Publication of a U.N. database of companies with business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has been delayed again, drawing the ire of activists who have campaigned for three years.

The issue is highly sensitive as companies appearing in such a database could be targeted for boycotts or divestment aimed at stepping up pressure on Israel over its West Bank settlements, which most countries and the United Nations view as illegal.

Goods produced there include fruit, vegetables and wine.

Israel has assailed the database, whose creation was agreed by the U.N. Human Rights Council in March 2016, as a “blacklist.”

Michelle Bachelet, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Tuesday that despite progress made since launching the study, further work was needed due to the “novelty of the mandate and its legal, methodological and factual complexity.”

Her office aimed to finalize and issue the study “in coming months,” she said in a letter to the Human Rights Council.

Activists voiced outrage, noting that Bachelet’s predecessor, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, had already delayed its publication in 2017 before stepping down in August 2018.

“Israeli authorities’ brazen expansion of illegal settlements underscores why the UN database of businesses facilitating these settlements needs to be published,” Bruno Stagno Ugarte of Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“Each delay further entrenches corporate involvement in the systematic rights abuses stemming from illegal settlements,” he said, calling for Bachelet to commit to a clear publication date.

Palestinian rights groups and trade unions, in a letter dated Feb. 28, had urged Bachelet to publish the database, saying that further delays would undermine her office and foster what they called an “existing culture of impunity for human rights abuses and internationally recognized crimes in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territory).”

World Jewish Congress

The World Jewish Congress said its CEO, Robert Singer, had met Bachelet last month and urged the cancellation of the database. The New York-headquartered group welcomed the delay to publication, saying in a statement the report should be put off for good as it would financially hurt thousands of employees, both Israeli and Palestinian, of targeted companies.

In November, home-renting company Airbnb said it would remove listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a move that Israel called a “wretched capitulation” to boycotters and Palestinians hailed as a step toward peace.

Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war. Its settlements there are considered illegal by most world powers.

Palestinians deem the settlements, and the military presence needed to protect them, to be obstacles to their goal of establishing a state. Israel disputes this.
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Kylie Jenner on Tuesday was named the youngest self-made billionaire of all time by Forbes magazine, thanks to the booming cosmetics company she founded three years ago.

Jenner, 21, the half-sister of reality television stars Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, made it onto the annual Forbes list of billionaires after debuting her Kylie Cosmetics online in 2015 with $29 lip kits containing matching lipstick and lip liner.

Forbes said she was both the world’s youngest billionaire and also the youngest self-made billionaire ever.

On their billionaires list, Forbes distinguishes between those who inherited much of their wealth and those who made their fortunes on their own. Kylie would be in 2,057th place whether she was self-made or inherited.

Last year, Kylie Cosmetics did an estimated $360 million in sales, according to Forbes. Jenner, who has a one year-old daughter, owns 100 percent of the company.

She also makes money from endorsements and appearances on cable TV’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” and was ranked at number 2,057 on the Forbes 2019 list.

Kylie Cosmetics last year signed a deal with Ulta Beauty Inc to put her products in all of the retailer’s 1,163 U.S.

stores.

Forbes put 2,153 billionaires on its 2019 list, down from 2,208 in 2018, and said their total combined net worth was $8.7 trillion, down from $9.1 trillion in 2018.

The richest person in the world remained Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, whose net worth increased to $131 billion from $112 billion in 2018, according to Forbes.

Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates remained in the No. 2 position with an estimated fortune of $96.5 billion, up from $90 billion last year.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped three places to No. 8, as his fortune fell by $8.7 billion to $62.3 billion.

The full list can be seen at Forbes.com/billionaires.
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Kylie Jenner on Tuesday was named the youngest self-made billionaire of all time by Forbes magazine, thanks to the booming cosmetics company she founded three years ago.

Jenner, 21, the half-sister of reality television stars Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, made it onto the annual Forbes list of billionaires after debuting her Kylie Cosmetics online in 2015 with $29 lip kits containing matching lipstick and lip liner.

Forbes said she was both the world’s youngest billionaire and also the youngest self-made billionaire ever.

On their billionaires list, Forbes distinguishes between those who inherited much of their wealth and those who made their fortunes on their own. Kylie would be in 2,057th place whether she was self-made or inherited.

Last year, Kylie Cosmetics did an estimated $360 million in sales, according to Forbes. Jenner, who has a one year-old daughter, owns 100 percent of the company.

She also makes money from endorsements and appearances on cable TV’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” and was ranked at number 2,057 on the Forbes 2019 list.

Kylie Cosmetics last year signed a deal with Ulta Beauty Inc to put her products in all of the retailer’s 1,163 U.S.

stores.

Forbes put 2,153 billionaires on its 2019 list, down from 2,208 in 2018, and said their total combined net worth was $8.7 trillion, down from $9.1 trillion in 2018.

The richest person in the world remained Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, whose net worth increased to $131 billion from $112 billion in 2018, according to Forbes.

Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates remained in the No. 2 position with an estimated fortune of $96.5 billion, up from $90 billion last year.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped three places to No. 8, as his fortune fell by $8.7 billion to $62.3 billion.

The full list can be seen at Forbes.com/billionaires.
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The corporation behind a Florida detention camp for migrant children is abandoning its plans to go public as controversy grows around policies that lock up children crossing the Mexico border.

The chairman of Caliburn International Corp., Thomas J. Campbell, sent a letter Tuesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission saying it no longer wishes to conduct a public offering.

The Virginia-based company said in a press release the reason was “variability in the equity markets,” adding that business continues to grow. Previous filings cited risks of “negative publicity” as something that could affect share price.

Federal lawmakers toured the center last month and said it had a “prison-like feel,” vowing to change a policy they say still separates families.

The government announced in December that the facility was expanding from 1,350 to 2,350 beds.
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Tax cuts and increased defense spending are among the measures China will introduce this year to boost its flagging economy. 

Premier Li Keqiang announced the measures Tuesday on the opening day of China’s annual National People’s Congress in Beijing. 

Li told the legislators that policymakers are targeting economic growth of 6 to 6.5 percent this year, a slight cut from last year’s target of 6.5 percent. The world’s second-largest economy recorded official growth of 6.6 percent in 2018, the slowest pace in nearly three decades, due to slow demand at home and abroad and a bitter trade war with the United States.

The premier said the government will cut $298 billion in corporate taxes and social insurance contribution fees and lower the value-added tax for the manufacturing sector from 16 to 13 percent. Meanwhile, Beijing has approved a $177 billion military budget for this year, an increase of 7.5. percent, and is planning to spend more on 

The legislature is expected to pass a new law during this session that will discourage officials from pressuring foreign companies to transfer their technology to Beijing in exchange for market access. The practice has angered the United States and Europe for years and was cited by President Donald Trump as part of his reason to impose huge tariffs on Chinese imports in an attempt to force China into trade concessions.
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Tax cuts and increased defense spending are among the measures China will introduce this year to boost its flagging economy. 

Premier Li Keqiang announced the measures Tuesday on the opening day of China’s annual National People’s Congress in Beijing. 

Li told the legislators that policymakers are targeting economic growth of 6 to 6.5 percent this year, a slight cut from last year’s target of 6.5 percent. The world’s second-largest economy recorded official growth of 6.6 percent in 2018, the slowest pace in nearly three decades, due to slow demand at home and abroad and a bitter trade war with the United States.

The premier said the government will cut $298 billion in corporate taxes and social insurance contribution fees and lower the value-added tax for the manufacturing sector from 16 to 13 percent. Meanwhile, Beijing has approved a $177 billion military budget for this year, an increase of 7.5. percent, and is planning to spend more on 

The legislature is expected to pass a new law during this session that will discourage officials from pressuring foreign companies to transfer their technology to Beijing in exchange for market access. The practice has angered the United States and Europe for years and was cited by President Donald Trump as part of his reason to impose huge tariffs on Chinese imports in an attempt to force China into trade concessions.
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The speed and elegant appearance of the Concorde inspired awe. Its ear-rattling sonic booms irritated people on the ground and led to restrictions on where the jet could fly.

 

The Concorde’s maiden flight was 50 years ago this month. Although the plane went out of service in 2003, its delta-wing design and drooping nose still make it instantly recognizable even to people who have never seen one in person.

 

The Concorde was the world’s first supersonic passenger plane. It was a technological marvel and a source of pride in Britain and France, whose aerospace companies joined forces to produce the plane.

 

Its first flight occurred on March 2, 1969, in Toulouse, France. The test flight lasted 28 minutes. British Airways and Air France launched passenger flights in 1976.

With four jet engines and afterburners, the plane could fly at twice the speed of sound and cruised at close to 60,000 feet, far above other airliners. It promised to revolutionize long-distance travel by cutting flying time from the U.S. East Coast to Europe from eight hours to three-and-a-half hours.

 

Depending on the layout, the plane could seat up to 128 passengers, far fewer than on many other planes flying the trans-Atlantic routes. The relative scarcity of seats and the plane’s high operating costs made tickets expensive — typically several thousand dollars — so it was mostly reserved for the wealthy and famous, occasionally royalty.

 

In the U.S., the plane flew mainly to New York and Washington and attracted quite a buzz. In the mid-1980s, men dressed as Union and Confederate soldiers to re-enact a Civil War battle in Virginia paused in mid-skirmish to gaze up at a Concorde flying into nearby Dulles Airport.

 

A Concorde captain raved that the plane flew beautifully, and that the only indication of its speed came from looking down at other jets far below that seemed as if they were flying backward — the Concorde was moving about 800 mph faster.

 

Jamie Baker, an airline analyst and aviation enthusiast, took the plane from New York to London in 2002. Perhaps because it was a morning flight, the mood was more dignified than festive, Baker says. The ride was so smooth that there was hardly any sensation of flight.

