by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : Senior officials from the US and China gathered here on Thursday for a new round of trade talks, eight days before the deadline set by US President Donald Trump for reaching a deal to avert the imposition of higher tariffs on imports from the Asian nation.
The US delegation is headed by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
The Chinese representatives include Deputy Prime Minister Liu He, central bank chief Yi Gang and Deputy Finance Minister Zheng Zeguang, Efe reported.
The talks are set to last two days and it is possible that Trump will receive Liu at the White House at the end of the round.
The previous round was last week in Beijing.
Trump met last Saturday with the US negotiators after the sessions in Beijing and called the talks “very productive.”
Negotiators are working to meet Trump’s March 1 deadline for an agreement to avert an increase, from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, in the tariffs the US imposed last year on $200 billion in Chinese products.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed during a December 1 meeting in Buenos Aires to observe a 90-day truce in the trade battle between the world’s two largest economies.
The truce is set to expire at the beginning of next month, but the US president has hinted that he might extend the deadline if he saw the talks were making progress.
“I think the talks are going very well,” Trump said on Tuesday.
“I can’t tell you exactly about the timing. The date is not a magical date because a lot of things are happening. We’ll see what happens,” he added.
The president has reiterated that it would be an “honour” to withdraw these tariffs if a pact with Beijing that includes greater access for American products to the Chinese market is finally reached.
China, for its part, has adopted several goodwill measures, such as lowering tariffs on imported vehicles from the US, resuming soy purchases from the US and introducing an initiative that would prohibit forced technology transfer from American countries doing business in the Asian nation.
“I love tariffs, but I also love them (the Chinese) to negotiate,” Trump said last week. “If we make a deal, they won’t have to pay.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Beijing : Talks aimed at ending the trade war between China and the US made important progress this week, President Xi Jinping told top US trade negotiators on Friday, adding that efforts to resolve the issue would continue in Washington next week.
“Both sides will meet again next week in Washington. I hope you all will make persistent efforts and try to reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” the Chinese President was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Negotiators from the two countries have been trying to strike a deal before March 2, when the US government is due to raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent if no agreement is reached.
The world’s top two economies imposed tariffs on huge swathes of each other’s exports last year, causing major disruptions for businesses, rattling financial markets and endangering global growth.
The US delegation was led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin who were here for the two-day talks that started on Thursday. Vice Premier Liu He was China’s top negotiator in the negotiations.
Mnuchin tweeted that the two sides had “productive meetings”, while the White House in a statement confirmed that the next round of talks will be held in Washington next week, CNN reported.
According to the state media, Xi met Lighthizer and Mnuchin after a full week of trade negotiations at senior and deputy levels in Beijing and called for a deal that both sides could accept.
“These days, the world’s attention is cast on Beijing. The negotiations of two sides have again achieved important and steady progress,” Xi said, adding, “I hope you make persistent efforts and push for a mutually beneficial consensus.”
Calling the China-US ties one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world today, Xi said the two countries share broad common interests and shoulder important responsibilities in safeguarding world peace and stability as well as promoting global development and prosperity.
“It serves both peoples’ fundamental interests and meets the expectations of the international community to maintain sound and stable development of the China-US ties,” the Chinese President said.
Xi said he met with US President Donald Trump in Argentina last December and reached important consensus as both countries agreed to jointly advance their ties.
“I hope that both teams will strengthen communication, focus on cooperation and manage differences in the principles and directions set by President Trump and I, so as to promote the sound and stable development of the China-US economic and trade cooperation and bilateral ties.”
Washington and Beijing carried out intensive and conducive consultations since last December, Xi said, adding that “cooperation was the best choice for both sides”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, World
Ildefonso Guajardo
Mexico City : Talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will restart on July 26 in Washington, Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo has said.
“The three countries are resuming negotiations,” Guajardo told the media on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Negotiators from Mexico, the US and Canada will be present at the talks.
“We will begin with a bilateral (meeting) between Mexico and the US, before other meetings with Canada,” explained the minister.
Guajardo dismissed the request made on Monday by the US to the World Trade Organization (WTO), to begin discussions with Mexico over the retaliatory tariffs, applied by Mexico on US products, that could hinder negotiations.
