The post Trump claims the EU has ‘no choice’ but to agree a new trade deal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The worldwide scare over the spread of the coronavirus continues to prompt concern if not panic.  China publicly admits they may have as many as 10,000 cases of the deadly sickness.  But they’ve quarantined whole cities, recommended people stay home.  News is that they’ve closed factories and stores and that some cities are like a ghost town where the streets are empty.

Some are skeptical of China’s numbers.  A London medical expert has said that there may actually be as many as 100,000 cases in China and around the world.

The World Health Organization weighed in, weeks after the first realization that there was a new mutant virus on the move, declaring an “emergency.”  It’s been discovered that the virus has a 14 day incubation period and that it can be passed from one person to another even before the infected party knows they’re sick.  Hospitals in China are worrying over a shortage of test kits.  But the doctor in Wuhan (who hasn’t been home in over a week, for fear that he might infect his own family) says that early tests may turn up negative, even though the virus is present and maybe positively identified by subsequent testing.

While travel to and from China is being curtailed by the United States and many other nations, Australia continues to allow flights from China carrying hundreds of passengers at a time.  Additionally, as many as 200,000 Chinese students are scheduled to return to their studies in Australia after having visited home during an annual break.  At present, it appears Australia will continue to allow flights and thousands of people to arrive from China.

The U. S. stock market dropped precipitously today (600 points) and is said to be “spooked” by speculation about how this sickness might play out economically.  Certainly, trade and tourism are already being affected.  It remains to be seen how long the epidemic will persist, or what the long-term economic impact will be.

Today, January 31^st is the day that Britain is officially free from the European Union.  Despite the fact that there will be a ceremonial recognition of that fact, the remainder of 2020 is to be treated as a transition period with many details on immigration, trade and a myriad of other concerns yet to be ironed out.  Other members of the EU are looking on and wondering whether they too may want to divest themselves of membership.  We may well be witnessing the beginning of a trend that will ultimately cripple an organization primarily dependent on the German economy.

Another wrinkle may turn out to be the fact that President Trump has signaled that he’s about to turn his attention to Europe in regard to trade policy.

While America’s legislative bodies have been preoccupied and paralyzed with the impeachment charade, President Trump has been running up the scoreboard with accomplishments.  While Senators dealt with various legal arguments that consumed the entire week, the President was signing the USMCA trade agreement.  He hosted Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House and unveiled a new proposal for Middle East peace, backed by several Arab nations traditionally on the side of the Palestinians.

He also held two sold-out (many time over) rallies, one in New Jersey, and the other in Des Moines, Iowa.  The happy, energetic enthusiasm on display among his supporters is a far cry from what we see on the network television panels.  They’re not happy, and that’s apparent even with the sound on mute.  It seems they’ve all had their dogs run over this week, or at least that’s their demeanor.  For all our sakes we hope that the Senate will see fit to wrap up the ugly spectacle.  But that would mean a lot of long faces on network outlets.  Better theirs than ours.  Have a great Sabbath!

Mark

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 31 January 2020 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Europe says trade fight with US will hurt economic growth first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The European Union trades with America “very unfairly”, President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday, warning that his many problems with Brussels “may morph into something very big”.

“The European Union has treated the United States very unfairly when it came to trade,” Trump told Britain’s ITV channel in the interview conducted Thursday.

“I’ve had a lot of problems with (the) European Union, and it may morph into something very big from that standpoint — from a trade standpoint.”

Trump delivered the warning during a wide-ranging interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he took his “America First” agenda to the global business elite.

In a speech Friday he told the forum that his mantra “does not mean America alone” and hinted that the US could rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal he withdrew from a year ago.

But earlier this month the Trump Administration imposed steep tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels, and his interview comments may cause alarm in European capitals over future trade relations with the US.

Last year it vowed to impose nearly 300 percent punitive tariffs on airplanes manufactured by Canada’s Bombardier.

A bipartisan US trade panel blocked that decision on Friday but the dispute, which has inflamed relations with Ottawa — and to a lesser degree Britain, where Bombardier has a large workforce — could be a harbinger for the EU.

“We cannot get our product in. It’s very, very tough. And yet, they send their product to us — no taxes, very little taxes. It’s very unfair,” Trump added.

“They’re not the only one, by the way, and I could name many countries and places that do (the same).

“But the European Union has been very, very unfair to the United States. And I think it will turn out to be very much to their detriment.”

‘I certainly apologise’

In other remarks aired Sunday, Trump appeared to slight British Prime Minister Theresa May’s handling of fraught Brexit negotiations, declaring that he would have “negotiated it differently”.

“I would have had a different attitude,” he said of the talks, which have followed Britain’s June 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU, and will continue through to its planned departure in March 2019.

“I think I would have said that the European Union is not cracked up to what it’s supposed to be. And I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out,” Trump added.

But May will welcome his prediction — reinforced by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Davos — that the US could swiftly strike a post-Brexit trade deal with London.

“We are going to make a deal with (the) UK that’ll be great,” he said, noting constraints imposed by the Brexit process.

“When that restriction is up we’re going to be your great trading partner.”

The US president also apologised for the first time for retweeting a British far-right group’s videos apparently showing Islamist violence.

“If you’re telling me they’re horrible racist people, I would certainly apologise if you’d like me to do that,” he said.

Trump confirmed he will visit Britain later this year, where he believes he is “very popular”.

The president said he does not care about those opposed to his British visit, who include London mayor Sadiq Khan and the opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, amid predictions of large protests.

“I think a lot of people in your country like what I stand for, they respect what I stand for,” he told his interviewer Piers Morgan.

Asked if he had received an invitation to the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle later this year, Trump replied “not that I know of”.

“I really want them to be happy. They look like a lovely couple,” he said, when pressed on disparaging comments Markle previously made about the president.

Not a feminist

During the interview — billed as the first of his presidency with a non-US international broadcaster — Trump was asked if he identifies as a feminist.

“No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist,” he replied.

“I mean, I think that would be, maybe, going too far. I’m for women, I’m for men, I’m for everyone.”

Trump also signalled he would be willing to recommit the US to the Paris climate accord, but only if the treaty undergoes major change.

“The Paris accord, for us, would have been a disaster,” he said in the interview Sunday.

“If they made a good deal… there’s always a chance we’d get back.”

(AFP)

Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20180129-trump-blasts-very-unfair-eu-over-trade

The post Trump blasts ‘very unfair’ EU over trade first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.