Switzerland Seeks a Study of Starting Its Own Cryptocurrency

Switzerland’s government has requested a report into the risks and opportunities of launching its own cryptocurrency, a so-called “e-franc” that would use technology similar to privately launched coins like bitcoin but have backing of the state.

The lower house of the Swiss parliament must now decide whether to back the Federal Council’s request for a study into the subject, which has been discussed in Sweden.

Cryptocurrencies have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and international governing bodies coming to grips with the technology’s rapid ascent. The coins use encryption and a blockchain transaction database designed to enable anonymous transactions that do not require centralized processing.

Other countries interested

Several countries have begun evaluating the viability of introducing their own state-backed digital currency, with Sweden’s Riksbank saying an e-crown might help counteract issues arising from declining cash use and help make payment systems more robust.

But existing digital currencies such as bitcoin have been hampered by extreme volatility, high-profile hacks and doubts about long-term viability. Venezuela has issued a state-backed coin, but major developed economies have so far steered clear.

The Bank of International Settlement in March warned central banks to think hard about potential risks and spillovers before issuing their own cryptocurrencies.

Swiss bank cautious

In Switzerland, if the proposal is approved, a study will be produced by the Swiss finance ministry. No timing has been given on when it would be published should the go-ahead be given.

Swiss lawmaker Cedric Wermuth, vice president of the Social Democratic Party, called for the study. In its response Thursday, the Swiss government, or Federal Council, backed the proposal to look into it, although it said there were hurdles.

“The Federal Council is aware of the major challenges, both legal and monetary, which would be accompanied by the use of an e-franc,” it said. “It asks that the proposal be adopted to examine the risks and opportunities of an e-franc and to clarify the legal, economic and financial aspects of the e-franc.”

The Swiss National Bank has so far been cautious on the issue. Private-sector digital currencies were better and less risky than any version that might be offered by a central bank, SNB governor Andrea Maechler said last month.

New US Sanctions Hit at Hezbollah-Linked Financier, Companies

The United States sought on Thursday to further choke off funding sources for Iranian-backed Hezbollah, imposing sanctions on its representative to Iran, as well as a major financier and his five companies in Europe, West Africa and the Middle East.

The U.S. Treasury said Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi was a Hezbollah financier operating through Belgium, Lebanon and Iraq, and was a close associate of Gambia’s former president Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of acquiring vast wealth during his decades-long rule.

It also imposed sanctions on Hezbollah’s representative to Iran, Abdallah Safi Al-Din, who it said served as an interlocutor between Hezbollah and Iran on financial issues.

The department said it had blacklisted Belgian energy services conglomerate Global Trading Group; Gambia-based petroleum company Euro African Group; and Lebanon-based Africa Middle East Investment Holding, Premier Investment Group SAL Offshore and import-export group Car Escort Services. All were designated because they are owned or controlled by Bazzi, the Treasury said.

“The savage and depraved acts of one of Hezbollah’s most prominent financiers cannot be tolerated,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

“This administration will expose and disrupt Hezbollah and Iranian terror networks at every turn, including those with ties to the Central Bank of Iran,” he said.

The sanctions are among a slew of fresh measures aimed at Iran and Hezbollah since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last week.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to outline in a speech in Washington on Monday plans by the United States to build a coalition to look closer at what it sees as Iran’s “destabilizing activities,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters at the State Department.

In one of the biggest moves this week aimed at clamping down on Iran’s overseas operations, the Treasury sanctioned Iran’s central bank governor, Valiollah Seif.

On Wednesday, the United States, backed by Gulf States, imposed additional sanctions on Hezbollah’s top two leaders, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem.

US Warns China Against Imposing ‘Political Correctness’ on US Firms

U.S. officials and politicians say they are increasingly frustrated and looking for ways to fight back against what they see as China’s use of its market power to impose “politically correct” behavior on American companies. Airlines, retailers and hoteliers all have been pressured to alter products and promotions that offended Beijing.

“These actions are outrageous and disturbing,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs Alex Wong told American lawmakers Tuesday.

“China is very much well aware that it’s wading through treacherous waters here. And they understand that if they continue along this path, continue to employ these tactics, that will negatively affect the U.S.-China relationship and that there will be consequences,” said Wong during a hearing at Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.

“The consequences are under review,” Wong added.

His remarks come after American clothing retailer Gap apologized and recalled the sale in the Chinese market of its T-shirts showing a map that’s seen by Beijing as politically incorrect. The T-shirts were also destroyed. 

A Chinese student earlier this week posted pictures of the T-shirt, which did not include Taiwan, parts of Tibet and islands in the South China Sea that Beijing claims are Chinese territories. Gap quickly apologized, citing “unintentional error.” Photos circulated on Chinese social media network Weibo were said to be have been taken at an outlet store in Canada. 

A Chinese government spokesperson took note of Gap’s apology and the American company’s pledge to respect “China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and is conducting an internal inspection.”

“We have taken note of this statement. We will continue to listen to its [Gap’s] words, and watch the actions,” said Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Lu Kang on Tuesday.

But U.S. officials and lawmakers are hitting back.

“American companies are being bullied,” said Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio during Tuesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing.

Rubio said U.S. airlines “are being threatened by China, that if their website doesn’t say Taiwan [is part of] China, they’re going to lose their routes and have fines and penalties.”

On April 25, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration sent a letter to 36 foreign air carriers, including a number of American carriers, demanding the carriers remove references on their websites or in other material that suggests Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are independent territories from China.

And in January, Beijing requested U.S. hotel giant Marriott International change the way it referred to Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau to be in line with Beijing’s views.

The request came after a Marriott employee “liked” a tweet by Friends of Tibet that praised Marriott for “listing #Tibet as a country along with #HongKong and #Taiwan” in an online customer questionnaire.

The employee was fired and Marriott apologized to Beijing.

Observers said market access to the growing population of affluent Chinese consumers leads to American companies’ compliance.

“It’s totally based on market strategy or, more precisely, fear of being shut out of the China market,” Brooking Institution’s Senior Fellow Richard Bush told VOA on Thursday. 

