Enslaved on a Thai fishing vessel for 11 years, Tun Lin saw his fellow workers lose their minds one after another, with one fisherman jumping into the sea to end his

life.

Some would start murmuring or laughing to themselves as they worked day and night in Indonesian waters on the cramped boat, often surviving on fish they caught and drinking water leaking from an onboard freezer.

“It was like a floating prison – actually, worse than prison,” the Burmese fisherman, who was sold into slavery, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Samut Sakhon, a Thai fishing hub some 40 km (25 miles) southwest of the capital Bangkok.

The 36-year-old, who was rescued in 2015 after losing four fingers and being stranded on a remote island for years without pay, is now lobbying for fishermen’s rights with the Thai and Migrant Fishers Union Group (TMFG).

Under growing consumer pressure, Thailand has introduced a raft of modern technologies since 2015 – from satellites to optical scanning and electronic payment services – to crack down on abuses in its multibillion-dollar fishing industry.

It is one of a growing number of countries using innovation to deal with modern slavery, from mobile apps in India to blockchain in Moldova, but experts warn against over-reliance on tech as a silver bullet without stronger workers’ rights.

“Technology can be a double-edged sword,” said Patima Tungpuchayakul, co-founder of the Labor Rights Promotion Network Foundation, a Thai advocacy group. “It has become an excuse the government is using to justify they have done something, but in practice they don’t use it to solve the problem.”

More than half the estimated 600,000 industry workers are migrants, often from poor neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, United Nations (U.N.) data shows.

Tracking Devices

After the European Union threatened to ban fish exports from Thailand, and the U.S. State Department said it was failing to tackle human trafficking, the Southeast Asian country toughened up its laws and increased fines for violations.

It banned the use of workers aged below 18 and ordered fishermen to be given contracts and be paid through electronic bank transfers.

Authorities ordered Thai vessels operating outside national waters to have satellite communications for workers to contact their families or report problems at sea, plus tracking devices to spot illegal fishing.

“We are serious in law enforcement regarding human trafficking and illegal labor cases,” said Weerachon Sukhontapatipak, a Thai government spokesman. “There might not be abrupt change … it will take time.”

Thailand is also rolling out an ambitious plan, using iris, facial and fingerprint scans to record fishermen’s identities to make sure they are on the boats they are registered with and help inspectors spot trafficking victims.

Rights groups meanwhile have tried to use satellites to pinpoint the location of ships that remain at sea for long periods, potentially indicating enslavement.

But human trafficking expert Benjamin Smith said using satellites to tackle slavery at sea was not easy unless there is a lead on where to track in the vast ocean.

“I think people underestimate the size of the ocean and the ability to pinpoint where something as small as a boat is,” Smith from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said. “If you have good information, intelligence, then satellite images can be good … It has to be a small part of a much bigger effort.”

Smith also highlighted difficulties prosecuting cross-border trafficking cases and maritime police funding shortages, adding that continued consumer pressure on firms to clean up their supply chains could be a potent force to help end slavery.

“That’s probably the best way you can start,” he said.

Good News

Fishermen remain at risk of forced labor and the wages of some continue to be withheld, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in March.

To combat slavery, firms must improve workers’ lives, rather than cutting labor costs and recruiting informally to meet demand for cheaper goods, experts say.

“Smaller owners are getting squeezed, and still rely on brokers and agents, who dupe workers and keep them ignorant of their rights and conditions on the boat,” said Sunai Phasuk, a researcher with lobby group Human Rights Watch in Bangkok.

Workers are set to become more vocal with the May launch of the Fishers’ Rights Network, which aims to combat abuses, backed by the world’s largest canned tuna producer, Thai Union, and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

“Without enforceable rights at the workplace and the strength that comes from being represented by a union, labor rights violations and the mistreatment will continue,” said Johnny Hansen, chairman of ITF’s fisheries section.

Thailand’s ratification this month of the ILO protocol on forced labor also offers hope. It is the first Asian country to promise to combat all forms of the crime, including trafficking, and to protect and compensate victims.