 

“No turbulence. No sense of motion, save for the clouds passing by below us,” Baker says. “Concorde was a tool devised to outwit time.”

Former Boeing engineer Peter Lemme recalls his 1998 flight as a delight, but cramped.

 

“The seats were more like what we flew domestically in coach,” he says. “The food was excessive,” including caviar, and there was a duty-free cart piled with very expensive items.

However, the Concorde never caught on widely. The plane’s economics were challenging, and its sonic booms led it to be banned on many overland routes. Only 20 were built; 14 of which were used for passenger service.

 

As time went on, flights were disrupted by mechanical breakdowns including engine failures and a broken rudder. Reviewers complained about the small cabin, noise, and vibrations that started during takeoff and continued once airborne.

 

The plane’s darkest day came on July 25, 2000, when an Air France Concorde crashed into a hotel and exploded shortly after takeoff in Paris, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground.

 

Investigators determined that the plane ran over a metal strip that had fallen off another jet on to the runway, damaging a tire. A piece of the tire crashed into the underside of the wing, shockwaves caused a fuel tank to rupture, and the fuel ignited.

The planes were grounded for expensive modifications. After 18 months, BA and Air France both resumed flights, but traffic never recovered.

 

It was determined that a more intensive and expensive maintenance schedule would be required to keep the fleet flying. In 2003, BA and Air France both stopped Concorde service.

 

BA’s chief executive called it “the end of a fantastic era in world aviation,” but added that retiring the planes was a prudent business decision.

 

Supersonic transports could yet make a comeback. Several companies are working on models and hope to test them soon.
…

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The speed and elegant appearance of the Concorde inspired awe. Its ear-rattling sonic booms irritated people on the ground and led to restrictions on where the jet could fly.

 

The Concorde’s maiden flight was 50 years ago this month. Although the plane went out of service in 2003, its delta-wing design and drooping nose still make it instantly recognizable even to people who have never seen one in person.

 

The Concorde was the world’s first supersonic passenger plane. It was a technological marvel and a source of pride in Britain and France, whose aerospace companies joined forces to produce the plane.

 

Its first flight occurred on March 2, 1969, in Toulouse, France. The test flight lasted 28 minutes. British Airways and Air France launched passenger flights in 1976.

With four jet engines and afterburners, the plane could fly at twice the speed of sound and cruised at close to 60,000 feet, far above other airliners. It promised to revolutionize long-distance travel by cutting flying time from the U.S. East Coast to Europe from eight hours to three-and-a-half hours.

 

Depending on the layout, the plane could seat up to 128 passengers, far fewer than on many other planes flying the trans-Atlantic routes. The relative scarcity of seats and the plane’s high operating costs made tickets expensive — typically several thousand dollars — so it was mostly reserved for the wealthy and famous, occasionally royalty.

 

In the U.S., the plane flew mainly to New York and Washington and attracted quite a buzz. In the mid-1980s, men dressed as Union and Confederate soldiers to re-enact a Civil War battle in Virginia paused in mid-skirmish to gaze up at a Concorde flying into nearby Dulles Airport.

 

A Concorde captain raved that the plane flew beautifully, and that the only indication of its speed came from looking down at other jets far below that seemed as if they were flying backward — the Concorde was moving about 800 mph faster.

 

Jamie Baker, an airline analyst and aviation enthusiast, took the plane from New York to London in 2002. Perhaps because it was a morning flight, the mood was more dignified than festive, Baker says. The ride was so smooth that there was hardly any sensation of flight.

 

“No turbulence. No sense of motion, save for the clouds passing by below us,” Baker says. “Concorde was a tool devised to outwit time.”

Former Boeing engineer Peter Lemme recalls his 1998 flight as a delight, but cramped.

 

“The seats were more like what we flew domestically in coach,” he says. “The food was excessive,” including caviar, and there was a duty-free cart piled with very expensive items.

However, the Concorde never caught on widely. The plane’s economics were challenging, and its sonic booms led it to be banned on many overland routes. Only 20 were built; 14 of which were used for passenger service.

 

As time went on, flights were disrupted by mechanical breakdowns including engine failures and a broken rudder. Reviewers complained about the small cabin, noise, and vibrations that started during takeoff and continued once airborne.

 

The plane’s darkest day came on July 25, 2000, when an Air France Concorde crashed into a hotel and exploded shortly after takeoff in Paris, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground.

 

Investigators determined that the plane ran over a metal strip that had fallen off another jet on to the runway, damaging a tire. A piece of the tire crashed into the underside of the wing, shockwaves caused a fuel tank to rupture, and the fuel ignited.

The planes were grounded for expensive modifications. After 18 months, BA and Air France both resumed flights, but traffic never recovered.

 

It was determined that a more intensive and expensive maintenance schedule would be required to keep the fleet flying. In 2003, BA and Air France both stopped Concorde service.