NAFTA renegotiations began in August last year after demands made by the Donald Trump (US President) administration. Trump believes the deal to be the worst his country has ever signed and has threatened to abandon it.
The negotiating teams had hoped to reach an “agreement in principle” at the beginning of May, but talks were suspended after disagreements between Mexico and Canada over demands made by the US.
Guajardo also said that the 13th Summit of the Pacific Alliance offered Mexico a great opportunity for market diversification.
However, the Mexican minister added that the summit, to be held between July 21-24 at the Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta, is independent to the relationship between Mexico and the US.
“The Pacific Alliance has been a very effective mechanism to relaunch a position as a modern Latin America, which is now open to associated members,” he said.
The Pacific Alliance is a regional trade bloc in Latin America, formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Frank Islam,
The Washington D.C. March for Our Lives is over. Does the beat go on? Will this fledgling movement continue and have a lasting impact resulting in new gun laws nationally and in states across this country?
In our opinion, it will. That’s because the tragic shootings in Parkland Florida and the immediate reaction and initiatives launched by the high school students from there represent a pivot point. A pivot point is an area that can be leveraged and addressed effectively in order to effectuate change and achieve positive outcomes.
The activism of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school students has galvanized the nation and moved the gun debate toward a tipping point. A tipping point is the period in time in which change will be brought about.
There are a number of factors leading to that assessment. The primary ones are: the high school core group; the social media; the D.C. March; the other marches; the affiliation of gun activists and concerned citizens; the emerging informed discussion on second amendment rights; and, the emergence of guns as a “wedge” or hot button issue.
Let’s examine each of these in turn.
- High school core group. Every successful change effort has a defined leadership core group. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s included eventual civil rights luminaries such as Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson and Congressman John Lewis. The Stoneman Douglas core group includes Cameron Kasky, Emma Gonzalez, and David Hogg. A potential problem for this group is that some of them will be going their separate ways to different colleges in just a few months and they will lose their direct personal connectivity. That is where the next factor comes in.
- Social media. In this 21st century, social media has become a transcendent tool for communicating, coordinating and causing action. Having grown up with this tool, the Stoneman Douglas students used it in a virtually unprecedented way to turn out a massive national protest less than six weeks after the Parkland shootings.
- D.C. March. It is estimated that 800,000+ participated in this march. The speeches and performances from the stage at the march were brilliantly organized and choreographed. The dominant voices were a rainbow coalition of teenage speakers from Parkland and other cities such as South Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., who had lost family due to gun violence. Their speeches were personal, powerful, and passionate. These speakers were joined by well-known performers such as Andra Day, Demi Lovato and Vic Mensa, whose songs reinforced the words of the speakers and provided more emotional glue to bring everyone at the march and those watching it together.
- Other Marches. In addition to the D.C. march, there were more than 800 other marches across the United States, and in other places around the globe. Hundreds of thousands of students and adults were mobilized to participate in those marches. They will be a resource and an army of the willing going forward.
- Gun Activists and Concerned Citizens. The Parkland slaughter and the subsequent national actions provided a rallying point for leaders from other gun tragedies such as Columbine and Sandy Hook, and groups such as the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. It also brought out many moderates and individuals who, in the past, might have been actively involved on other issues, but not on the issue of guns.
- Second Amendment Rights Discussion. For nearly a quarter of a century, the NRA’s leadership has controlled the dialogue on the Second Amendment, misinforming the public and its members that the amendment provides virtually unrestricted gun rights. The truth is that the amendment was established for one reason and one reason only, and that was to protect an individual’s right to have a gun to serve as part of a state’s militia. This new spotlight on the amendment is providing an opportunity to educate the American public in general and to change its opinion on the exact nature of this right.
- Guns as a “Wedge” or Hot Button Issue. As research has shown, one of the reasons that past shootings have not escalated the national debate on gun control and gun rights is that the issue really matters for many NRA members, but it has not mattered nearly as much for the average citizen. The extensive media coverage on the topic from a variety of perspectives is making it more top-of-mind for all. As importantly, the intense focus of the Stoneman Douglas students from the platform at the March for Lives rally on getting out the vote on a moral basis against those elected officials supported by the NRA is making it a wedge or hot button issue — at least for the elections this November.