U.S. officials said they have raised this issue privately with their Chinese counterparts, while also condemning Beijing’s actions in public. U.S. officials have also talked with companies who have been involved in the incidents.

China claims democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its territory, and it has never renounced the use of military force to bring the island under Beijing’s control. The U.S. broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979 and has “acknowledged” Beijing’s position, while insisting on a “peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences.”

Trump Meets Chinese Vice Premier Amid Tough Trade Talks 

President Donald Trump stepped into a round of tough trade talks with China on Thursday after the White House confirmed a meeting between the U.S. president and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

The two world powers are taking part in a second series of trade negotiations that started Thursday. The initial talks were held in Beijing two weeks ago.

Speaking to reporters before his meeting with Liu, Trump repeated his strong dislike for previous deals between Washington and Beijing.

“The United States has been ripped off for many, many years by its bad trade deals. I don’t blame China; I blame the leadership of this country from the past,” Trump told reporters before a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

“China has taken out hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the United States, and I explained to President Xi [Jinping] we can’t do that anymore,” Trump added.

The talks are aimed at “rebalancing the United States-China bilateral economic relationship,” according to the White House. They are also aimed at avoiding a full-blown trade war after the two countries exchanged tariff threats in March.

Despite the tough talks, Trump tweeted over the weekend that he was working with Xi to give Chinese phone company ZTE a way to get back into business.

The U.S. slapped sanctions against the Chinese telecommunications company last month for breaking U.S. trade control laws by selling components to Iran and North Korea. The move prompted ZTE to shut down its U.S. operations.

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities have long had national security and espionage concerns about ZTE.

“ZTE was a company I spoke to with President Xi. He asked me if I could take a look at that, because it was very harmful to them in terms of their jobs and probably other things, and I certainly said I would — he asked me to do it, and I would do that. I like him, he likes me, we have a great relationship,” Trump said in explaining his tweet to reporters. 

Trump noted it was his administration that had first put strong clamps on ZTE.

“Anything we do with ZTE is just a small component of the overall deal. I can only tell you this: We are going to come out fine with China,” Trump said. “When you’re losing $500 billion a year on trade, you can’t lose the trade war, you’ve already lost it.”

Liu, who is Xi’s top economic adviser, is taking part in two days of talks with a U.S. trade delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told reporters Wednesday that the administration was conducting “very serious” talks with China, and that Trump was “very hands-on” and “involved in every decision.”

“We have requested that China change their trading practices, which are unfair and in many ways illegal,” Kudlow said.

“This is with respect to the issue of theft of technology, forced transfers of technology, high tariffs and non-tariff barriers” that are preventing the United States from making a competitive effort to export goods and services to China, he said.

The economic adviser said the administration had given China a “lengthy, detailed list” of what the U.S. wanted, including narrowing the U.S.-China trade deficit, lowering non-tariff barriers and permitting American ownership of its own companies in China. 

“Right now, the limit is 49 percent and that’s one of the causes of the theft and transfer of viable technology,” Kudlow said. “When we do these joint ventures, we should have to own 51 percent on to 100 percent. That’s a key part of these talks.”

Bulgarian Truckers Protest Proposed EU Rules During Summit

Hundreds of truck drivers blocked roads across Bulgaria on Thursday as European Union leaders met in Sofia, protesting proposed EU rules they say would cost their jobs and put their firms out of business.

Transport company owners described the initiative, known as the Mobility Package, as a protectionist measure designed to help rival firms in western Europe. The Bulgarian transport association said around 120,000 drivers from the country would lose their jobs under the proposed rule changes.

Trucks from Bulgaria and other low-wage eastern European countries are a common sight on the roads of western Europe, competing with local firms whose drivers are much higher paid.

Under the package, backed by France, Germany and other higher-wage states, truck drivers from eastern Europe would receive the same payment for work abroad as those employed by western European transport companies.

The package has long been the subject of negotiations between EU member states and has yet to be laid before the European Parliament.

The Bulgarian government backed the local truck companies.

“We declare our strong support for Bulgarian carriers,” Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, who is hosting the EU summit, said the proposed changes would “kill the Bulgarian sector.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped a compromise could be found in the coming months. “We will find a balanced deal together that will ensure the proper working of the single market, good social protection and fair competition in the transport sector. September has to be our objective,” he told a news conference at the Sofia summit.

Drivers from Bulgaria, where average monthly wages of little more than 500 euros ($600) are among the lowest in the EU, often spend weeks moving loads between countries including Germany, France and Britain before returning to their home base.

Under the package, drivers would have to rest for at least 45 hours in a hotel rather than their cab and return home every three weeks.

Bulgarian transport firms said this would nullify eastern European companies’ competitive advantage.

“These restrictions are absolutely unnecessary,” said Vladislav Kalchev, owner of a transport company. “They are trying to help, in some way, the market in the big countries.”

Canada ‘Positive’ on NAFTA, Mexico Says Deal Possible by End-May

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said he felt “positive” about talks to rework the NAFTA trade pact, while a top Mexican official held out hope a deal could be hammered out by the end of May.

U.S. officials say the negotiations need to wrap up very soon to give the current Congress time to vote on a final text for a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement.

“To be honest, we are down to a point where there is a good deal on the table,” Trudeau told the Economic Club of New York, saying top Canadian officials were in Washington for talks on how to advance the negotiations.

“It’s right down to the last conversations … I’m feeling positive about this, but it won’t be done until it’s done.”

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was due to travel to the U.S. capital later Thursday for internal meetings and talks with key stakeholders, said a spokesman.

A Mexican technical negotiating team is in Washington, but there is no date set for the next NAFTA ministerial meeting with the United States and Canada.

Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said a deal could be reached by the end of May, but added that if no agreement is reached the talks could extend beyond the July 1 Mexican presidential election.

For that to happen, though, the United States and Mexico would have to end what officials say is deadlock over U.S. demands to raise wages in the auto sector and boost the North American content of cars made in the three NAFTA nations.

Critics complain the move is a clear swipe at Mexico, which U.S. President Donald Trump says added low-wage manufacturing jobs at American expense after NAFTA was signed in 1994.

“Any renegotiated NAFTA that implies losses of existing Mexican jobs is unacceptable,” Guajardo said in a tweet.