 

BA’s chief executive called it “the end of a fantastic era in world aviation,” but added that retiring the planes was a prudent business decision.

 

Supersonic transports could yet make a comeback. Several companies are working on models and hope to test them soon.
…

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday extended by one year sanctions against Zimbabwe saying that the new government’s policies continue to pose an “unusual and extraordinary” threat to U.S. foreign policy.

The renewal comes despite calls by African leaders, including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, for the sanctions to be lifted to give the country a chance to recover from its economic crisis.

“The actions and policies of these persons continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States,” Trump said in a notice announcing the extension, adding: “I am continuing for (one) year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13288.”

The renewal comes despite calls by African leaders, including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, for the sanctions to be lifted to give the country a chance to recover from its economic crisis.

Trump administration officials had said the sanctions will remain until the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa changes Zimbabwe’s laws restricting media freedom and allowing protests.

According to U.S. officials, there are 141 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa and long-time former president Robert Mugabe, currently under U.S. sanctions.

Mnangagwa has called for the sanctions to be lifted against the ZANU-PF ruling party, top military figures and some government-owned firms, which were imposed during Mugabe’s rule over what the United States said were human rights violations and undermining of the democratic process.
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday extended by one year sanctions against Zimbabwe saying that the new government’s policies continue to pose an “unusual and extraordinary” threat to U.S. foreign policy.

The renewal comes despite calls by African leaders, including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, for the sanctions to be lifted to give the country a chance to recover from its economic crisis.

“The actions and policies of these persons continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States,” Trump said in a notice announcing the extension, adding: “I am continuing for (one) year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13288.”

The renewal comes despite calls by African leaders, including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, for the sanctions to be lifted to give the country a chance to recover from its economic crisis.

Trump administration officials had said the sanctions will remain until the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa changes Zimbabwe’s laws restricting media freedom and allowing protests.

According to U.S. officials, there are 141 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa and long-time former president Robert Mugabe, currently under U.S. sanctions.

Mnangagwa has called for the sanctions to be lifted against the ZANU-PF ruling party, top military figures and some government-owned firms, which were imposed during Mugabe’s rule over what the United States said were human rights violations and undermining of the democratic process.
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At President Donald Trump’s direction, the United States intends to scrap the preferential trade status granted to India and Turkey, officials said Monday.

Washington “intends to terminate India’s and Turkey’s designations as beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program because they no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria,” the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said in a statement.

India has failed to provide assurances that it would allow required market access, while Turkey is “sufficiently economically developed” that it no longer qualifies, USTR added.

Under the GSP program, “certain products” can enter the US duty-free if countries meet eligibility criteria including “providing the United States with equitable and reasonable market access.”

India, however, “has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on United States commerce,” the statement said.

Turkey, after being designated a GSP beneficiary in 1975, has meanwhile demonstrated a “higher level of economic development,” meaning that it can be “graduated” from the program, according to USTR.
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin informed Congress on Monday that he will stop making payments into two government retirement funds now that the debt limit has gone back into effect.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Mnuchin said that he would stop making investments into a civil service retirement fund and a postal service retirement fund.

These are among the actions that Mnuchin is allowed to take to keep from exceeding the debt limit, which went back into effect on Saturday at a level of $22 trillion.

The debt limit had been suspended for a year under a 2018 budget deal. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Mnuchin likely has enough maneuvering room to avoid a catastrophic default on the national debt until around September.

The U.S. government has never missed a debt payment although budget battle between then-President Barack Obama and Republicans in 2011 pushed approval of an increase in the debt limit so close to a default that the Standard and Poor’s rating agency downgraded a portion of the country’s credit rating for the first time in history.

The Congressional Budget Office said in a report that issuing new securities for the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund pushed the debt up by $3 billion each month. Mnuchin said both funds would be made whole once Congress approves an increase in the debt limit.

“I respectfully urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting to increase the statutory debt limit as soon as possible,” Mnuchin said in his letter.
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Sharp differences have emerged between the United States and Britain over farming standards and practices in any post-Brexit trade deal.

 

The trans-Atlantic allies have already begun exploratory talks on a trade agreement after Britain’s EU exit, which is scheduled for March 29. Britain, however, is resisting U.S. demands to open its markets to agricultural products currently banned under EU law.

 

The most widely-cited example is Europe’s import ban on American “chlorinated chicken” — carcasses that have been washed using chlorine to remove harmful bacteria like E. coli and salmonella. Europe says an over-reliance on chlorine lowers overall production and hygiene standards in poultry farming, a claim the United States disputes.

 

The EU has also banned the import of beef from American cattle that have been treated with artificial growth hormones. The bloc says that one commonly used hormone may cause cancer and concludes there is not enough scientific data on the other hormones to approve their use for public consumption.

Washington has made it clear any trade deal with Britain after Brexit must see these measures dropped.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, former Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, said recently that the millions of Britons visiting the United States every year enjoy perfectly safe food.

