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Corporate Treason

Both Conservatives and Liberals have expressed unease about corporations that, despite being based within the United States, have little or no loyalty to their home country.  Those fears are justified.

American companies have been forced to give trade secrets to the Chinese government in order to do business in that nation. At times, of course, this has been done at the behest of some politicians.

Roger Vadum, writing for the Capital Research Center  explains: “As president, Bill Clinton essentially wiped out any strategic advantage the U.S. had by selling advanced U.S. missile technology to our enemy, the People’s Republic of China…the Clinton administration accepted millions of dollars from the military and intelligence services of at least one hostile foreign power. All of this was done in exchange for illegal campaign contributions from a massive totalitarian country determined to eclipse the U.S. as a world superpower…President Clinton also lifted security controls, allowing thieves to access other vital military technologies, while disarming his own side and opposing needed defenses…Back in the 1990s… longtime Clinton bagman Terry McAuliffe, now governor of Virginia, set records raising money for the Clintons. In that era congressional investigators unearthed an elaborate Communist Chinese money-laundering scheme.”

While President Clinton’s tenure is now history, the acquiescence of some corporations to transfer data, or kowtow to practices that violate human rights, in order to gain market share within nations ruled by authoritarian governments, China being the prime example, continues.  Fighting this demand by Beijing has been a central issue in President Trump’s fight against unfair practices by America’s trading partners, friendly and otherwise.

Current corporate inappropriate interaction with hostile powers differs from the Clinton-era scandal. A key player in this issue is Facebook. David Shepardson, in a Reuters report notes:

“Facebook Inc (FB.O) said Tuesday it has data sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese companies including Huawei, the world’s third largest smartphone maker, which has come under scrutiny from U.S. intelligence agencies on security concerns. …Chinese telecommunications companies have come under scrutiny from U.S. intelligence officials who argue they provide an opportunity for foreign espionage and threaten critical U.S. infrastructure…”

Within continue reading address tadalafil buy the pages of this ancient testimonial is a reasonable vent for sexual power. These rates fluctuate based upon the technique applied and level of experience by order viagra levitra the doctor, and how results are evaluated. It is the quickest way of buying any levitra cost of medication online is quite simple. A well-known buy sildenafil canada Chinese natural herb, ginseng, has been used for centuries in Asia to treat stress-related health conditions. Google, another major internet-based giant, has proven to be a disloyal corporate citizen for other reasons. The most important military technology battlefield today is in the field of artificial intelligence. However, as reported by Douglas MacMillan in the Wall Street Journal  notes: “Google won’t allow its artificial-intelligence products to be used in military weapons…Google…has recently come under criticism from its own employees for supplying image-recognition technology to the U.S. Department of Defense, in a partnership called Project Maven. Google told employees earlier this month it wouldn’t seek to renew its contract for Project Maven, … that decision in turn was blasted by some who said the company shouldn’t be conflicted about supporting national security…Google’s YouTube, along with Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., were criticized over the past year for failing to prevent a Russian campaign to use their services to sway the results of the U.S. election…Google was questioned by U.S. lawmakers … who are looking into the company’s relationship with Chinese tech giants. Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) on Thursday asked Alphabet Inc. and Twitter Inc. about data-sharing with Chinese vendors, including Xiaomi and Tencent Holdings Google’s relationship with China’s Huawei Technologies Co., part of Washington’s escalating digital Cold War with Beijing.”

According to former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg (and a major information and technology corporate figure himself)  , writing for his eponymous publication, Google has “Walked away from America’s security…Google’s decision not to renew a contract to develop artificial intelligence for the Defense Department was a victory for the employees who had protested it. It was also a defeat for U.S. national security, patriotism, and the cause of limiting civilian casualties in war…Google’s leaders also seem to have forgotten the vital role the government, and especially the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, played in creating the internet and making their company possible in the first place. Yet, from Apple’s refusal to unlock the iPhone of a mass-murdering terrorist to Project Maven, tech firms have repeatedly snubbed law-enforcement, intelligence and defense agencies.”