Under the Trade Promotion Authority statute that would allow a simple yes or no vote on NAFTA, Trump must notify Congress 90 days before he can sign the agreement. The U.S. International Trade Commission then has up to 105 days after the signing to produce a study on the effects of the agreement.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan had said that the Republican-controlled Congress would need to be notified of a new deal by Thursday to give lawmakers a chance to approve it before a newly elected Congress takes over in January.

Ryan, asked Thursday whether there was any wiggle room in the NAFTA approval timeline for Congress, said “the wiggle room would be at the ITC.”

He added: “My guess is there is probably some wiggle room at the ITC for what it takes for their part of the process, but not an indefinite amount and that means time is really of the essence.”

European Commission to Move to Block US Sanctions on Iran

The European Commission will initiate plans Friday to prohibit European companies from adhering to U.S. sanctions against Iran, a move to help keep the Iran nuclear agreement intact and to defend European corporate interests.

“We have the duty to protect European companies,” Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said following a meeting of European Union leaders Thursday in Sofia, Bulgaria, “We now need to act and this is why we are launching the process.”

Juncker said the commission will begin the process of activating a so-called blocking statute, which bans EU companies from observing the sanctions and any court rulings that enforce U.S. penalties.

Juncker also said the commission would continue to cooperate with Iran and the European Investment Bank would be allowed to facilitate European corporate investment in the Persian Gulf country.

The commission’s move is in retaliation to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal and a subsequent move to revive stringent sanctions against Tehran.

The U.S. actions sparked concern among European countries over how to incentivize Iran to maintain compliance with the accord signed by world powers in July 2015, and the blocking statute is the most powerful tool at its immediate disposal.

European leaders are also confronted with the threat of U.S. tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports. The Trump administration’s temporary exemptions from the tariffs expire June 1.

 

 

Trump: US Has Not ‘Folded’ in Trade Dealing with China

President Donald Trump says the United States has not “folded” in trade negotiations with China as both countries get set for another round of meetings.

“We have not seen China’s demands yet,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “The U.S. has very little to give because it has given so much over the years. China has much to give.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin opens two days of talks in Washington with Chinese officials Thursday.

“These meetings are a continuation of the talks held in Beijing two weeks ago and will focus on rebalancing the United States-China bilateral economic relationship,” the White House says.

They are also aimed at avoiding a full-blown trade war after the U.S. and China exchanged tariffs in March.

Trump reminded the country Wednesday that the U.S. has been losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year and countless U.S. manufacturing jobs because of its trade deficit with China.

But despite his tough talks on China, Trump wants to rescue China’s giant technology company ZTE, puzzling many lawmakers.

ZTE was forced to close one of its plants and cease major operations after the U.S. Commerce Department barred it from buying American-made components for its consumer products. ZTE had been using those components in goods sold to Iran and North Korea, a violation of U.S. trade embargoes.

The president said earlier this week that “too many jobs” were being lost in China because of ZTE’s problems, and he ordered the Commerce Department to help it “get back into business, fast.”

Republican Senator Marco Rubio told VOA that the Commerce Department’s sanctions on ZTE are “a law enforcement function that really shouldn’t have anything to do with trade. … Chinese telecom companies are agents of the Chinese government. They don’t just steal national security secrets, they steal commercial secrets.”

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi also talked to VOA, saying Trump does not know how to fight when it comes to balancing trade issues.

“The president talked big about wanting to have a fair trade relationship with China and folded immediately on the ZTE issue.”

Pelosi said Trump’s motives over ZTE are hard to understand, but said he will face serious opposition in Congress if he tries to use ZTE as a bargaining chip.

Michael Bowman and VOA Mandarin contributed to this report.

Argentina’s Currency Crisis Over, Macri says

President Mauricio Macri said Wednesday that Argentina’s currency crisis is over, speaking as the country’s currency rebounded somewhat and prices for its stocks and bonds rose.

 

Macri announced last week that Argentina was seeking a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund following a sharp drop in the peso. The decision brought back haunting memories for Argentines who blame the IMF for introducing policies that led to the country’s 2001 economic implosion.

 

Argentina was forced to impose interest rate hikes and to tighten the fiscal deficit target to try to halt the devaluation of its currency, which has lost about 25 percent of its value in recent weeks.

 

The peso hit a new all-time low of 25.30 to the U.S. dollar Monday. But it rose at 24.8 per dollar Wednesday and Argentine stocks and bonds rose.

 

Macri said his government thinks it has “overcome” the turbulence over the currency. He also said he will demand “an intelligent” deal with the IMF.

 

“It’s important to recognize the moment of nervousness and anguish lived by a sector of the population,” Macri told reporters at the presidential palace.

 

“There was fear and anguish. Today, we have a different climate, but we must take a balance of what happened.”

 

The economic turbulence highlighted the frailty of Argentina’s economy despite austerity measures imposed by Macri, a conservative who has vowed to boost growth and curb Argentina’s high inflation.

 

Macri’s government has requested a “high-access stand-by arrangement” from the IMF to meet its debt obligations without risking a disruption of economic growth.

 

“With this deal, we will potentialize the future of Argentines,” Macri said.

 

The crisis 17 years ago resulted in one of every five Argentines being unemployed and millions sliding into poverty. The peso, which had been tied to the dollar, lost nearly 70 percent of its value.

 

Many Argentines have blamed the IMF since then for its role in Argentina’s record debt default of more than $100 billion.

 

A survey by Argentine pollsters D’Alessio Irol/Berensztein said 75 percent of Argentines feel that seeking assistance from the IMF is a bad move. The survey of 1,077 people in early May had a margin of error of three percentage points.

Amsterdam Determined to Tame Tourism

Amsterdam unveiled far-reaching plans Wednesday to rein in tourism, reflecting the dissatisfaction of many residents who feel the city’s historic center has been overrun.

The leading Green-Left and other parties negotiating a new municipal government after March elections vowed to return “Balance to the City,” in a document of that name seen by Reuters.

“The positive sides of tourism such as employment and city revenues are being more and more overshadowed by the negative consequences,” including trash and noise pollution, the document said.

