retried in absentia after the conviction was overturned. UNITED STATES U.S. Blocks UN Inquiry into Gaza Protest Deaths A UN Security Council statement that would have called for an independent probe (VOA) into Gazan protesters’ deaths on Friday was blocked by the United States. At least seventeen Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire during border demonstrations, and Palestinians have planned protests to continue through May (CNN). The Pentagon identified a U.S. soldier killed by a roadside bomb (WaPo) in Syria’s Manbij Province alongside a British soldier as Master Sergeant Jonathan Dunbar from Austin, Texas. In Foreign Affairs, Aaron Stein lays out a containment strategy for the United States in Syria.         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: April 02, 2018 at 10:06PM