“We have … committed to changing the law to allow workers to form unions, so we can work together to solve the problems,” said Thanaporn Sriyakul, an advisor to the deputy prime minister. “But the process is long, and it will take time.”

Thailand has also pledged to ratify two other conventions on collective bargaining and the right to organize, which campaigners say would better protect seafood workers.

This would be good news for Lin’s fishermen’s group, which has helped rescue more than 60 people since 2015, but has no legal status as Thai law does not permit fisher unions, leading rights advocates to use other terms, like workers’ groups.

“There are still lots of victims, and I want to help them,” Lin said. “As fishermen who have suffered in a similar manner, we understand each other’s needs and are able to help better.”
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U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as gains in technology, consumer discretionary stocks and General Electric helped Wall Street recover from a sharp sell-off a day earlier on spiraling global trade tensions.

GE rose 8.2 percent, on track for its biggest one-day gain in over three years, after the company said it would spin off its healthcare business and divest its stake in oil-services company Baker Hughes.

Technology stocks rose, after plunging on Monday after reports of possible restrictions on foreign investment in U.S. technology firms. Apple was up 1.8 percent, Amazon rose 1.9 percent and Netflix gained 4.6 percent.

“We’re still in a tug-of-war between daily twists and turns of a potential trade war and the reality of a strong underlying U.S. economy,” Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co said.

Mnuchin turns to Twitter

The benchmark S&P 500 index on Monday saw its worst day in more than two months, dropping 1.37 percent after conflicting messages from Trump administration officials on the proposed foreign investment restrictions.

After initial reports that only Chinese investments would be curbed, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Twitter that restrictions would apply “to all countries that are trying to steal our technology.”

White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro later said only China would be targeted.

Harley-Davidson fell 0.8 percent after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened the company with higher taxes, a day after the company said it would move production of motorcycles, shipped to the EU, to its international facilities.

At 12:57 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 81.61 points, or 0.34 percent, at 24,334.41, the S&P 500 was up 10.83 points, or 0.40 percent, at 2,727.90 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 46.43 points, or 0.62 percent, at 7,578.44.

Oil crude prices rise

Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 1.27 percent gain in the energy index.

Oil prices jumped over 2 percent as Washington pushed allies to halt imports of Iranian crude.

U.S. homebuilder Lennar jumped about 6.3 percent as strong housing demand helped it report better-than-expected quarterly results.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.89-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.67-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and nine new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and 44 new lows.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the government was completing a study about increasing import tariffs on cars from the European Union and suggested he would take action soon.

“We are finishing our study of Tariffs on cars from the E.U. in that they have long taken advantage of the U.S. in the form of Trade Barriers and Tariffs. In the end it will all even out – and it won’t take very long!” Trump tweeted.

On Friday Trump threatened to impose a 20 percent tariff on all imports of EU-assembled cars, a month after his administration launched an investigation into whether auto imports posed a national security threat.

On Saturday, a senior European Commission official said the EU would respond to any U.S. move to raise tariffs on cars made in the bloc.

The U.S. Commerce Department has a deadline of February 2019 to investigate whether imports of automobiles and auto parts pose a risk to U.S. national security.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said last Thursday the department aimed to wrap up the probe by late July or August.

Trump has repeatedly singled out German auto imports to the United States for criticism.

Trump told carmakers at a meeting in the White House on May 11 that he was planning to impose tariffs of 20 percent or 25 percent on some imported vehicles and sharply criticized Germany’s automotive trade surplus with the United States.

The United States currently imposes a 2.5 percent tariff on imported passenger cars from the EU and a 25 percent tariff on imported pickup trucks. The EU imposes a 10 percent tariff on imported U.S. cars.

 
…

After beer, the summer barbecue may now be under threat in northern Europe.

A shortage of carbon dioxide that has already drawn warnings from beer makers about potential production problems is also hitting food processing companies. Scotland’s biggest pork producer said Tuesday it would run out of the gas in a week.

Slaughterhouses use carbon dioxide to stun animals before slaughter, and also use it in packaging to increase shelf-life in stores.