It’s vitally important to read between the lines.  Are companies like Google, as well as Facebook, reluctant to assist the U.S. government, or give fair access and provide objective search results to pro-defense conservatives in the hopes of appeasing China and gaining access to its vast market?

How dangerous is the impulse by Facebook and Google to appease China? Consider Robert Schlesinger’s comment’s in US News: the Pew Research Center reported this week that 62 percent of U.S. adults get news on social media.  Fully two-thirds of U.S. Facebook users get news from the site…The role of big social media in news distribution has been top of mind with the recent controversy surrounding Facebook reportedly suppressing conservative content…Robert Epstein and Ronald Robertson of the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology have conducted more extensive research measuring what they call “Search Engine Manipulation Effect” – looking at whether Google, say, could shift votes by tweaking its search engine to favor one candidate. His conclusion is that doing so could “easily shift the voting preferences of undecided voters by 20 percent or more – up to 80 percent in some demographic groups,” as Epstein wrote in Politico last summer – with virtually no one knowing they are being manipulated. Around the world, Epstein and Robertson calculate, Google could flip upwards of 25 percent of national elections if it wanted to wield that power.”

If that power were used on behalf of an American enemy in return for access to that nation’s markets, it could be devastating.

Illustration: Pixabay

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China Trade Practices Impact U.S. Economy, Korean Crisis, Part 3

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government concludes its three-part examination of China’s trade relations with both the United States and North Korea.

China’s economic practices are not merely inappropriate from a trade perspective; they are also national security risks, and are quietly assisting the North Koreans.  The FBI reported in June that “The United States has filed a complaint to civilly forfeit $1,902,976 from Mingzheng International Trading Limited (Mingzheng), a company based in Shenyang, China. The complaint alleges that Mingzheng is a front company that was created to launder United States dollars on behalf of sanctioned North Korean entities. According to the complaint, Mingzheng conspired to evade U.S. economic sanctions by facilitating prohibited U.S. dollar transactions through the United States on behalf of the Foreign Trade Bank, a sanctioned entity in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and to launder the proceeds of that conduct through U.S. financial institutions.

Indeed, China has found numerous avenues to assist North Korea.  Foreign Policy reveals that an “unpublished U.N. report obtained by Foreign Policy that documents sophisticated North Korean efforts to evade sanctions shows that China has proved a fickle partner at best in Washington’s effort to stymie Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions…China, despite its apparent cooperation of late with international efforts to sanction North Korea, has instead served as Pyongyang’s economic lifeline, purchasing the vast majority of its coal, gold, and iron ore and serving as the primary hub for illicit trade that undermines a raft of U.N. sanctions that China nominally supports, the report’s findings suggest.”

Ralph Jennings, writing in Forbes in 2016, reported “The State Department may look harder at Chinese companies in case they are equipping North Korea’s nuclear development, sanctions coordinator Daniel Fried told the foreign affairs subcommittee … His comment followed an announcement… that four Chinese nationals and Chinese industrial equipment wholesaler Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Co. faced their own sanctions and money laundering charges over suspected military support for North Korea via U.S. financial institutions…But a broader probe would just turn up just one thing for sure: China is North Korea’s BFF…”
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The 2016 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission emphasizes that Beijing is using its wealth to “challenge the United States and intimidate China’s neighbors. For example, China’s ability to conduct conventional strikes against U.S. regional facilities recently reached an inflection point with the fielding of new ballistic missiles capable of reaching Guam. The Chinese military’s pursuit of force projection and expeditionary capabilities, while enabling it to provide public goods in the form of antipiracy, peacekeeping, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, will also strengthen China’s traditional warfighting capabilities against its weaker neighbors, many of whom are U.S. allies or partners. These developments are underpinned by advancements in China’s naval, air force, cyber, and space capabilities. In response to conflicting claims in the East and South China seas, China has increased its military deployments there. Moreover, China’s expanding intelligence collection capabilities, including in the cyber realm, have enabled many infiltrations of U.S. national security entities. The information China has extracted could strengthen its hand in a conflict with the United States.

