Press Center

By Kimberly Ann Elliott From the article: As widely expected, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping declared a truce in their trade war over dinner in Buenos Aires this past weekend. According to the White House statement after the meeting, Xi committed to increase imports of American agricultural and energy products to reduce the bilateral trade deficit and to immediately begin negotiations over China’s unfair trade policies. In exchange, Trump agreed that he would not increase tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion in Chinese exports as scheduled on Jan. 1, but that he could do so later if there is no broader agreement within 90 days. The Chinese statement was not so specific, saying only that it would import more from the U.S. and that the two countries would “work together to reach a consensus on trade issues,” with no mention of a deadline. Vagueness plus a tight U.S. deadline virtually guarantee that this is only a temporary truce. This should all sound very familiar. Indeed, I’m tempted to say that it is déjà vu all over again, again. On three prior occasions, Trump administration officials announced similar deals to increase American exports and address trade barriers in China. In the most recent instance, at the end of May, chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow announced that the administration had reached a deal that would avoid the imposition of tariffs over China’s unfair trade practices, following an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. He claimed that Chinese negotiators had agreed to reduce the trade deficit by at least $200 billion, and “just as important, they have to lower their tariff rates, they have to lower their non-tariff barriers. We have to have a verifiable process whereby the technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property stops.” Read the full article here.   

By Bertil Lintner  From the article:  The Republic of Djibouti is on any measure one of the most stable countries in eastern Africa. There are no known Islamic radicals here and, unlike its immediate neighbor Somalia and Yemen across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, it is not plagued by a vicious civil war. The 1998-2018 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, two other next door countries, significantly did not spill over into Djibouti.  ...  According to a March 2018 report by Center for Global Development, a US-based think tank, Djibouti has borrowed more money from China to pay for infrastructure projects than it can analysts doubt it can afford.  Read the full article here.   

By Joseph Dana From the article: Despite a recent downturn in the global economy, an unprecedented shift is underway throughout the so-called non-West. From Southeast Asia to Latin America, these economies have seen explosive urbanization and the emergence of a new middle class. Manufacturing remains the engine behind the re-emergence of non-Western economic power. Robust manufacturing sectors have created millions of jobs in countries such as China and India, which have in turn put these economies on impressive growth trajectories. Africa remains an anomaly in this transformative story. With one of the world’s fastest-growing populations, Africa’s urbanization rates are also exploding. Yet its economies are not meeting their potential. While the continent has benefited from the internet to create new industries, its manufacturing sector has lagged woefully behind those of the rest of the world. Poor governance (a lack of trade-friendly legislation), a lack of investment in local and regional infrastructure (a paucity of efficient ports) and high costs are all factors behind the abysmal state of the sector. … Yet, more generally, the road is going to be long and hard for Africa’s manufacturing sector. Opening a factory remains an expensive and bureaucratic process. According to a 2017 report by the Center for Global Development, small African manufacturing plants were 39 percent more expensive than similar facilities elsewhere. Medium-sized and large factories were a staggering 50 percent more expensive. Despite high levels of unemployment, labor costs were found to be high in countries from South Africa to Tanzania. All this makes little sense, given that countries on the continent remain among the world’s poorest. The reason, in one word, is corruption. It exists on a massive scale through the accumulation of a multitude of small payoffs — almost like a differential calculus of graft.  Read the full article here.