by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, World
Beijing : Companies from China and the US signed on Wednesday 19 deals worth a total of $9 billion on the first day of the US President’s visit to the Chinese capital.
The agreements, which encompass sectors such as energy, aeronautics and agriculture, were signed at a ceremony presided by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at the Great Hall of the People, Efe reported.
US President Donald Trump reached Beijing on Wednesday for a visit that includes meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and a business summit where both leaders will participate.
Trump was accompanied by officials from some 30 big companies from sectors such as aviation, agriculture, biotechnology and machinery.
Ross said in a brief statement that Washington aims to reduce the massive trade deficit with China.
Wang said that the agreements were a warm-up ahead of the favourable outcomes that await in Thursday’s bilateral talks.
China on Wednesday published data related to foreign trade during the first ten months of 2017 that showed that the country’s trade surplus with the US stood at $223 billion during the period, meaning a year-on-year increase of eight percent.
Trump had made his country’s trade deficit with China one of the focal points of his electoral campaign in 2016.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, World
Cuba-US
Havana : The Cuban government has said that US restrictions on travel and business with Havana represent a serious setback to bilateral relations.
The measures, which will take effect on Thursday, enact the memorandum signed in June by US President Donald Trump, in which he expressed his intention to reverse his predecessor Barack Obama’s detente with Cuba, reports Efe news.
The director for the US Division at Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Josefina Vidal, said in a statement on Wednesday that the new regulations would hurt both Cuba’s economy and US business interests.
“Has it worked in 55 years? It’s the old line: ‘We sanctioned Cuba, we put pressure on its government to bring about changes’. It does not work. It has never worked.
“They will harm not only the state and non-state sectors of our economy, but also the citizens of the US” who will see their right to travel to Cuba become “even more restricted”, Vidal said.
Among the measures is the ban on transactions with 179 companies and entities, including hotels, shops, tourist agencies, shipyards and even brands of soda and rum.
The measures follow the expulsion of 15 Cuban diplomats from the US in October after 22 of its own embassy officials in Havana fell ill after mysterious sonic attacks.
Trump said last month that he believed that the Cuban government was behind the attacks.
The US State Department has not blamed the Cuban government, saying that it did not know who was responsible for the attacks, which the FBI is investigating.
Washington, however, has accused Havana of failing to protect US diplomatic personnel working on Cuban territory.
The Cuban government has denied any involvement and said an investigation has been opened.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : Economists in the US are split on the economic effects of Republican tax reform proposals, a media report said.
Republicans in the US House of Representatives unveiled the long-awaited bill last week to overhaul the US tax code in decades by significantly cutting corporate income taxes and simplifying the personal income tax system, Xinhua news agency reported.
The bill would cut the corporate income tax rate to 20 per cent from 35 per cent.
Martin Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University and former Chief Economic Adviser of former President Ronald Reagan, praised the tax cut proposal for businesses.
“What will truly matter for the economy is corporate tax reform which will lead to a major increase in capital spending by companies. That in turn will raise productivity and real wages,” said Feldstein in an Op-ed for The Wall Street Journal published Monday, the report said.
“These gains start small but will grow year after year as capital flows to corporate investment in the US from the rest of the world and from other parts of the US economy.”
With regard to the deficits incurred by tax cuts, Feldstein said, “That boost in future gross domestic product outweighs the adverse effect of the 1.5 trillion dollars increase in the national debt.”
The budget resolution approved by the House and Senate last month allows for tax legislation that would increase the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
The budget resolution also allows Republicans to pass their tax reform plan in the Senate without needing to secure any support from Democrats.
Lawrence Summers, a Harvard economics professor and former Treasury Secretary in President Clinton’s administration, criticized the tax reform bill in an Op-ed for the Financial Times published Sunday.
“Unfortunately, the proposal from Republicans in the House of Representatives on offer now may well retard growth, reward the wealthy, add complexity to the tax code and cheat the future even as it raises burdens on the middle class and poor,” he said.
“Corporate rate reduction serves only to reward monopoly profits, other rents or past investments. After the trends of the past few years, are shareholders really the most worthy recipients of a windfall?”
Summers said the Congress should return to the 1986 approach of revenue neutral tax reform.
House Republicans currently plan to pass the tax bill by the Thanksgiving week and then send it to the Senate for consideration.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Donald Trump and Jerome Powell
Washington : Announcing Jerome Powell’s appointment as chairman of the Federal Reserve, US President Donald Trump expressed confidence and said the former has the “wisdom and leadership to guide our economy”.
“Based on his record I am confident that Jay has the wisdom and leadership to guide our economy,” Efe news quoted Trump as saying in the White House Rose Garden.
He emphasized that Powell “has proved to be a consensus builder for the sound monetary and financial policy that he believes in”.
Powell, who will succeed Janet Yellen, said he was “honoured” to be nominated to head the Fed.
The President also thanked Yellen for the “dedication and devotion” she has displayed in her four years in the post, calling her a “spectacular person”.
The nomination of Powell, a member of the Fed Board of Governors since 2012, is not likely to face any serious opposition in the Senate.
Trum had during his campaign said that he would fire Yellen if he were elected, although after he met her he said he liked her.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Beijing : China on Thursday said it hoped that US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing would help boost bilateral relations.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry formally announced Trump’s visit next week, along with some details of his agenda, as part of the President’s Asia tour from November 4 to 14, reports Efe news.
Trump will arrive in Beijing on November 8 and the following day he is expected to be a busy one in the Great Hall of the People, seat of the legislative and ceremonial activities of the Chinese government.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump will participate in a welcoming ceremony there, attend business and bilateral meetings and finally appear jointly before the press.
The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations and international issues, said ministry spokesperson Lu Kang.
He said China stands ready to work with the US to achieve important results during Trump’s visit in order to inject new and strong impetus into the development of bilateral ties.
Trump’s first official visit to China will conclude on November 10, after which he will travel to Vietnam to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
—IANS