An insiders‘ view of Chinese thinking on the North Korean issue reveals startling facts.  Rather than concentrating on how to reduce Pyongyang’s belligerence,  notes Rowan Callick in The Australian, “A commentary on the People’s Liberation Army website has urged China to target with ­strategic weapons the base where South Korea is deploying the US Terminal High Altitude Area ­Defence system to help defend it against North Korea.”

China’s actions in the economic, foreign policy, and military realms suggest China’s leaders have decided the time has come for China to leave behind its long-held strategy, espoused by Deng Xiaoping, of “hide your strength, bide your time.” China is showing itself to the world now, and the outcome is not what many had hoped for 15 years ago when the country was welcomed into the WTO and the global economic system.

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China Trade Practices Impact U.S. Economy, Korean Crisis, Part 2

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government continues its three-part examination of China’s trade relations with both the United States and North Korea.

The Financial Times reports that “Over the past decade, the goods and services China has provided for the US increased by 98 per cent and 132 per cent respectively.”  Reflecting the political viewpoint of many of Washington’s elected officials, the Financial Times emphasizes the importance of the relationship. “China has helped the US maintain its economic and financial stability over more than a decade of war and overspending.”

The statistics indicate that China has more to lose in an all-out trade stoppage. In 2015, the U.S. trade deficit with China was $365.7 billion, the highest on record; in the first eight months of 2016, the deficit was $225 billion. The cumulative U.S. trade deficit with China in the 15 years since it joined the World Trade Organization is a staggering $3.5 trillion. As it protects its domestic industry from foreign competition, China continues to dump its massive overcapacity in U.S. and other global markets, materially damaging U.S. industries, including steel.

There is more than enough justification, even outside of the North Korean dilemma, to justify tough action on China’s aggressive trade practices. The 2016 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission notes that “China continues to violate the spirit and the letter of its international obligations by pursuing import substitution policies, imposing forced technology transfers, engaging in cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, and obstructing the free flow of information and commerce. China is also becoming a less welcoming market for foreign investors, with a host of restrictions and anticompetitive laws that proscribe foreign participation in broad swathes of the economy and promote domestic companies. At the same time, the extensive subsidization of and policy support for favored companies and sectors puts international competitors wishing to export to China at a distinct disadvantage. It has become all too apparent that the CCP has no intention of opening up what it considers key sectors of its economy to significant U.S. or foreign competition and control…

“China’s willingness to reshape the economic, geopolitical, and security order to accommodate its interests are of great concern as China’s global influence grows. This influence has been manifesting most recently with China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative aimed at connecting China with great portions of the rest of the world via a wide range of investments and infrastructure projects. Last year, the Commission tracked the initiative’s impact in Central Asia. This year, as part of our examination of China’s rise and South Asia, we considered its impact on some of the countries in that region. China’s emergence as a major player in South Asia is affecting the geopolitics of the region, and is causing the region’s traditional major power, India, to grow increasingly concerned about the prospect of Chinese encirclement.
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Bloomberg reports that “China’s Worst Trade Abuses Are Hidden… China has also become adept in using non-tariff barriers to prop up favored companies. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in Beijing recently identified a raft of such measures China was using to protect manufacturers, including subsidizing local businesses and forcing foreign firms to turn over technology to Chinese partners… China failing to disclose measures that may violate WTO requirements, it is refusing to even discuss them.

“According to the American Chamber of Commerce in China’s 2016 Business Climate Survey, more than three-fourths of surveyed U.S. companies reported they felt foreign businesses are less welcome in China than in years past. Meanwhile, Chinese investment in the United States is growing rapidly, driven by the Chinese government’s “going out” strategy, a generally more open policy environment for outbound investment, and capital flight. The increased acquisition of U.S. assets by Chinese companies, which often receive state funding, has led to growing concern over the economic and national security implications of such acquisitions.