Changes the document outlines include curtailing “amusement transportation” such as multiperson “beer bikes”; cracking down on alcohol use in boats on the canals; further restricting Airbnb and other home rentals; and a large tax hike.

The plans announced Wednesday also include creating an inventory of all commercial beds in the city to try to cap various sectors, such as those on cruise ships and in hotels.

“I’m very happy that the city is now finally taking action, because residents have been asking for it for a very long time,” said Bert Nap of neighborhood organization d’Oude Binnenstad, in the historic center.

“What I’m worried about is that this package of measures is so drastic that there will be a lot of lawsuits and political resistance, which will cost a lot of time.”

He said the city was suffering from too many visitors in general, which had the effect of changing the character of the center into one big tourist attraction. He also said some unruly, drunken tourists were making the city center an unattractive place for local residents.

Edgy lure

With a population of around 800,000, the city expects 18 million tourists in 2018, an increase of 20 percent from 2016 levels, many drawn by an edgy atmosphere generated by readily available soft drugs and the “red light” sex zone.

Anti-tourist and anti-expatriate sentiment have been steadily on the rise in Amsterdam, as both are blamed in part for helping drive housing prices increasingly out of the reach of ordinary Dutch people.

The average apartment in Amsterdam cost 407,000 euros ($475,000) in 2017, an increase of around 12 percent from 2016 levels, according to national real estate association NVM.

The change of emphasis has already started from national government over the past years, to try to dissuade visitors from the more earthy pastimes the city is famous for.

Advertising campaigns have focused on the city’s canals, the Anne Frank House and the museums packed with the greatest works of Van Gogh and Rembrandt.

Legislators have helped the rebranding, shutting a third of the city’s brothels in 2008 and starting a program in 2011 to close marijuana cafes located near schools.

“Amsterdam is a city to live and work in — it’s only a tourist destination in the second place,” the municipal document said.

US Pushes for NAFTA Deal as Thursday Deadline Approaches

The United States is pushing for a deal in negotiations on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the White House said Wednesday, but Canadian and Mexican officials were not due in Washington for talks before a Thursday deadline.

President Donald Trump is committed to getting a better agreement with Canada and Mexico, press secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News.

“We still want to see something happen and we’re going to continue in those conversations. They’re ongoing now and we’re pushing forward and hopeful that we can get something done soon,” Sanders said.

On Tuesday, Mexico’s economy minister said he saw diminishing chances for a new NAFTA agreement before a Thursday deadline to present a deal that could be signed by the U.S. Congress.

Neither the Mexican minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, nor Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland had plans to travel to Washington on Wednesday, their representatives said.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has said that the Republican-controlled Congress would need to be notified of a new deal by Thursday to give lawmakers a chance to approve it before a newly elected Congress takes over in January.

Sanders did not address the timeline.

“We’ve got to get a deal that works for everybody, but most importantly this president is going to make sure that we get a deal that works for America,” she said. “He’s not going to stop until he gets it.”

Ryan said Congress cannot begin working on the negotiating law known as “fast track” without a trade deal in hand.

“The point is, we can’t work a bill unless we have an agreement that’s in writing that we can work on and that hasn’t occurred yet,” Ryan told reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Venezuela Reactivates Kellogg Plant After Company Pullout

Venezuelan authorities said they were reactivating a Kellogg Co plant under worker control Wednesday, a day after the U.S. multinational food producer pulled out of the crisis-hit country.

Kellogg joined a host of other multinationals in exiting Venezuela and later confirmed President Nicolas Maduro’s leftist government had taken over its manufacturing plant.

On Wednesday, Aragua state Governor Marco Torres slammed Kellogg and guaranteed food production would continue.

“With no notification, this U.S.-based multinational decided to close its doors, leaving 570 workers hanging,” said Torres at the plant, in Maracay. “Yet, we’re here — in less than 24 hours.”

Millions in Venezuela suffer food and medicine shortages amid hyperinflation. Maduro blames Venezuela’s crisis on an “economic war” that he says is being waged by Washington, greedy businessmen and coup-mongers.

He is expected to win Sunday’s presidential election, described by the opposition as a sham.

Clorox, Kimberly-Clark, General Mills, General Motors and Harvest Natural Resources are the most recent big names to pull out of Venezuela in the face of economic conditions.

Opposition critics scoffed that the government would quickly plunder the Kellogg plant and ruin its business.

Malaysia’s New Leaders Lay Out Economic Reforms, Rattle Nerves

Malaysia’s new government to scrutinize past economic policies under the now ousted Najib Razak administration is prompting analysts to warn of a slide in investment and growth in one of Southeast Asia’s top economies.

The new leadership has appointed a group of prominent citizens, an eminent persons group, to come up with a new policy agenda within the next 100 days that will, among other things, review mega investment projects that have been key drivers of economic growth.

The new government has also established a special task force as corruption allegations over the abuse of funds in a sovereign wealth fund set up by Najib, and ordered a review of political representation on Malaysia’s largest government investment firms, including the main sovereign and pension funds.

Leading the eminent persons group is a former finance minister, Daim Zainuddin, and it includes a former central bank governor, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, a former president the Malaysian energy giant, Petronas, an economist and a leading businessman.

 

Gareth Leather, senior Asia economist for Capital Economics, an economic research group in London, says a key issue is whether Malaysia’s new government will remain united in the face of moves toward economic reforms.

“[The coalition] when it was formed was very much a coalition against Najib rather than anything pro-reform. So the first real test they have got is to see if there is enough cohesion within that coalition to push through [economic] reforms,” Leather told VOA.

A key campaign promise by new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan — or Alliance of Hope — was to abolish a value added, goods and services tax.

While the tax, known as GST, was unpopular among voters, analysts say the revenue enabled the government to diversify its tax base from an over-reliance on corporate tax and the oil industry.

Immediately after the vote, financial markets reacted nervously to the scrapping of the tax and questions of the impact the measure would have on the government’s budget. Contributions from the GST have reached $10.6 billion.

Malaysian Finance Ministry officials have not said when the tax would be abolished, and analysts predicted a tough road ahead for the plan.

