Round Two of Tariffs | Thai Junta's Grip on Power | Lula Faces Jail

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. April 4, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA China, U.S. Announce New Tariffs China said it would levy a 25 percent tariff on some $50 billion in U.S. products on Wednesday, a day after the United States announced plans for tariffs of the same amount on 1,333 Chinese goods (FT). The tit-for-tat Chinese duties include soybeans, cars, aircraft, and chemicals (Bloomberg). China's finance ministry said that Washington "severely infringed" on China's rights as a World Trade Organization member (Nikkei). The U.S. trade representative said the new tariffs were "commensurate" (WSJ) with the harm done by Chinese technology transfer policies Washington deems unfair. ANALYSIS "China’s response was tougher than what the market was expecting—investors didn’t foresee the country levying additional tariffs on sensitive and important products such as soybeans and airplanes," Gao Qi said in an interview with Bloomberg. "The tariffs are not just about blocking imports. They're about wielding a big club that the Trump administration can use to extract concessions from other countries," says CFR's Edward Alden. "Unlike other areas in which Congress has delegated policy making power to the president, the checks and balances that characterize the modern administrative state are either weak or completely absent when it comes to trade," Timothy Meyer and Ganesh Sitaraman write for Lawfare. PACIFIC RIM Thai Junta Leader Suggests Longer Rule General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who came to power after a 2014 coup, said that he is willing to continue serving as prime minister beyond parliamentary elections expected in 2019 (WSJ). Prayuth cited a provision in the army-drafted constitution that permits the parliament to tap an unelected prime minister for office. CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick asks whether the junta will follow through on promised 2019 elections. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA U.S. Official Touts Pakistan’s Role in Afghan Peace A State Department official on a week-long visit to Pakistan said that Islamabad could partner with Washington to help achieve a "peaceful resolution" in Afghanistan. The official, Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells, cited "growing international consensus on the way forward to achieving peace" (Dawn) after an international conference in Tashkent. TAJIKISTAN: A dispute between aviation authorities (Eurasianet) in Tajikistan and Russia over flight routes has led to numerous canceled flights and threatens to impede Tajik seasonal laborers from traveling to Russia for work. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Trump Says Saudi Arabia Could Pay for Troops in Syria President Trump said that he intends to decide "very quickly" (RFE/RL) whether to pull U.S. troops from Syria now that they have nearly defeated the self-proclaimed Islamic State there. Trump added that U.S. troops could remain if Saudi Arabia would foot the bill (Al Jazeera). EGYPT: Authorities arrested the editor of an online news outlet (AP) that had translated a New York Times article alleging that voters were enticed with cash and other incentives to turn out for President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s reelection. A second outlet was fined for publishing a similar report. In Foreign Policy, CFR's Steven A. Cook writes that Egypt's political elites will go to great lengths to defend their authoritarian system. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa Meets Xi in Beijing President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who came to power after a military coup ousted longtime leader Robert Mugabe last year, thanked President Xi Jinping for Beijing's support (Zimbabwe Herald) during the "peaceful transition" of power. SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town pushed back its estimate for Day Zero, when taps in the city will run dry, to 2019, though it will maintain restrictions on water usage (Reuters) at fifty liters a day per person. The University of Cape Town’s Kevin Winter explains how officials are managing the crisis. EUROPE Chemical Weapons Watchdog Meets at Russia's Request Russia called Wednesday’s emergency meeting (Guardian) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to challenge the United Kingdom’s handling of samples of a nerve agent used in an attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter. CFR's Lori Esposito Murray discusses the history of the nerve agent Novichok. EUROPE: The European air traffic control agency said it has fixed a faulty system that caused widespread delays and could have affected some fifteen thousand flights (BBC). AMERICAS Brazil’s Top Court to Decide Lula’s Sentence Brazil's supreme court will rule on Wednesday whether to allow former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to remain out of jail while he appeals a corruption conviction. Da Silva, who leads polls for the October presidential election, could be jailed the same day as the ruling (Guardian). VENEZUELA: Venezuelan judges in Colombia who call themselves the Supreme Court in Exile (AP) heard corruption allegations from ousted Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega linking President Nicolas Maduro to scandal-wracked Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. UNITED STATES Trump to Send National Guard to Mexico Border President Trump plans to deploy the National Guard to "secure our border" from Central American migrants (NYT) heading northward, the White House said. The announcement came as the number of undocumented immigrants caught crossing the border reached its lowest level since 1971, according to the Border Patrol. Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer and son of a prominent Russian businessman, received the first prison sentence (WaPo) to come from Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Van der Zwaan will serve thirty days for lying to FBI agents.         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 04, 2018 at 10:08PM