“In 2015, the U.S. goods trade deficit with China increased by 6.5 percent year-on-year to $367.2 billion, a new record. Over the same period, the U.S. deficit with China in advanced technology products reached $120.7 billion, a decrease of $3 billion from 2014. In the first eight months of 2016, the U.S. goods deficit with China fell 5.7 percent year-on-year to $225.2 billion due to weaker imports. The United States has a substantial but much smaller trade surplus with China in services: in 2015, the U.S. trade surplus in services with China totaled $29.5 billion. China continues to stall on liberalizing key sectors in which the United States is competitive globally, such as services…

The Report concludes tomorrow.

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China Trade Practices Impact U.S. Economy, Korean Crisis

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government presents a three-part examination of China’s trade relations with both the United States and North Korea.

U.S. policy makers need to take an intensive look at the entire framework of Chinese-American economic relations.  This is an urgent issue, since Beijing’s continued support of North Korea is the linchpin allowing Kim Jong-un to develop his nuclear arsenal, and the threat of trade restrictions may be the only way to change that paradigm.

During his presidential campaign, President Trump sharply criticized the imbalance in U.S.-China trade, and Beijing’s unfair economic practices. At the time, he proposed significant tariffs. Now, in the wake of North Korea’s threats of nuclear attack, President Trump has gained some concessions from China, a feat his predecessors failed at.  But are they sufficient, and will Beijing live up to its word?  Unfortunately, based on precedent, the outlook must be less than optimistic.

According to the 2016 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission China’s actions supporting North Korea are similar to its general foreign relations “…hopes that China would stick to its path of “peaceful development” and become a global power that upholds and strengthens the rules-based liberal world order have not been met. China’s leaders have taken advantage of the existing international order when convenient and sought to rewrite the rules when it benefits them. This was starkly illustrated this year by an international tribunal’s ruling that many of China’s activities in the South China Sea are unlawful—and by China’s obstinate rejection of the proceedings. On North Korea, although China signed on to the UN Security Council’s strictest sanctions on Pyongyang to date, there are already indications that China does not intend to enforce them in a way that might deter Kim Jong-un from his increasingly dangerous behavior, illustrated by two nuclear tests and a dozen ballistic missile tests in 2016 alone. Closer to home, China has been employing new levers of coercion in Taiwan and Hong Kong in ways that infringe upon longstanding practices and agreements, and which threaten to erode autonomy and democratic values in both places.”

The issue may be confronted soon.  According to the U.S. Commerce Department,  on September 24, U.S. Commerce  Secretary Wilbur Ross and Ambassador Terry Branstad met separately with Premier Li Keqiang, Vice Premier Wang Yang, Minister Miao Wei, NDRC Chairman He Lifeng, and Economy and Finance Director Liu He. The Secretary also met with Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan.
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The meetings were in anticipation of President Trump’s planned visit to Asia later this which is expected to concentrate on, in addition to the North Korean crisis, a range of trade issues including the need to rebalance bilateral trade and investment relations, protect intellectual property, lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and guarantee fair and reciprocal treatment for U.S. firms. According to the Commerce Department, “Ross is seeking to reduce the trade deficit through increased exports of high-value U.S. goods and services to China and improved market access for U.S. firms.” However, the possibility of stringent trade restrictions in reaction to China’s continued support for North Korea will certainly be a factor.

China’s economic relations with America has been a contentious issue since at least since the 1990’s.  President Bill Clinton greatly assisted Beijing’s rise to financial prowess both through his authorization of the sale of Cray super computers, and through his signing of legislation that freed Beijing from having to get yearly recertification of its trade status, as well as guaranteeing Chinese the low-tariff access to the U.S. market.