“To raise as much money as the GST while getting rid of the GST is going to be quite difficult. I don’t think that they can really go ahead and form a U-turn a d decide to keep it — so it’s going to be quite tricky managing it for them,” Leather said.

Analysts say financial markets are also closely watching steps in the new investigations centered on former leader Najib, accused of siphoning off billions of dollars from the 1MDB wealth fund. He firmly denies the charges. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges some $4.5 billion was misappropriated from the 1MDB, originally set up by Najib.

At least six countries, including the U.S., Singapore and Switzerland, are investigating the allegations of corruption. The new government has vowed to undertake fresh investigations into the case. Last weekend Malaysian immigration authorities refused Najib and his family the right to leave the country pending the investigations.

 

Unlike abolishing the sales tax, Leather predicts the corruption investigations will have a positive effect on the economy.

“Hopefully what it will do is it will bring to light a lot of the problems, institutional problems that have been holding Malaysia’s economy back over the past few years. It would have been shocking had Najib been able to steal this election,” he said.

But observers say a review of the multi-billion dollar mega projects, especially those undertaken by China, may have a major impact. The Chinese have invested more than $3.38 billion in Malaysia — and China is the leading foreign investor ahead of the U.S., Japan and Singapore. Chinese investments include manufacturing, real estate and sovereign wealth fund bonds.

China has also supported rail infrastructure in Malaysia that is linked to the One Belt One Road, a Beijing initiative that envisions building a network extending throughout Asia.

Analysts say there is a risk that investment — a key driver of growth — may fall sharply over the next two years.

Economic growth, with quarterly figures due this week, has been expanding at between 5.5 percent and 6 percent over the past year, aided by exports and foreign investment.

During the election campaign, Mahathir rallied against Chinese investment and promised a detailed review of projects involving foreign countries.

Pavida Pananond, a professor of international business at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, also predicts that Malaysia faces key economic challenges, especially after more than 60 years of government led by the monolithic United Malay National Organization coalition.

Pavida, in emailed comments to VOA, said it “remains to be seen how much political power can be remained from [the] economic sphere” after such a length of time.

“While the intention to scrutinize major projects and to investigate corruption should be well received, major changes will not come easily as the Malaysian economy and business have long been dominated by government linked or government supported corporations and entities,” she said.

On a positive note, she added, “the euphoric excitement toward changes, equality and transparency, should be welcome, as they bode well for what is needed in the new era of efficiency — and innovation-driven economy that Malaysia aspired to achieve.”

 

 

Kellogg Pulls Out of Crisis-Hit Venezuela

U.S.-based food company Kellogg said on Tuesday it had pulled out of Venezuela due to its brutal economic crisis, the latest business to end operations in the oil-rich nation heaving under hyperinflation and strict price controls.

“In December of 2016, Kellogg deconsolidated its Venezuela business from the company’s results. The current economic and social deterioration in the country has now prompted the company to discontinue operations,” Kellogg said in a statement.

Kellogg did not specify what difficulties it was facing in Venezuela, but companies typically struggle to find raw materials due to product shortages and currency controls that crimp imports. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro’s government also stops companies from raising prices to keep up with hyperinflation, denting profits and sometimes rendering operations unsustainable.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The closure is not expected to significantly worsen food shortages in Venezuela, but it was a further blow to morale for many Venezuelans as Kellogg’s is the most popular and available cereal in the country.

Stunned workers were barred from entering Kellogg’s plant in the central city of Maracay and massed outside, seeking information, local business sources said.

The move by the multinational was a typical one in Venezuela after years of economic crisis. Others, including Clorox, Kimberly-Clark, General Mills, General Motors and Harvest Natural Resources, have given up on the OPEC country, abandoning assets or selling them cheap.

Venezuela is undergoing quintuple-digit annual inflation and millions suffer food and medicine shortages. Despite the problems, Maduro is expected to win re-election on Sunday in a vote the main opposition coalition says is a sham.

Maduro blames Venezuela’s crisis on an “economic war” he says is waged by Washington, greedy businessmen and coup-mongers.

In the past, his government has taken over the factories of some companies that have left the country. In 2014, authorities took over two plants belonging to U.S. cleaning products maker Clorox Co after its departure.

“No Kellogg products or brands should be commercialized in the country without the expressed authorization of the Kellogg Company,” Kellogg said in its statement, adding it would like to return to Venezuela in the future.

   

 

US Employers’ Response to #MeToo ‘Ineffective,’ Poll Finds

Only a third of U.S. employers have taken new measures to prevent sexual harassment since the #MeToo movement sparked international debate about the issue, a poll said Tuesday.

The Harris survey showed the movement had failed to trickle down to the wider population or bring about meaningful change, said Margaret Stockdale, a psychology professor at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

“The high-profile stuff, while it’s important, doesn’t capture the typical portrait of a sexual harassment victim, who lacks access to power and resources,” she told Reuters by phone.

Inspired by multiple accusations, including rape, against film producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, millions of women took to social and mainstream media to share stories of sexual harassment or assault, using the #MeToo hashtag.

Since then, dozens of prominent men in fields including entertainment, politics and business have quit or been fired from high-profile posts, and police have opened investigations into some accusations of sex assault.

Between 25 to 85 percent of women reported being sexually harassed at work, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found in 2016, although it received less than 10,000 complaints a year.

About half of 1,500 U.S. workers polled said they are now more likely to report workplace sexual harassment if they experience or witness it and they are more likely to confront a coworker engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior at work.

But only 32 percent said their employers had taken new steps to combat sexual misconduct. Of those, more than half merely reminded staff of existing training or resources, found the poll commissioned by the American Psychological Association (APA).

“Relying solely on mandated training designed primarily to limit the organization’s legal liability is unlikely to be effective,” David Ballard, director of the APA’s Center for Organization Excellence, said in a statement.

Just one in 10 respondents said their employer had added training or other resources for employees.

Workers were more likely to say their employer has taken new steps to prevent and address sexual harassment in the workplace in organizations that have equal representation of women in senior leadership, the survey found.

Stockdale of IUPUI said employers may yet step up their actions as experts and human resources departments are still processing the movement’s impact.

“This requires careful study and not just a Band-Aid approach,” she said.