The British government prioritizes carbon dioxide for use in hospitals and fire-extinguishers, so companies that use the gas for manufacturing — to make fizzy drinks or process meat, for example — are being supplied with less.

Industrial carbon dioxide is obtained as a byproduct in the production of fertilizers. That means that companies that use the gas, like breweries and slaughterhouses, have no say on how much is produced.

Production is usually lower in the summer because of the hot weather, but a string of problems across the sector have meant that fertilizer makers have shut down more of their plants than usual. In addition, overall production of carbon dioxide is under pressure as the market for the fertilizer ammonium nitrate has weakened, said Nick Allen, head of the British Meat Processors Association.

“If it’s not making much money, you basically don’t carry on producing it. Things are getting tight,” he said.

Allen said that if carbon dioxide is in short supply, “it might well affect the price of meat.” Many major suppliers “will have to make very serious decisions about their levels of production.”

Among smaller businesses, the shortage could hurt farmers. Alex Gordon, the manager of Maidland’s Farm in Scotland, said that the shortage would be detrimental to his business. As slaughterhouses set prices, Gordon worries the amount of money given to farmers “would hit the ground.”

“Farmers could make less money,” he said.

Zoe Davies, CEO of Britain’s National Pig Association, says the shortages could last weeks for some companies but is hopeful that the pig industry will not suffer lasting damage. Davies said no work is being canceled so far, with major farms moving their pigs to other slaughterhouses.

“I don’t think the customer would see any difference,” said Davies.

Even though meat manufacturers predict that carbon dioxide supplies will return to normal levels within the next few weeks, Davies sees the issue as a lesson for the industry: “We have to work out how on earth we got into this situation. Nobody ever imagined a situation where they would lose carbon dioxide completely.”
…

President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson of quitting on the United States by moving more of its manufacturing overseas to avoid hefty new European Union tariffs on its bikes made in the U.S.

In a string of Twitter comments targeting the iconic American manufacturer, Trump contended that “A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never!”

With Harley’s falling U.S. sales, Trump declared, “Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end – they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!”

The U.S. leader said that the company, based in the midwestern state of Wisconsin, had already announced plans last year to move some of its manufacturing from the U.S. to Thailand and now was using the 31 percent tariff the EU is imposing on Harley’s U.S-made bikes as an excuse to further increase overseas production. Parts for the firm’s motorcycles are made throughout the world, including in Brazil, Australia, India, Japan and Mexico.

Harley-Davidson said the EU tax would add $2,200 to the cost of each U.S. bike it sent to Europe, potentially costing the company up to $45 million for the rest of 2018 and about $90 million to $100 million annually in the future. Trump warned that the company “must know that they won’t be able to sell back into U.S. without paying a big tax!”

Trump first vented his ire at the company Monday, saying he was “Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag” and move manufacturing overseas because of the EU tariffs. He urged the company, whose top officials visited the White House last year shortly after Trump took office, to “Be patient!”

Aside from taxing the Harley imports, the EU is imposing new levies on several iconic U.S. brands, including Levi’s jeans and Kentucky bourbon, all in response to Trump’s imposition of new tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports.

The EU’s top trade official, Cecilia Malmstrom, said Harley’s move toward making its bikes overseas is a result of Trump’s tariffs.

“We don’t want to punish, but that is the unfortunate consequence, that [U.S. companies] will put pressure on the American administration to say ‘Hey, hold on a minute. This is not good for the American economy,'” Malmstrom said.

‘They must play fair’

In his Tuesday tweets, Trump defended his trade battles with the EU, Canada, Mexico and China.

“We are getting other countries to reduce and eliminate tariffs and trade barriers that have been unfairly used for years against our farmers, workers and companies,” he said. “We are opening up closed markets and expanding our footprint. They must play fair or they will pay tariffs!”

Trump said the U.S. is finishing its study of tariffs on cars the EU exports to the U.S. He claimed that the EU has “long taken advantage of the U.S. in the form of Trade Barriers and Tariffs. In the end it will all even out – and it won’t take very long!”