 

“We’d like to have that arrangement being one in which in Britain you can choose to have American chicken, American beef, or other agricultural products just as you could when you come to the United States,” he told VOA. “It is a key lynchpin of an agreement. Financial, manufacturing and agriculture has to be free and fair.”

 

Issa added that President Trump is committed to sealing a trade deal with Britain after Brexit, and that it could “be the next NAFTA”, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

 

Writing in Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper Saturday, America’s ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, attacked what he called “myths” over U.S. farming and alleged they are part of a protectionist agenda.

 

Britain has repeatedly pledged that it will not lower food standards after Brexit. Responding to Ambassador Johnson’s comments, Britain’s international trade minister, Liam Fox, said London would hold its ground.

 

“Will we accept things that we believe are against the interests of our consumers or our producers? No we won’t. It’s a negotiation,” Fox told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show Sunday.

 

The dispute over American beef and poultry is also influencing debate over the Irish border, a key stumbling block in Britain’s attempt to secure an EU exit deal.

 

Britain and Europe want to avoid border checks between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, recently expressed fears that the border could open a back door into the EU.

 

“If at some point in the future the United Kingdom were to allow chlorinated chicken or beef with hormones into their markets, we wouldn’t want that coming into our markets or the European Union as well,” Varadkar told reporters.

 

The United States says a trade deal would deliver huge benefits in sectors like financial services. Britain, meanwhile, is keen to bolster its post-Brexit credentials as a global trading power.

 

Far away from the skyscrapers of New York or London, it is farming that could prove the biggest barrier to any agreement.

 
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Sharp differences have emerged between the United States and Britain over farming standards and practices in any post-Brexit trade deal.

 

The trans-Atlantic allies have already begun exploratory talks on a trade agreement after Britain’s EU exit, which is scheduled for March 29. Britain, however, is resisting U.S. demands to open its markets to agricultural products currently banned under EU law.

 

The most widely-cited example is Europe’s import ban on American “chlorinated chicken” — carcasses that have been washed using chlorine to remove harmful bacteria like E. coli and salmonella. Europe says an over-reliance on chlorine lowers overall production and hygiene standards in poultry farming, a claim the United States disputes.

 

The EU has also banned the import of beef from American cattle that have been treated with artificial growth hormones. The bloc says that one commonly used hormone may cause cancer and concludes there is not enough scientific data on the other hormones to approve their use for public consumption.

Washington has made it clear any trade deal with Britain after Brexit must see these measures dropped.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, former Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, said recently that the millions of Britons visiting the United States every year enjoy perfectly safe food.

 

“We’d like to have that arrangement being one in which in Britain you can choose to have American chicken, American beef, or other agricultural products just as you could when you come to the United States,” he told VOA. “It is a key lynchpin of an agreement. Financial, manufacturing and agriculture has to be free and fair.”

 

Issa added that President Trump is committed to sealing a trade deal with Britain after Brexit, and that it could “be the next NAFTA”, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

 

Writing in Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper Saturday, America’s ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, attacked what he called “myths” over U.S. farming and alleged they are part of a protectionist agenda.

 

Britain has repeatedly pledged that it will not lower food standards after Brexit. Responding to Ambassador Johnson’s comments, Britain’s international trade minister, Liam Fox, said London would hold its ground.

 

“Will we accept things that we believe are against the interests of our consumers or our producers? No we won’t. It’s a negotiation,” Fox told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show Sunday.

 

The dispute over American beef and poultry is also influencing debate over the Irish border, a key stumbling block in Britain’s attempt to secure an EU exit deal.

 

Britain and Europe want to avoid border checks between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, recently expressed fears that the border could open a back door into the EU.

 

“If at some point in the future the United Kingdom were to allow chlorinated chicken or beef with hormones into their markets, we wouldn’t want that coming into our markets or the European Union as well,” Varadkar told reporters.

 

The United States says a trade deal would deliver huge benefits in sectors like financial services. Britain, meanwhile, is keen to bolster its post-Brexit credentials as a global trading power.

 

Far away from the skyscrapers of New York or London, it is farming that could prove the biggest barrier to any agreement.

 
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London and Washington are beginning exploratory talks over a trade deal after Britain leaves the European Union – which both sides say could deliver huge economic benefits. But already sharp differences have emerged over what might be included, as Britain resists U.S. demands to open its markets to agricultural products currently banned under EU law. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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London and Washington are beginning exploratory talks over a trade deal after Britain leaves the European Union – which both sides say could deliver huge economic benefits. But already sharp differences have emerged over what might be included, as Britain resists U.S. demands to open its markets to agricultural products currently banned under EU law. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
…

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The Trump administration is preparing to tighten the six-decade trade embargo on Cuba on Monday by allowing some lawsuits against foreign companies using properties confiscated by the Cuban government after its 1959 revolution, U.S. officials say.