China Accuses EU of Taking WTO Back to ‘Law of Jungle’

China accused the European Union on Tuesday of risking a return to the “law of the jungle,” telling a dispute hearing at the World Trade Organization that it was astonished by what it called the EU’s disregard for the WTO’s rulebook.

China’s made its allegation during a dispute which some trade lawyers see as the most divisive piece of litigation in the WTO’s 28-year-history, pitting China’s claim to be treated as a market economy versus EU and U.S. claims that it does not deserve such treatment since it does not trade fairly.

China told the confidential dispute hearing that it placed  extraordinary emphasis on the case, which was of critical importance — legally, economically and politically.

Its case against the EU, and a parallel dispute against the United States, is based on a promise enshrined in China’s 2001 WTO membership agreement: that after 15 years Beijing would be granted “market economy” status.

“The EU’s effort to rescind the promises it made, and the legal obligations it undertook, makes one wonder, is it a real role model for the rule of law, or does it disavow its obligations when politically expedient?,” China’s representative asked.

“It also makes one wonder, is the WTO really a rules-based organization, or just a club where powerful traditional Members can bend the rules?”

The dispute centers on the use of anti-dumping tariffs, which are used to punish foreign goods being sold at unfairly cheap prices.

China said it was astonished by the blunt manner in which the EU was trying to revive their discriminatory use, considering that the agreement was “recorded in black and white.”

“Besides enjoying no basis whatsoever in the treaty, the EU’s argument would open a Pandora’s Box,” China said. “The multilateral anti-dumping disciplines that have been gradually formed and strengthened over many decades will be shattered in one single dispute. The world trading environment will return to the law of the jungle.”

Although the EU might single out China for using regulatory action that “distorts” its market, all governments tried to influence economic activity, China’s statement said.

“What, after all, is the purpose and function of the EU’s own common agricultural policy, if not to influence “some would say distort markets?” Similarly, the U.S. government provides substantial subsidies to the production of corn, influencing the production of downstream food products, including poultry and beef, is this not also government ‘distortion’?”

The EU did not immediately make available its arguments in the hearing.

Russia Moves to Retaliate for US Sanctions

Russian lawmakers Tuesday unanimously approved, in first readings, legislation to retaliate against the United States and other Western countries for last month’s imposition by Washington of sanctions on some of Russia’s biggest companies and business people.

One measure would empower the Kremlin to impose sweeping “counter-sanctions” in response. Another would make it a criminal offense to observe sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Russia or to provide any information or advice on the punitive action.

Refusing to supply services or do business with Russian oligarchs or companies sanctioned by the U.S. would be punishable by up to four years in prison, under the proposed legislation. The proposed measures have prompted investor alarm and opened up the prospect of a tit-for-tat cycle of retaliation.

After the measures secured their first reading, Kremlin official Alexander Sinenko said the Russian government supports the parliamentary response to the sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and other “malign activities.” U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the measures last month.

‘Absolutely unfriendly’

“The U.S. sanctions are of an absolutely unfriendly type,” said Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma. “They affected over 400 Russian companies and about 200 citizens of our country. We are granting broad powers to our president and government to protect our country, our economy and workplaces.”

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev last month pledged that the Kremlin would help companies targeted by U.S. sanctions. The proposed legislation would halt all cooperation with the U.S. in the nuclear, missile and aircraft-building spheres and introduces restrictions on various American imports. The proposed measures also allow Russian companies to produce various goods copyrighted in the West.

Initially, Russian lawmakers said they would impose restrictions on a wide range of specific goods and services from the United States, including medicine and agricultural products; but, in the draft legislation approved Tuesday, language that targeted specific goods to soften the impact on Russian consumers and industries was removed.

Small impact expected

The U.S. is Russia’s fourth-largest trading partner, and imports of American goods totaled $12.7 billion last year. Cars, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment were among the top items. Russian exports to the U.S. totaled $17 billion in 2017.

The Russian retaliation would have negligible impact on the U.S., given trade flows are insignificant as far as America is concerned, but the retaliation envisaged would exacerbate already highly fraught U.S.-Russian relations, which analysts describe as being at their lowest point since the Cold War.

The U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia in April, targeting two dozen Kremlin insiders and oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, have proven to have had a greater impact on Russia than had been expected, say analysts. But they’re doing nothing at this stage in turning ordinary Russians against the Kremlin or undermining the Russian leader’s overall popularity, if recent polling data is accurate.

The ruble suffered its worst week in four years in the immediate wake of the April 6 announcement of new sanctions on 24 extremely wealthy Russians and 14 companies.

‘Game-changer’

When the West imposed its first sanctions on Russia, following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and fomenting separatism in eastern Ukraine, the effect was limited, according to analyst Nigel Gould-Davies of Britain’s Chatham House research group, and Russia found ways to adapt.

“But America’s latest financial sanctions, announced on April 6, are a game-changer,” he argued in a recent commentary, noting the latest sanctions have created bigger uncertainty.

“No one knows who might be targeted next,” he continued. “Russia faces a new systemic risk: expectations about U.S. sanctions are now as important as the oil price for assessing its prospects.”

The British government is starting the process of introducing legislation that will block Russian oligarchs and officials linked to human rights abuses from doing business in the country and buying property in Britain.

Russia-Crimea link

As Russian lawmakers debated the retaliatory measures, President Putin opened a controversial bridge linking southern Russia and the Crimean peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Before driving an orange truck on the 19-kilometer bridge that cost $3.6 billion to build, Putin told construction workers (and reporters): “I want to sincerely congratulate you with this remarkable, festive and, in the full sense of the word, historic day.”

“Even under the Tsar, people were dreaming of building this bridge,” he said, in reference to Russia’s last Tsar, Nicholas II, who had wanted to span a bridge across the Kerch Strait. In the 1930s, Communist autocrat Joseph Stalin also had proposed a Kerch Strait bridge.

Ukraine condemned the opening. “The Russian occupying powers, which have temporarily occupied Crimea, are continuing to act outside international law,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.

 

US Sanctions Head of Iran’s Central Bank

The United States has imposed sanctions on the head of Iran’s central bank Valiollah Seif , accusing him of helping funnel millions of dollars to Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.