Trump told a political rally Monday night in South Carolina, “I want the barriers taken down, I want our farmers to be able to trade” in Canada and Europe with reduced tariffs.

Since he began campaigning for president, Trump has sought to put U.S. trade interests first, including working to negotiate new trade deals with some of the country’s largest economic partners.  That has included talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, as well as separate efforts to alter existing relationships with the European nations.

China has been the recipient of some of Trump’s strongest words as his administration demanded changes to address the longstanding gap in trade between the two countries.  Those talks have brought threats from both sides of new tariffs that have also helped shake financial markets fearing a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

“They might not be helping us anymore and that would be too bad,” Trump said Monday.  “I’ve been as nice as I can as long as I can, but we got to get some balance and it doesn’t have to be perfect, but there’s got to be some fairness.”

U.S. stock markets plunged Monday on fears of an international trade war, but Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday and European stocks advanced in early-day trading.

 
…

As Washington and Beijing teeter on the brink of a possible trade war, the European Union and China have agreed to launch a working group to promote reform at the World Trade Organization. The move is part of an effort to upgrade the global trade system’s toolbox and ward off growing threats to the multilateral trade system and body.

According to a top EU official, the reform group would look at ways to modernize regulations and address the problem of state subsidies and other unfair trade practices.

How willing a participant Beijing will be in that effort is unclear as most of the EU’s proposed upgrades are connected to unfair trade measures, practices and policies that exist in China. The same concerns are driving the administration of President Donald Trump to press forward with the possible threat of heavy tariffs on some $34 billion in Chinese goods.

The Trump administration announced Monday that it is also mulling restrictions on foreign investments in technology. 

European Union Vice President Jyrki Katainen admits that the effort to try and promote reform of WTO rules will not be easy. He said it would take time and that China would have different views on priorities. 

But, Katainen added that if nothing is done, “the environment for multilateral trade will vanish.”

State media in China has portrayed Monday’s meetings with EU officials, a high-level dialogue ahead of next month’s EU-China summit, as the two teaming up to combat “unilateralism and protectionism” and promote globalization and protecting the global economy.

The European Union wants the reform effort to address issues such as industrial subsidies and unfair trade practices such as the forced transfer of technology in exchange for market access. 

“The two issues together are some of the reasons why, not the only reasons but some of the reasons why the president of the United States is taking unilateral action,” Katainen said, adding that the issue instead has to be solved in an orderly manner.

The basic idea is to update the WTO so that it is better suited to the current realities of the modern world, he said.

“The EU is not siding with any party or any country, the only thing we are siding with is rules-based trade,” Katainen said.

Chinese state media have portrayed the effort as a sign that Washington’s trade actions are creating a united front between the EU and China. A report in the Beijing-based newspaper Global Times called the joint effort to combat “unilateralism” and “protectionism” a “clear rebuttal of punitive U.S. tariffs on European and Chinese goods” and defense of the “multilateral trade system.” 

A report in the China Daily highlighted how trade frictions were bolstering closer trade ties between the EU and China. 

At the release of a survey on the business climate in China last week, the head of a top European businesses lobby noted that some companies, perhaps one or two, have already seen benefits from the ongoing trade dispute. 

Mats Harborn, president of the European Chamber of Commerce, said that it was not possible to tell if that is a trend but added that trade tensions are not good for business. 

“We don’t want companies to benefit from this trade war, we would like to see that we are all competing on a level playing field in China,” Harborn said.

In remarks following meetings with Katainen on Monday, Vice Premier Liu He did not mention the reform working group proposal for the WTO specifically. He did say that both countries agreed to pay attention to market access issues facing businesses on both sides and that they agreed to “reform the multi-lateral trade system and keep it advancing with the times.”

At a so-called “press conference” with Katainen, where journalists were not allowed to ask questions, Liu said “unilateralism and trade protectionism” was on the rise and that the European Union and China agreed to prevent such practices from impacting the world economy or dragging it into recession. 

