In The News

Financial Times: US Relations With Allies at New Lows

Chris Giles June 11, 2018
Trade tensions made for an acrimonious G7 summit, reports Chris Giles for the Financial Times: “The west was in disarray after Donald Trump left the summit early, instructed his officials to tear up the bland G7 statement, threatened to impose more tariffs and called the Canadian prime minister ‘very dishonest and weak.’” Trump administration officials became defensive after G7 host and Canadian...

Wall Street Journal: Western Cities Try to Slow Chinese Home Buying

Paul Vieira, Rachel Pannett and Dominique Fong June 7, 2018
Chinese buyers regard real estate in Western cities like Vancouver and Sydney as a good investment. Real estate prices in Canada and Australia were relatively low, inviting buyers and capital from China. The steady onslaught prompts fears about market distortions, changing local culture and inability of young adults to purchase their first home, reports the Wall Street Journal. “In Vancouver,...

Reuters: Facebook Confirms Data Sharing With Chinese Firms

David Shepardson June 5, 2018
Facebook confirmed data-sharing partnerships with about 60 companies including Huawei, Lenovo Group, OPPO and TCL in China. Once again, the agreements may have allowed the firms to access data of users’ friends without explicit consent, reports David Shepardson for Reuters. Many of the partnerships had already ended, and Facebook is taking steps to end agreements with the Chinese firms. “Chinese...

Times of India: Zigzags in Trump’s Trade Policy

Nayan Chanda June 5, 2018
The Trump administration goes back and forth with threats over trade deficits and demands that China, Canada, Mexico and other countries purchase more US-made goods. Nayan Chanda, founding editor of YaleGlobal Online, ponders whether abrupt announcements from the president are intended to maintain pressure on other nations during negotiations or boost domestic support. “Whatever the motivation,...

NewStatesman: US Tariffs Expose Brexit Fantasies

George Eaton June 1, 2018
Protectionism is the foe of cooperation, spurring widening antagonism. The United States under Donald Trump is treating longtime allies as adversaries, and this offers a cautionary tale to Brexit supporters who had expected a special relationship with the United States, notes George Eaton for the New Statesman. US tariffs on steel and aluminum will apply to Europe, Canada and Mexico – and that...

Foreign Affairs: How Xi Jinping Views the World

Kevin Rudd May 31, 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping is prominent among world leaders because of the size and continued growth of the Chinese economy as well as the nation’s military presence, role in development, and regional interests. Writing for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd describes Xi’s interests as seven concentric circles: His primary goal is keeping the Chinese Communist Party in power for the long term, making...

CBS News: Trump’s Overflowing Trade Plate

Rachel Layne May 31, 2018
Despite US deficits with China, cross-border trade contributes numerous benefits: more total of jobs for each country along with low-cost goods and higher standards of living. With trade boosting economic growth, governments must enact policies that distribute the wealth with a mixture of social services, infrastructure investment and tax reductions. The United States, relying on deficit spending...