“Iran’s Central Bank Governor covertly funneled millions of dollars on behalf of the IRGC-QF (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force ) through Iraq-based al-Bilad Islamic Bank to enrich and support the violent and radical agenda of Hezbollah,” said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in a statment. “The United States will not permit Iran’s increasingly brazen abuse of the international financial system. The global community must remain vigilant against Iran’s deceptive efforts to provide financial support to its terrorist proxies.”

Also blacklisted were Ali Tarzali, assistant director of the international department of Iran’s central bank, and chairman of al-Bilad Islamic Bank, Aras Habib.

Mnuchin said the Tuesday action “cuts off Iran’s use of a critical banking network and follows last Thursday’s disruption of an IRGC-QF-associated currency exchange network procuring millions of dollars through the UAE.”

The United States and the United Arab Emirates said the currency exchange network allowed hundreds of millions of dollars to be transferred to the IRGC-QF to fund its insurgent operations in the Middle East.

“These actions build upon President Trump’s May 8 decision to cease the United States’ participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and begin reimposing U.S. sanctions that had been lifted under the JCPOA, including against the Central Bank of Iran,” Secretary Mnuchin said Tuesday, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

Kenya Court Rejects Plea for Equal Property Rights in Divorce

A Kenyan court on Monday rejected a plea for a change to the laws on how property should be split in divorce cases, a ruling activists said was a blow for women’s rights in the country.

Kenya’s High Court dismissed a 2016 petition from the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA), an advocacy group that had argued the Marriage Properties Act was unconstitutional because it entitled each partner only to what they contributed.

The constitution states that married couples are entitled to equal rights and the group argued that the law unfairly impacted women, who were more likely to suffer financially from a marriage breakup.

In its ruling, the court said that changing the law would “open the door for a party to get into marriage and walk out of it in the event of divorce with more than they deserve.”

In response, FIDA head Josephine Mong’are said it was a “sad day for Kenyans.”

“Every year millions of women in Kenya still find themselves fighting to hold onto their property after a divorce or the death of their husband,” she said in a statement.

Less than seven percent of title deeds are held by women alone or jointly with men in Kenya, according to a 2014 survey by the United Nations Conference on Trade.

Land is usually passed on to sons, making it hard for women to secure rights except through their husbands. Women and their children are often evicted if the husband dies or they divorce.

Less than two percent of title deeds issued in Kenya since 2013 went to women, according to the Kenya Land Alliance, an advocacy network.

Turkish Currency Woes Put Erdogan in Tight Spot in Re-Election Bid

The Turkish lira is increasingly under siege amid mounting international investors’ concerns. The publication Monday of unexpectedly poor economic data saw the lira approach record lows. The increasing financial turbulence comes as opposition parties begin to narrow the gap ahead of the June 24 presidential and general elections and voter concerns over the economy grow.

“We are in such a knife-edge situation,” said analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. “There is extremely fragile sentiment toward the lira. Sentiment is negative for emerging markets in general and in particular for Turkey. Investors smell blood and they are going to keep coming after the Turkish lira unless significant counter steps are taken.”

With double-digit inflation, investors have increasingly been warning the Turkish economy is overheating. In the last year, the government has spent billions of dollars to boost the economy in a process that has accelerated with elections. With opinion polls indicating a galvanized opposition narrowing the lead, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced 2,000 lira (approximately $460) payments to all pensioners, at a cost of $5 billion.

International investors are pressing for a substantial increase in Turkish interest rates to support the lira and help to cool down the economy; but Erdogan Friday appeared to rule out such a move, describing interest rates as the “mother of all evil.” He pledged that Turkey will “emerge victorious in its fight against interest rates” after the June elections. On Sunday, he repeated his message before flying to London for a three-day visit.

Erdogan adheres to the unorthodox economic view that interest rates cause inflation instead of reducing it. While the Turkish central bank is ostensibly independent, there is an awareness that the president has the final say.

“It’s always difficult for the central bank to substantially raise rates given very strong political opposition and very shortly, before the election, it will be very difficult,” said economist Inan Demir of Nomura International Plc.

“But the costs of a rate hike will be much lower than letting the currency depreciate. Unless this happens, the likelihood is the currency will depreciate further and possibly lead to a slowdown in the economy,” added Demir.

Economic concerns are cited as the No. 1 issue of concern in many opinion polls.

“People are hungry and angry,” analyst Yesilada said. But a major interest rate increase would bring financial woe to the large numbers of voters with big credit card debts. “It’s an issue no one is talking about, but we have an explosion in credit card debt in Turkey,” political columnist Semih Idiz of Al-Monitor website said.

Turkey’s indebted construction industry, the major driver of the economy, would also, analysts warn, be hit hard by interest rate increases.

“Construction is a magnet industry, in the sense that it draws input from various indigenous industries, and it’s labor intensive. When construction stops, recession spreads,” analyst Yesilada said. “Construction companies are usually loyal supporters and contributors of the ruling AKP, so to lose their favor just before an election is not a good idea.”

An increase in borrowing costs would likely hit demand for new housing. Construction companies are already struggling to sell existing stock, with reports many firms are close to defaulting on bank loans. Analysts say construction company debts account for more than 10 percent of Turkish bank loans.

Erdogan’s opposition to interest rate increases could be tested further. On Wednesday, a New York court is set to sentence Hakan Atilla, a senior executive of Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank, on Iranian sanctions violation charges. Atilla’s sentencing opens the door to potential multibillion dollar fines on Halkbank and other Turkish banks, a prospect that analysts warn could further unnerve investor concerns over Turkey, leading to further currency falls and more pressure to increase rates.

Investors are also increasingly focusing on the outcome of the June election and the potential for political deadlock if opposition parties form the next government and Erdogan is re-elected. 

“The scenario markets would dislike most is a divided presidential parliamentary power scenario. That would create more uncertainties for the markets. I think the markets will watch the opinion polls with an eye on that possibility,” economist Demir said.

Turkey’s central bank is due to meet next month, and there is the expectation it may raise rates modestly. Analysts say that with Erdogan aware of the tightening polls, he will likely seek to perform a delicate balancing act in averting a currency collapse without a major rate increase before the elections.