Monday’s high-level dialogue was held in preparation for the EU-China Summit, which will be held next month on July 16-17th. During that meeting the two are looking to move forward a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment and to exchange market access offers. 
…

U.S. and European markets fell Monday as speculation over trade wars deepened worries across the globe.

U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent at the end of the day, while European markets were down even more.

Losses were widespread but technology stocks suffered the most, dropping more than 2 percent in its biggest one-day decline since April.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, citing security concerns.

The U.S. is scheduled to start raising taxes on more than $30 billion in Chinese imports in two weeks.  China has promised to retaliate immediately, putting the world’s two largest economies at odds.

On Sunday, Trump issued a warning to U.S. trading partners that unless they remove restrictions placed on American goods, they will face “more than Reciprocity by the U.S.A.”

“The United States is insisting that all countries that have placed artificial Trade Barriers and Tariffs on goods going into their country, remove those Barriers & Tariffs or be met with more than Reciprocity by the U.S.A. Trade must be fair and no longer a one way street!” Trump tweeted.

Trump has already annoyed major U.S. trading partners, including China, Canada, Mexico, the European Union and India, by imposing tariffs on steel, aluminum and other products from those countries.
…

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that forthcoming investment restrictions from the department will not be specific to China but would apply “to all countries that are trying to steal our technology.”

In a Twitter message, Mnuchin said stories on investment restrictions from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal “are false, fake news.”

A government official told Reuters on Sunday night that the Treasury was drafting curbs that would block firms with at least 25 percent Chinese ownership from buying U.S. companies with “industrially significant technology.”

Mnuchin’s tweet came amid a difference of opinion among top Trump administration officials on how aggressive an approach should be taken in challenging China’s trade practices. The administration is still debating some aspects of the new investment restrictions that are set to be announced on Friday, a government official said.

The disagreements were also about U.S. tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods that are scheduled to go into effect on July 6, which China said would trigger retaliation involving its imports of American soybeans and motor vehicles.

Mnuchin has been on the more moderate side of the debate, along with White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who is recovering from a heart attack. Arguing for a more aggressive approach to tariffs and investment restrictions on China are White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Last month, Mnuchin said a trade war with China was “on hold” after officials of the world’s two largest economies held talks in Beijing that were focused on opening more sectors of China’s economy and increasing purchases of American goods.

But on May 29, the White House announced that the Trump administration would proceed with a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of Chinese goods and China-specific investment restrictions.

“To protect our national security, the United States will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology,” the White House said in the statement. “The proposed investment restrictions and enhanced export controls will be announced by June 30, 2018, and they will be implemented shortly thereafter.”

Lighthizer said that getting China to open its market to more U.S. exports was significant, but that it was far more important for the United States to resolve issues with China such as forced technology transfers and cyber theft.
…

Iranian merchants in the capital’s Grand Bazaar held a rare protest Monday against the plummeting value of Iran’s currency, the rial, as other demonstrators also took to the streets.

Most shop owners closed their stores Monday in Tehran’s main bazaar as thousands of people gathered in the streets. Video posted to social media showed protesters heckling those shopkeepers who refused to close their stores, shouting “cowards.”

Demonstrators later gathered in front of parliament, about 2 kilometers from the Grand Bazaar, leading to a confrontation with police in which authorities fired tear gas at the protesters.

Iran’s semi-official news agencies described the protests at the Grand Bazaar as erupting due to the fall of the Iranian rial.

Iran’s currency has plunged almost 50 percent in value in the past six months, with the U.S. dollar now buying around 90,000 rials on the black market, despite government attempts to control the currency rate.

Earlier this year, Iran’s government set an exchange rate of 42,000 rials to $1, but this action only generated a vibrant black market.

Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said Grand Bazaar merchants returned to work Monday after the government promised to help them access hard currency for their imports.

Iran’s government has been struggling with a range of economic problems, including high unemployment and growing fears about the impact of the reinstatement of U.S. sanctions after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal with Iran.

Similar economic protests roiled Iran this past December and January, spreading to around 75 cities and towns. However, those protests largely were focused in Iran’s provinces as opposed to Tehran itself.
…