Every president since Bill Clinton has suspended a section of the 1996 Helms-Burton act that would allow such lawsuits because they would snarl companies from U.S.-allied countries in years of complicated litigation that could prompt international trade claims against the United States.

Major investors in Cuba include British tobacco giant Imperial Brands, which runs a joint venture with the Cuban government making premium cigars; Spanish hoteliers Iberostar and Melia, who run dozens of hotels across the island; and French beverage-maker Pernod-Ricard, which makes Havana Club rum with a Cuban state distiller.

U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Trump would allow Title III of Helms-Burton to go into effect in a limited fashion that exempts many potential targets from litigation. The measure is being presented as retaliation for Cuba’s support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the U.S. is trying to oust in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Allowing a limited number of lawsuits could make investment in Cuba more burdensome for companies thinking of entering the market, who will now have to do additional research into their legal liability, but it is unlikely to be a major blow against the Cuban economy.

After nearly 60 years of trade embargo, the Cuban economy is in a period of consistently low growth of about 1 percent a year, with foreign investment at roughly $2 billion, far below what it needs to spur more prosperity. But tourism, remittances and subsidized oil from Venezuela have allowed the government to maintain basic services and a degree of stability that appears unshaken by the Trump administration’s recent moves against Cuba and its major remaining allies in Latin America — Venezuela and Nicaragua.
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The Trump administration is preparing to tighten the six-decade trade embargo on Cuba on Monday by allowing some lawsuits against foreign companies using properties confiscated by the Cuban government after its 1959 revolution, U.S. officials say.

Every president since Bill Clinton has suspended a section of the 1996 Helms-Burton act that would allow such lawsuits because they would snarl companies from U.S.-allied countries in years of complicated litigation that could prompt international trade claims against the United States.

Major investors in Cuba include British tobacco giant Imperial Brands, which runs a joint venture with the Cuban government making premium cigars; Spanish hoteliers Iberostar and Melia, who run dozens of hotels across the island; and French beverage-maker Pernod-Ricard, which makes Havana Club rum with a Cuban state distiller.

U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Trump would allow Title III of Helms-Burton to go into effect in a limited fashion that exempts many potential targets from litigation. The measure is being presented as retaliation for Cuba’s support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the U.S. is trying to oust in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Allowing a limited number of lawsuits could make investment in Cuba more burdensome for companies thinking of entering the market, who will now have to do additional research into their legal liability, but it is unlikely to be a major blow against the Cuban economy.

After nearly 60 years of trade embargo, the Cuban economy is in a period of consistently low growth of about 1 percent a year, with foreign investment at roughly $2 billion, far below what it needs to spur more prosperity. But tourism, remittances and subsidized oil from Venezuela have allowed the government to maintain basic services and a degree of stability that appears unshaken by the Trump administration’s recent moves against Cuba and its major remaining allies in Latin America — Venezuela and Nicaragua.
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Even as China and the United States are working to finalize a trade agreement, Beijing is grappling with the challenge of building political consensus about implementing and enforcing the deal on the ground.

The challenge for the Xi Jinping-led government is both economic and political at a time when the annual political congress has just begun in Beijing.

Delegates to the meetings include the heads of major Chinese corporations both private and state-owned.

The deal may hit State Owned Enterprises hard, an important Communist Party base, as they stand to lose subsidies and monopoly status. SOEs employ millions of people in key sectors like energy, mining, banking and manufacturing.

“The Chinese government will face resistance from SOEs and coastal provinces with dynamic trade with the US and other countries,” said Zhiqun Zhu, chair of the department of international relations at Bucknell University.

During the political sessions, President Xi will be closely watched in China and the world over as he deals with issues like the trade deal, the Huawei controversy and an increasingly slowing economy. The two-week sessions will be attended by around 5,000 delegates from around the country.

The US is not just asking China to buy more American goods, it is demanding structural changes from Chinese industry, which enjoy preferential treatment compared to foreign investors in many sectors. The deal could mean an end to government subsidies and monopoly status for SOEs in several markets.

“Structural reforms will be more difficult [for China] due to vested interests of SOEs and local governments and businesses with extensive trade,” Zhiqun said.

Paul Gillis, a professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management said, “Trade policy changes always have winners and losers. Expect opposition from the losers”.

Nature of challenge

The resistance will be internal, voiced in closed-door discussions of small groups of legislators and not during televised discussions of the National People’s Congress and the China People’s Political Consultative Conference, the two bodies that are part of the so-called “Twin Sessions.”

In the main sessions, which are televised live, no one speaks out of turn and without his or her speech vetted by senior leaders in advance, sources said.

“We have our system which is centralized. Once the President gives a directive, the delegates will not say no,” said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai based international relations specialist.

“The Twin Sessions will follow the leader’s view. The leader wants reform while making sure there is no pre-mature reform because that would be result in weakening China,” he said.

Under the surface, provincial leaders from more developed provinces and cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou are expressing concern about the negative fallout on the local economy if the deal is implemented.

