Category Archives: Politics

China, Economic, European Union, Government, Politics, Society, United States

Trump’s trade war is a risk to the global economy

GLOBAL TRADE WAR

AN escalating trade war between China, the US and Europe could plunge the global economy into turmoil, international experts have warned.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) said the battle of wills between President Donald Trump and rivals in China and the European Union has put “economic recovery in jeopardy”.

In a major report on the 20 largest economies – known as the G20 – WTO economists warn that angry rhetoric and rising tariffs on all sides are a severe threat.

The WTO said that G20 countries slapped £52.6billion of sanctions on trade between October and May. A total of 39 new restrictive measures were introduced to block goods from competitors – double the number in the previous report.

The WTO said: “The G20 economies must use all means at their disposal to de-escalate the situation and promote further trade recovery.”

President Trump vowed on the campaign trail to protect US jobs and industries from globalisation. He has imposed aluminium and steel tariffs on China and the EU, and hit the Chinese with extra duties on everything from bulldozers to touchscreens.

Beijing responded in kind, hitting key US exports such as its important soya bean trade. Meanwhile, Brussels has slapped tariffs on American goods, including motorcycles and bourbon whiskey.

The President is now threatening to act against Europe’s prized car manufacturers. Last week, he said: “The EU is possibly as bad as China, only smaller. They send a Mercedes in, we can’t send our cars in.”

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European Union, France, Germany, Government, Immigration, Italy, Politics

The desperate migrants’ route across Europe

EU IMMIGRATION

IN the freezing passes of the Italian Alps, migrants march slowly up an icy incline as they head for France.

The mountains have become an unlikely route for Africans looking for a new life across the border.

Thousands are thought to have tried to traverse the range over the last few months alone, wearing clothing that is unlikely to protect them from the extreme conditions.

Faced with the policies of Italy’s Right-wing government, asylum seekers who arrive by boat on the country’s Mediterranean shores have headed north instead to reach France.

From there they can move on to Germany, Spain, Belgium, Holland and – ultimately, for many – Britain.

The latest route used by desperate migrants is increasingly coming to the attention of populist Right-wing political groups that have risen to prominence on the back of Europe’s migrant crisis.

Already, Italy has swung heavily to the right, with interior minister Matteo Salvini turning migrant boats away from harbours. Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban has made stopping immigration a cornerstone of his philosophy, and young conservative Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called for an “axis of the willing” to strengthen borders. Anti-immigrant MEP Christelle Lechevalier – of the renamed French right-wing National Front, now National Rally – last week tried to make political capital out of African migrants crossing from Italy into France at the ski resort of Montgenevre.

Some 26 European nations are in the supposedly border-free Schengen zone, which makes it possible to cross between member states without border controls. But faced with the prospect of mass immigration, police at several border posts are increasingly turning away new arrivals and sending them back to Italy.

As a result, migrants are turning to mountain passes, ski resorts and hiking trails to avoid official checks.

Snow-free in the summer, the Alps are a far less dangerous hike. And even if migrants are caught and sent back to Italy, they can always try again.

Earlier this year there were reports of migrants using the Col de l’Echelle mountain pass into France through thick snowdrifts. At the end of their eight-mile journey, African migrants would simply knock on the first door they saw.

Up to half a million migrants are thought to be in Italy, despite the fall in the number arriving – usually from lawless Libya – in boats across the Mediterranean.

Widespread public reaction to Europe’s migrant crisis has prompted EU nations to belatedly close off entry points and movement routes (as well as proposed detention centres in the Med to process asylum applications). German chancellor Angela Merkel hailed the migrant summit agreement as a success, with its vague talk of promises of cash for Third World countries to help them control population flows and loosen proposals to tighten border controls within the EU.

But no European country, let alone any African one, has yet agreed to host a migration centre. Mrs Merkel’s firm grip on Germany, which she has led since 2005, has weakened in recent months. Interior minister Horst Seehofer, leader of the Bavarian CSU party, was so incensed with last week’s deal that Mrs Merkel’s governing alliance was in serious jeopardy of collapsing. There were fears he was on the verge of ordering German police to start turning new arrivals away (in direct defiance of Mrs Merkel’s wishes).

Last Friday’s summit agreement failed to nail down any firm agreements on exactly how migrants arriving in EU countries on the Mediterranean coast could be dispersed elsewhere.

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Britain, Defence, Government, Politics, United States

Defence: MPs say a spending boost of 50% is needed

MILITARY EXPENDITURE

DEFENCE spending must increase by 50 per cent to protect the special relationship with the U.S., according to a report by MPs.

Military expenditure, currently around 2 per cent of national income, must also rise for the UK to maintain its influence in NATO, they said.

The MPs reiterated calls for spending to go up to 3 per cent of GDP – which would be equivalent to an extra £2billion a year.

Without this, UK forces would struggle to maintain their ability to work alongside the US military, diminishing their usefulness as allies, the Commons defence select committee said.

The report added some in the US believe Britain’s defence capabilities have “slipped” and that concerns have been raised about the UK’s ability to operate independently.

The report reveals US defence secretary James Mattis had been referring to Britain when he said recently one of America’s allies had cut capacity “to the point where it could no longer speak with strength”.

Conservative MP Julian Lewis, the committee chairman, warned anything less than an investment of 3 per cent of GDP “endangers us and our allies”.

It comes as Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is locked in a battle with Theresa May over defence spending.

Dozens of Tory MPs could vote to block the Budget unless the Prime Minister increases military spending. It follows reports that Mr Williamson had told military chiefs he could bring down Mrs May if she refuses to back him in his fight to get an extra £2billion a year from the Treasury.

The report, published ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Brussels, also warned the UK military risks becoming “irrelevant” because of the time it would take to deploy forces. Currently, it would take 20 days to deploy a mechanised brigade and 90 for a division.

It suggested Britain should take the lead in defending the North Atlantic, bolstering its anti-submarine warfare capability to defend against a ten-fold increase in Russian submarine activity in the area.

The report said: “If the UK wishes to maintain its leadership position within NATO and continue such fruitful defence relations with the US, then it will have to invest more in its armed forces. Diminished capacity reduces the UK’s usefulness to the US and our influence within NATO. The Government must not allow this to happen.”

Mr Lewis said: “An increased commitment, in the face of new and intensified threats, means further investment is essential. Where percentage of GDP for defence is concerned, our mantra must be: ‘We need 3 to keep us free’.

“Anything less is simply rhetoric which endangers us and our allies.”

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