US Lawmakers: Trump Ignoring American Security to Save Chinese Tech Jobs

Key U.S. lawmakers on Monday attacked President Donald Trump’s call to help save jobs at the Chinese technology giant ZTE, contending it overlooks American national security concerns.

Sen. Marco Rubio, one of Trump’s former rivals for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, said on Twitter the “problem with ZTE isn’t jobs & trade, it’s national security & espionage. Any telecomm firm in China can be forced to act as tool of Chinese espionage without any court order or any other review process. We are crazy to allow them to operate in U.S. without tighter restrictions.”

The Florida lawmaker added, “I hope this isn’t the beginning of backing down to China.”

Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer parodied Trump’s “Make America Great Again” political slogan, saying, “One of the few areas where the president and I agreed, and I was vocally supportive, was his approach towards China. But even here he is backing off, and his policy is now designed to achieve one goal: make China great again.”

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden questioned the timing of Trump’s call to help ZTE “get back into business fast” after a U.S. trade ruling severely crippled the company and order to the U.S. Commerce Department “to get it done!”

“Unilateral concessions before an upcoming trade negotiation,” Wyden said. “This may be the art of the deal for China, but it’s a big loser for American workers, companies, and national security.”

Trump said Sunday he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease the economic fortunes of ZTE, which employs 80,000 workers and is China’s second-largest maker of telecommunications equipment.

The U.S. leader’s Twitter comments on ZTE came as the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies, are locked in contentious talks about tariffs each has threatened to impose on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of each other’s exports. Recent U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing proved fruitless, but the discussions are resuming again this week in Washington.

For its part, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Monday that China “greatly appreciates the positive U.S. position on the ZTE issue.”

After Trump tweeted that he had “instructed” the Commerce Department to resolve the dispute over ZTE, the White House said that the president expected Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to make an independent decision.

“Too many jobs in China lost,” Trump tweeted Sunday, days after ZTE announced it had ceased “major operating activities.”

The U.S. had cut off exports of U.S.-made parts to ZTE — more than 25 percent of the components ZTE needs to build its wireless stations, optical fiber networks and smartphones.

The U.S. cutoff came after ZTE was, in the words of one expert, “caught red-handed” putting the U.S. technology into products and selling those goods to countries under a U.S. trade embargo, including Iran and North Korea.

The U.S. fined ZTE $1.2 billion last year. But the U.S. said last month ZTE lied about punishing the employees believed to be involved in skirting the sanctions, paying them bonuses instead.

The Commerce Department cut off ZTE’s access to U.S. components until 2025, forcing it to shut down operations at its factory in Shenzhen.

“China and the United States are working well together on trade, Trump said in a second tweet Sunday, “but past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries. But be cool, it will all work out!”

Douglas Jacobson, an attorney who represents suppliers who do business with ZTE, told VOA that Trump’s order to help ZTE is a stunning decision and one bound to make U.S. law enforcement officials unhappy by going over their heads.

“This has caught all of those in the exports and sanctions world certainly by surprise and with some degree of shock and awe,” Jacobson said. “This is unprecedented that the president of the United States would intervene in what really is a law enforcement case.”

But Jacobson said the ZTE matter is not a sign of a general thaw in trade tensions between the U.S. and China, including the recent tit-for-tat tariffs.

Jacobson said he believes Trump may be willing to make a concession on China in exchange for China’s help with North Korea.

Ira Mellman contributed to this report.

 

Trump Vows Action to Ease Job Loss at Chinese Tech Giant

President Donald Trump says he is looking for a way to let a Chinese technology firm “get back into business fast” after a U.S. trade ruling severely crippled the company.

“Too many jobs in China lost,” Trump tweeted Sunday, days after ZTE announced it had ceased “major operating activities.”

The U.S. had cut off exports of U.S.-made parts to ZTE — more than 25 percent of the components ZTE needs to build its wireless stations, optical fiber networks and smartphones.

The U.S. cutoff came after ZTE was, in the words of one expert, “caught red-handed” putting the U.S. technology into products and selling those goods to countries under a U.S. trade embargo, including Iran and North Korea.

The U.S. fined ZTE $1.2 billion last year. But the U.S. said last month ZTE lied about punishing the employees believed to be involved in skirting the sanctions, paying them bonuses instead.

The Commerce Department cut off ZTE’s access to U.S. components until 2025, forcing it to shut down operations at its factory in Shenzhen.

Trump has often complained about China stealing U.S. jobs. But he tweeted he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease the economic fallout at ZTE and ordered the U.S. Commerce Department “to get it done!”

“The president’s tweet underscores the importance of a free, fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial economic trade and investment relationship between the United States and China,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said Sunday. “The administration is in contact with China on this issue, among others, in the bilateral relationship.”

The U.S. and China are due to hold their latest round of trade talks this week in Washington.

“China and the United States are working well together on trade, but past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries,” Trump said in another tweet. “But be cool, it will all work out!”

Douglas Jacobson, an attorney who represents suppliers who do business with ZTE, told VOA that Trump’s order to help ZTE is a stunning decision and one bound to make U.S. law enforcement officials unhappy by going over their heads.

“This has caught all of those in the exports and sanctions world certainly by surprise and with some degree of shock and awe,” Jacobson said. “This is unprecedented that the president of the United States would intervene in what really is a law enforcement case.”

But Jacobson said the ZTE matter is not a sign of a general thaw in trade tensions between the U.S. and China, including the recent tit-for-tat tariffs.

Jacobson said he believes Trump may be willing to make a concession on China in exchange for China’s help with North Korea.

Steve Herman, Ken Bredemeier, Ira Mellman and Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report.

 

Management Training in India Aims to Empower Professional Women

There’s a push to level the playing field for women in India, where women account for 42 percent of university graduates but only 24 percent are hired as entry level professionals. Of these, 19 percent are likely to reach senior level management. To make matters worse, the number of women who leave the work force is also higher than men. As Ritul Joshi reports, a specially designed management course for women in New Delhi is teaching them to make their way in a male dominated work force.