Heads of several state owned corporations are already asking the government that their performance must be evaluated differently once the deal is implemented, informed sources said. They expect to take a hit on their profitability as the deal will give a bigger role to foreign competitors.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the central government and President Xi. If they are really determined to carry out structural reforms, they can, despite challenges and resistance,” Zhiqun said. China’s former Premier Zhu Rongji faced a lot of resistance when he carried out structural reforms in the 1990s but he still succeeded in his mission, he said.

Taking the hit

On the other hand, some analysts believe that the giant state-owned corporations are quite capable of handling the new challenge that will emanate from the trade deal with the US.

“They will face tougher competition in China from further opening up and reduction of state support, but I think they can handle that,” Gillis said. He was referring to the expected increase in the role of foreign companies once the deal is implemented in China.

The SOEs have been facing competition from foreign players since 2001 when China became a member of the World Trade Organization, he said. This time the competition will be more intense as restrictions on foreign firms will be reduced.

“The competition seems to have made many of these companies stronger,” Gillis said.

Chinese experts said the US should not expect China to restructure its economy as soon as the ink dries on the contract. Beijing was moving towards market based economy for its own reasons before the trade war and is now ready to hasten the process.

“The question is: Can China stop all subsidies to state owned enterprises? In some cases, China is not ready now, it needs a few years. It’s better if the US accepts a time bound commitment from China,” Shen said.

The US and China look at the situation differently, he said. The US believes that the presence of several competing players in the market is good for the customer. The Chinese think national competitiveness can be enhanced quickly if the government steps in to mobilize national resources to create and nurture a few gigantic national SOEs, he said.

 
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Even as China and the United States are working to finalize a trade agreement, Beijing is grappling with the challenge of building political consensus about implementing and enforcing the deal on the ground.

The challenge for the Xi Jinping-led government is both economic and political at a time when the annual political congress has just begun in Beijing.

Delegates to the meetings include the heads of major Chinese corporations both private and state-owned.

The deal may hit State Owned Enterprises hard, an important Communist Party base, as they stand to lose subsidies and monopoly status. SOEs employ millions of people in key sectors like energy, mining, banking and manufacturing.

“The Chinese government will face resistance from SOEs and coastal provinces with dynamic trade with the US and other countries,” said Zhiqun Zhu, chair of the department of international relations at Bucknell University.

During the political sessions, President Xi will be closely watched in China and the world over as he deals with issues like the trade deal, the Huawei controversy and an increasingly slowing economy. The two-week sessions will be attended by around 5,000 delegates from around the country.

The US is not just asking China to buy more American goods, it is demanding structural changes from Chinese industry, which enjoy preferential treatment compared to foreign investors in many sectors. The deal could mean an end to government subsidies and monopoly status for SOEs in several markets.

“Structural reforms will be more difficult [for China] due to vested interests of SOEs and local governments and businesses with extensive trade,” Zhiqun said.

Paul Gillis, a professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management said, “Trade policy changes always have winners and losers. Expect opposition from the losers”.

Nature of challenge

The resistance will be internal, voiced in closed-door discussions of small groups of legislators and not during televised discussions of the National People’s Congress and the China People’s Political Consultative Conference, the two bodies that are part of the so-called “Twin Sessions.”

In the main sessions, which are televised live, no one speaks out of turn and without his or her speech vetted by senior leaders in advance, sources said.

“We have our system which is centralized. Once the President gives a directive, the delegates will not say no,” said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai based international relations specialist.

“The Twin Sessions will follow the leader’s view. The leader wants reform while making sure there is no pre-mature reform because that would be result in weakening China,” he said.

Under the surface, provincial leaders from more developed provinces and cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou are expressing concern about the negative fallout on the local economy if the deal is implemented.

Heads of several state owned corporations are already asking the government that their performance must be evaluated differently once the deal is implemented, informed sources said. They expect to take a hit on their profitability as the deal will give a bigger role to foreign competitors.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the central government and President Xi. If they are really determined to carry out structural reforms, they can, despite challenges and resistance,” Zhiqun said. China’s former Premier Zhu Rongji faced a lot of resistance when he carried out structural reforms in the 1990s but he still succeeded in his mission, he said.

Taking the hit

On the other hand, some analysts believe that the giant state-owned corporations are quite capable of handling the new challenge that will emanate from the trade deal with the US.

“They will face tougher competition in China from further opening up and reduction of state support, but I think they can handle that,” Gillis said. He was referring to the expected increase in the role of foreign companies once the deal is implemented in China.

The SOEs have been facing competition from foreign players since 2001 when China became a member of the World Trade Organization, he said. This time the competition will be more intense as restrictions on foreign firms will be reduced.

“The competition seems to have made many of these companies stronger,” Gillis said.

Chinese experts said the US should not expect China to restructure its economy as soon as the ink dries on the contract. Beijing was moving towards market based economy for its own reasons before the trade war and is now ready to hasten the process.