One of the signs that we saw at the D.C. March said “This is not a moment it is a movement.” We both agree and disagree with what was on that sign.
The March for Our Lives and the hundreds of other marches nationwide was a moment. It was pivot point moment. It was also the starting line for the movement for new, stricter and more rational gun laws. The finish line will be the passage of those laws.
That will undoubtedly take time. But there is momentum now. By seizing that momentum, students, concerned citizens and NRA members who are so inclined can work together to make our schools and country a safer place for all.
(Frank Islam is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, civic leader, and thought leader.)
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Aroonim Bhuyan,
New Delhi : Though the personal chemistry between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and new US President Donald Trump was the highlight of India-US ties in 2017, what has come as a huge boost to bilateral relations towards the end of the year is the key strategic geopolitical role for India in the new US security strategy.
At the same time, New Delhi made it clear that its foreign policy remains independent when it went with the rest of the world in voting in the UN General Assembly against Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Despite a change of guard in Washington, the India-US global strategic partnership remained strong as ever and a warm hug marked the first-ever meeting between Modi and Trump at the White House in June this year.
While Trump said that bilateral ties have “never been stronger”, Modi said that both the countries were “committed to such a bilateral architecture that will take our strategic partnership to new heights”.
According to a joint statement, the two leaders “resolved to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the countries and advance common objectives”.
“President Trump and Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence that, together, the United States and India will provide strong leadership to address global challenges and build prosperity for their citizens in the decades to come,” the statement said.
And that is exactly what got reflected in the New Security Strategy (NSS) that Trump announced this month that sees India being mentioned no less than seven times.
“We welcome India’s emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner,” the NSS states. “We will seek to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia, and India.”
This comes in the wake of the meeting between officials of India, the US, Japan and Australia in the Philippines last month in which the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region were discussed.
“We will expand our defence and security cooperation with India, a Major Defence Partner of the United States, and support India’s growing relationships throughout the region,” the NSS states.
It says that the US would “deepen our strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region”.
And what will come as music to New Delhi’s ears is the reference to Pakistan from the perspective of terrorism.
“We will press Pakistan to intensify its counter-terrorism efforts, since no partnership can survive a country’s support for militants and terrorists who target a partner’s own service members and officials,” the NSS states.
It also states that the US would encourage India to increase its economic assistance in the region.
Trump continued with his praise of Modi at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vietnam last month where he said that the Indian leader was working to bring his country and its people together.
Soon after this, Trump and Modi again met on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asia Summits in the Philippines, a meeting that was described as “warm and productive”.
Modi-Trump bonhomie apart, high-level visits continued between the two sides throughout the year.
After the Indian leader’s visit to Washington in June, both US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited India.
From the Indian side, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, then Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan were among those who visited the US.
Another highlight of the India-US ties this year was President Trump’s announcement of a new US policy on South Asia that called for India playing a key role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
The appointment of Kenneth Juster as the new US Ambassador in New Delhi came in for praise from all quarters. Juster is an old India hand who played a key role in the India-US civilian nuclear cooperation agreement.
On its part, New Delhi, reflecting the government’s tendency of keeping faith in trusted people in key diplomatic posts, extended by a year the term of Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna, who was to retire at November-end.
Another highlight was the visit of President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump to Hyderabad for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted by India for the first time.
This year also saw a shipment of American crude oil arriving in India, marking the first US oil export to India in more than four decades.
On the downside of the bilateral issue this year, however, was the H1-B visa issue that continues to remain prickly.
Soon after taking over as President, Trump called for stricter norms for issuance of H1-B visas, largely availed of by Indian IT firms. A private member’s bill was also introduced earlier this year in the US Congress by Democrat Zoe Lofgren which seeks to increase the minimum salary of an H1-B visa holder to a whopping $130,000 from the current minimum of $60,000.
While Trump has spoken of restricting the H1-B visa system as part of his policy of putting Americans first, there have been no changes to it so far and for this year the same levels of 65,000 for general H1-B visas and 20,000 for those with advanced US degrees have been kept.
(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)
—IANS
