Protectionist measures increase risk of trade war, warns WTO chief

There is a "clear" risk of a trade war happening because of protectionist policies, the World Trade Organisation chief Roberto Azevedo has said.

The WTO's director-general did not implicate any countries by name behind such policies, even though he was asked about the effects US President Donald Trump's "America First" stance could have on the global trading system.

"The risk of a trade war is very clear," Azevedo told reporters yesterday during a visit in Panama.

"Once a country, whichever one, applies unilateral measures, there is a response from others and we could see a domino effect," he said.

"The reality is that, at the end of the process, if we have a trade war everybody without exception will be worse off than when it starts."

Since entering the White House, Trump's administration has talked about the US trade deficit vis-a-vis several countries, notably China and Mexico.
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With Modi in Washington, China and India 'jostle' on their border

As Indians savored Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effusive welcome in the White House Rose Garden this week, another, less friendly image kept stubbornly interfering.

High in the hills of the Himalayas, Indian troops had halted a Chinese road-building project in a disputed border area, and Beijing was angry. News channels kept cutting to old video of troops bumping torsos, trying to force one another backward without escalating to slaps or punches, a tactic often described here as “jostling.”

Beijing released a complaint against India on Monday, just as Mr. Modi walked into a meeting in Washington with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. On Tuesday, Global Times, a state-run nationalist tabloid, warned India to back down in a harshly worded editorial, saying that its “capacity is nowhere near China’s, and the so-called strategic support from the United States is empty, too, so it won’t be of any help when it is needed.”

The interruption of diplomatic ceremonies by border flare-ups is a regular feature of the Indian-Chinese relationship. To Indian analysts, the outburst conveyed Beijing’s dissatisfaction with President Trump’s plans to carry forward the United States-India strategic maritime partnership begun under President Barack Obama.

“They look at India as a critical swing state in Asia, and they see India now moving inexorably toward the U.S., which makes it very difficult for China to carve out a Sinocentric Asia,” said Brahma Chellaney, an analyst affiliated with the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.

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Donald Trump announces new Cuba policy to counter Obama's 'one-sided' deal

US President Donald Trump today vowed to roll back his predecessor Barack Obama's signature Cuba policy, saying it was "one-sided" and his administration will seek a "much better" deal for the Cuban people and America.

"Effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with Cuba. I am announcing today a new policy just as I promised during the campaign. And I will be signing that contract right at that table in just a moment," Trump told a cheering crowd of Cuban Americans in Miami, Florida.

"Our policy will seek a much better deal for the Cuban people and for the United States of America. We do not want US dollars to prop up a military monopoly that exploits and abuses the citizens of Cuba. Our new policy begins with strictly enforcing US law," he said.

Trump said he will not lift sanctions on Cuba unless it releases all political prisoners and respects freedoms.

"We will not lift sanctions on the Cuban regime until all political prisoners are freed, freedoms of assembly and expression are respected, all political parties are legalised and free and internationally supervised elections are scheduled elections," Trump said.

"We will very strongly restrict American dollars flowing to the military, security, and intelligence services that are the core of the Castro regime. They will be restricted. We will enforce the ban on tourism. We will enforce the embargo," he said.

"We will take concrete steps to ensure that investments flow directly to the people so they can open private businesses and begin to build their country's great, great future, a country of great potential," he said amidst a loud applause from the audience.
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Dollar slides on Donald Trump concern, but stocks rise

The U.S. dollar fell on Friday and was set to close its worst week in more than a year, with losses steepening after reports an investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign now include a person close to the President.

Stocks pared gains on Wall Street and Treasury yields hit session lows after the report from the Washington Post. Separately, the New York Times reported more details on Trump's recent meeting with Russian diplomats in the Oval Office.

A senior White House adviser is a significant person of interest in the investigation of possible ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, the Post reported citing people familiar with the matter.

It was the most eventful week of the year so far for financial markets, with many major equity markets scaling record highs and then plunging mid-week in one of the sharpest cross-asset routs in years.

Triggering the move was uproar over Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey and allegations he pressed Comey to stop investigating his former national security chief's alleged ties with Russia.

Stocks on Wall Street pared gains of as much as 1 per cent on the S&P 500. The Friday reports out of Washington came after European markets had closed.

"I'm sure some of (the move in markets) is related to that, and the fact that Trump is going to be out of the country and nobody's quite sure what he's going to do," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago, speaking of the latest headlines from Washington.

"We've got two days now to wring our hands about what might happen," he said, adding that the stock market didn't seem too concerned at this point.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 141.82 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 20,804.84, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 16.01 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 2,381.73 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 28.57 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 6,083.70.
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