Investopedia notes that “…the trade balance of the U.S. vis-à-vis China is negative, and this deficit is financed partly by the capital flow from China. That is to say, China is also the largest creditor of the U.S. holding the largest part of the US Treasury securities with an amount of $1,270.3 billion as of May 2015. This is about one-fifth of the total US treasury securities ($6134.8 billion as of May 2015) outstanding.” In essence, in return for lending funds to federal elected officials who may use them to finance popular programs, those politicians have not taken action against Beijing’s unfair economic practices.

The Report continues tomorrow.

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China attacks U.S. Steel Industry

In a rare display of bipartisanship not only on Capitol Hill but between labor and management, action against China’s harmful against the American economy is taking place.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has found that Beijing is “dumping” (a term indicating that  nation is selling a product at less than normal value or the cost of production Typically, the goal of this is to destroy the local industry and establish a monopoly for the foreign source.) steel products in the United States.

The Department of Commerce has concluded Chinese dumping has occurred in several areas, including:

  • Producers/exporters of steel nails from China have sold steel nails in the United States at up to 118.04 percent less than normal value. As a result of the affirmative final determination in the China investigation, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to collect a cash deposit or bond on entries of steel nails from China based on the final rates.
  • Imports of corrosion resistant steel products from China. A dumping margin of 255.80 percent was noted.

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Currency manipulation is another area in which Beijing wages economic warfare against other nations. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka notes:

“China’s currency manipulation lowers the wages of Chinese workers and lowers manufacturing costs in China, creating an unfair trade advantage that has already cost millions of American jobs and closed thousands of American factories. This latest move, which will act as a tax on our exports and a subsidy for Chinese imports, further exacerbates the existing problem….The failure to address currency manipulation and undervaluation…has been a major cause of the U.S. trade deficit and manufacturing decline. It has turned trade agreements into trade tragedies and made the trade deficit a major drag on economic recovery.”

A Forbes Review noted that “Chinese steel exports rose roughly 25% year-over-year in the first ten months of 2015…The rising penetration of imported steels has driven down both shipments and realized prices of domestic steel producers. U.S. Steel reported year-over-year declines of 27% and 8% in shipments and average realized prices respectively for its U.S. Flat-rolled Steel division in the first nine months of 2015.  ArcelorMittal’s NAFTA division reported year-over-year declines of 3% and 13% in shipments and average realized prices respectively in the first nine months of 2015. Domestic steel mills have idled nearly 38% of their total production capacity in response to the increase in steel imports.The imposition of anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel imports will make them prohibitively expensive, which should boost both demand and pricing for domestically produced steels. The final determination of duties on imports is expected by mid-2016.”

Unlike private companies, government-owned concerns can engage in extensive dumping practices without worrying about the bottom line. The American Manufacturing Organization, citing a Wall Street Journal study, noted that “most of these companies [engaging in dumping] were government-owned or closely linked to local governments — and given their role as employers and providers of tax revenue, those mills are ‘unlikely to close or cut production even if running losses.‘ Major state-owned steelmakers also continue to have their loans rolled over or refinanced. And on top of all that, the Chinese government manipulates its currency, giving Chinese steelmakers a major economic advantage… As a result, more than 12,000 steelworkers have been laid off in recent months. Steel plant activity is operating below 70 percent of its capacity, and major steelmaking facilities have closed. If things don’t change, additional layoffs and closures are expected.”

Concern over China’s practices led to the introduction of the American Trade Enforcement Effectiveness Act, H.R. 2523,  sponsored by Rep. Bost, Mike [R-IL. ] The legislation aims to ease the way for U.S. companies and workers to seek redress against unfair practices. The bipartisan measure currently has 46 co-sponsors. A companion bill, S1269,  was introduced into the U.S. Senate by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.)

The United States is not alone in its concern over China’s practices. The Financial Times reports that European states oare demanding that the European Union take action against Beijing as well.  According to the report, “Europe’s steel industry has lost a fifth of its workforce since 2009…European steel industry executives have accused China of using its massive overcapacity at steel mills to dump products on the European market, selling them beneath the cost of production.”