Chrystia Freeland (Canada) - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Venezuela Rejects ‘Illegal’ Sanctions by Canada

TeleSur News — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 16:16:46 +0000

Trump, Canada’s Trudeau discussed trade, NAFTA. | Photo: Reuters

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza rejected the “illegal application” of new sanctions against Venezuela.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela Jorge Arreaza firmly condemned Canada’s illegal decision to impose sanctions against 43 individuals of Venezuela and highlighted that those economic measures were contrary to international law.

“The government of Canada has taken off the mask through the application of four rounds of sanctions against Venezuela in less than two years,” Arreaza said in a statement Monday.

Canada decided to expand sanctions against the Venezuelan government on Monday, according to a statement from Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, targeting an additional 43 people close to President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro.

“During the Lima group meeting in Ottawa on February 4, 2019, we called the international community to take action against Maduro regime. Today, Canada is acting by adding [to the sanctions list] another 43 people who are responsible for the deterioration of the situation in Venezuela,” said Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Canada already sanctioned 70 other Venezuelans, including the President of Venezuela.

Recently, the U.N expert Alfred de Zayas compared the situation in Venezuela with Chile’s Salvador Allende. An economic war was waged against Allende for three years. When the economic war was not successful in ousting Allende, a coup d’état by General Augusto Pinochet toppled Allende’s regime unleashing 17 years of one of Latin America’s most brutal dictatorships.

Source: https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Rejects-Illegal-Sanctions-by-Canada-20190416-0010.html

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Trump: European Union has ‘been brutal’ to the US

Devan Cole — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 21:03:22 +0000

(CNN)President Donald Trump said Saturday that the European Union’s trade policies have “been brutal” to the United States, a sentiment he shared both online and in person after EU leaders condemned his recently announced 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum imports.

“So, a lot of countries, and I won’t be particular, but I will tell you the European Union — brutal,” Trump said at a lunch with donors at at Mar-a-Lago. “They’ve been brutal to us.”

The President also said the EU, which is comprised of 28 European countries, had “banded together in order to beat the United States in trade.”

At around noon on Saturday, Trump doubled down on his stance, tweeting “our jobs and wealth are being given to other countries that have taken advantage of us for years. They laugh at what fools our leaders have been. No more!”

Taking another hit at the EU, Trump tweeted about it again, this time suggesting that if the EU raises tariffs more, so too will the United States.

“If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S.” he wrote. “They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!”

The President’s comments came just days after several European leaders reacted sharply to the President’s tariff announcement.

“We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement.

“Instead of providing a solution, this move can only aggravate matters,” his statement said.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, “the EU must respond decisively to US punitive tariffs, which endanger thousands of jobs in Europe. There should be no doubt about that in Washington.”

Canada, meanwhile, said that any trade restrictions on Canadian steel and aluminum would be “absolutely unacceptable.”

“Should restrictions be imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum products, Canada will take responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

The details of Trump’s policy — which is not yet official — are expected to be announced next week.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/03/politics/donald-trump-european-union-remarks/index.html

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Some of America’s top allies are really, really angry about Trump’s tariffs

Julia Horowitz and Patrick Gillespie — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:58:00 +0000

Backlash to President Trump’s announcement of steep tariffs on steel and aluminum was swift and angry from some of the United States’ most important trading partners — and top US allies are pledging to retaliate, if necessary.

Trump said Thursday that his administration will impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports as early as next week, in order to boost domestic manufacturers.

It’s not yet clear whether some key U.S. trading partners will be exempt — which means even the European Union and Canada, the largest supplier of steel to the US, could get hit with the new duties.

The EU and Canada both expressed their opposition to the new tariffs shortly after they were announced, and said they weren’t afraid to retaliate.

“We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement.

Juncker said the EU will “react firmly and commensurately,” and will develop a plan to retaliate, per World Trade Organization rules, “in the next few days.” Steel industry groups in Europe came out in support of that move on Thursday night.

Canada, meanwhile, said that any trade restrictions on Canadian steel and aluminum would be “absolutely unacceptable.”

The British government said in a statement that it was “particularly concerned” about new trade barriers, and said countries must work together to solve problems of overcapacity.

US trading partners are worried first and foremost about how the sizable taxes will affect demand for their steel and aluminum exports.

“This announcement is disappointing,” Australian Trade Minister Steven Ciobo told reporters on Friday. “An imposition of a tariff like this will do nothing other than distort trade, and ultimately … will lead to a loss of jobs.”

Australia’s share of the U.S. steel and aluminum markets is worth around $550 million in total, Ciobo said. He said Australia is pushing for the Trump administration to exempt it from the new tariffs.

South Korea, a key US ally that shipped 3.6 million tons of steel products to the US in 2017, said it would continue to talk to the Trump administration in hopes of minimizing damage to its economy.

Affected countries aren’t likely to take a big economic hit lying down.

“This is the opening salvo in a trade war. The countries we deal with are not going to sit there and take this,” said Phil Levy, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and a former White House economist under former President George W. Bush.

Countries are also taking issue with the method the US is using for the trade measures.

Trump will implement the tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, a little-known trade law from 1962. To do that, Trump must claim that steel and aluminum imports hurt the country’s national security.

Critics say that justification is a stretch, and makes a mockery of international trade rules.

“It is entirely inappropriate to view any trade with Canada as a national security threat to the United States,” Freeland said in Canada’s statement.

International trade experts believe that the policy mechanism behind the president’s decision will make it easier for other countries to enact tit-for-tat tariffs in the name of national security.

“It opens up a Pandora’s box for how trading partners might respond,” said Chad Bown, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

He added: “Retaliation would harm American companies, farmers, and workers that export and who — as innocent bystanders — have nothing to do with steel or aluminum.”

It’s not yet clear which US industries would be at risk. American agricultural exports, like soybeans, are thought to be particularly exposed.

China has not yet weighed in on the tariffs, but expressed its strong opposition when the Commerce Department released its proposals last month.

At the time, the Chinese Commerce Ministry voiced “strong dissatisfaction” with the proposed tariffs, and said they would “[aggravate] the global trade environment.”

The US imports the most steel — 16% — from Canada. It imports 13% from Brazil, 10% from South Korea, 9% from Mexico and 9% from Russia, according to a Department of Commerce report from December 2017.

Roughly 3% is imported from Germany, the only EU country to make the top 10 list of U.S. steel providers. China clocks in at number 11.

The top five countries from which the United States imported aluminum in 2017 were Canada, China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to Panjiva, a global trade research firm recently acquired by S&P Global.

— Qiaoqiao Yu contributed to this report.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/01/news/economy/european-union-canada-global-response-steel-tariffs/index.html

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