“The question is: Can China stop all subsidies to state owned enterprises? In some cases, China is not ready now, it needs a few years. It’s better if the US accepts a time bound commitment from China,” Shen said.

The US and China look at the situation differently, he said. The US believes that the presence of several competing players in the market is good for the customer. The Chinese think national competitiveness can be enhanced quickly if the government steps in to mobilize national resources to create and nurture a few gigantic national SOEs, he said.

 
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The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average snapped a three-day run of losses on Friday as optimism about the prospects for a U.S.-China trade agreement countered downbeat U.S. and China manufacturing data. 

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, marked its longest streak of weekly gains since late 1999. 

Following President Donald Trump’s announcement last weekend of a delay in higher tariffs on Chinese imports, Bloomberg reported late Thursday that a summit between Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to sign a final trade deal could happen as soon as mid-March.

“The optimism over trade resolution is outweighing the weakening economic data,” said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, N.C. 

A private survey showed China’s factory activity contracted for a third straight month in February, though at a slower pace, indicating a marginal improvement in domestic demand as a flurry of policy stimulus kicked in from late last year. 

ISM data also showed U.S. manufacturing activity for February dropped to its lowest since November 2016, and the University of Michigan survey showed consumer sentiment fell short of expectations in the month. 

Detrick said that while the data were weak, investors hoped a U.S.-China trade deal would improve global growth prospects. 

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 110.32 points, or 0.43 percent, to 26,026.32; the S&P 500 gained 19.2 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,803.69; and the Nasdaq Composite added 62.82 points, or 0.83 percent, to 7,595.35. 

Good sign

Friday marked the first close above 2,800 for the S&P since Nov. 8. Nate Thooft, global head of asset allocation for Manulife Asset Management in Boston, said technical investors would see a close above that level “as a good omen.” 

The index closed 4.2 percent under its September record closing high. It has risen 11.8 percent so far this year, bolstered by trade hopes and the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance on interest rates. 

For the week, the S&P rose 0.4 percent while the Dow fell 0.02 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.9 percent. 

Of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, eight were gainers on the day. The health care sector rose 1.4 percent, providing the biggest boost and supported by gains in companies including health insurer UnitedHealth Group which bounced back after falling for much of the week. 

The consumer discretionary sector rose 0.9 percent, with the biggest lift from Amazon.com. 

Foot Locker shares rose 5.9 percent after the retailer beat quarterly same-store sales estimates and helped drive a 1.9 percent gain in shares of Nike Inc., the second-biggest boost to the sector. 

Gap Inc. surged 16 percent, making it the biggest percentage gainer in the S&P, after it said it would separate its better-performing Old Navy brand and close about 230 Gap stores. 

The energy sector rose 1.8 percent despite a decline in oil prices. 

A U.S. Commerce Department report showed inflation pressures remaining tame, which along with slowing domestic and global economic growth gave more credence to the Federal Reserve’s “patient” stance toward raising interest rates further this year. 

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.79-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.86-to-1 ratio favored advancers. 

The S&P 500 posted 54 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 92 new highs and 29 new lows. 

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.95 billion shares, compared with the 7.27 billion average for the last 20 trading days. 
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U.S. consumer spending tumbled 0.5 percent in December, the biggest decline in nine years, as the holiday shopping season ended in disappointment. Meanwhile, incomes rose sharply in December but edged down in January.

The fall in consumer spending followed sizable gains of 0.7 percent in October and 0.6 percent in November, the Commerce Department reported Friday. December’s result means that spending for the quarter decelerated significantly, a primary factor in the slowing of overall economy in the final three months of the year. Gross domestic product recorded a growth rate of 2.6 percent after a 3.4 percent gain in the third quarter.

Incomes jumped 1 percent in December, though slipped 0.1 percent in January. The government did not release spending data for January because of delays stemming from the government shutdown.

The big fall in spending reflected sizable declines in purchases of durable goods such as autos, as well as nondurable goods such as clothing during the all-important holiday shopping season. The result shows that consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic growth, was showing significant weakness heading into the current quarter.

Many economists believe that GDP growth will slow further during the current January-March period, with some expecting GDP to drop to a growth rate of 2 percent or lower.

Inflation, as measured by a gauge preferred by the Federal Reserve, was up 1.7 percent for the past 12 months ending in December. That’s the slowest 12-month pace since a similar 12-month gain for the period ending in October 2017 and is below the Fed’s 2 percent target for annual price increases.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress this week that with a number of economic risks facing the country and with inflation so low, the central bank intends to be “patient” in deciding when to change interest rates again.

The move to a prolonged pause in further rate hikes, which the Fed had announced at its January meeting, has cheered financial markets which had been worried that the central bank, which hiked its benchmark rate four times last year, could move rates up too quickly, raising the risks of an economic downturn.

The spending and income report showed that the saving rate jumped to 7.6 percent of after-tax income in December, compared to 6.1 percent in November. That was the highest saving rate since January 2016.
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