In The News

Reuters: US Accuses China of LinkedIn Spy Campaign

Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay September 5, 2018
Social media platforms are designed to gather data from users in order to promote connections. US counterintelligence chief William Evanina warns that Chinese agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts “to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets,” reports Reuters. “LinkedIn says it has 575 million users in more than 200 counties and territories, including more than 150...

Washington Post: US Denies Passports to Border Citizens

Kevin Sieff September 4, 2018
The United States is increasingly denying passports to citizens who live along the Mexican border – even those with official birth certificates. The target: babies born at home, often by midwives. The policy was in effect since 2000, but enforcement has increased. “The Trump administration is accusing hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Hispanics along the border of using fraudulent birth...

Stratfor: Brazil's Farming Lobby Wields Growing Power

August 31, 2018
Brazil is a leading agriculture producer after the United States, China and India and a major exporter. The country’s agriculture sector supports trade, which increases agriculture’s political heft and influence over foreign policies, whereas the sector in the United States and the European Union is more protectionist. “With such influence, the farm lobby has forced the government to reduce tax...

Reuters: US, Mexico Reach NAFTA Deal; Pressure on Canada

Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason August 27, 2018
The United States reached agreement on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement, and Reuters reports that puts “pressure on Canada to agree to new terms on auto trade and dispute settlement rules to remain part of the three-nation pact.” The US president said he could put tariffs on Canada if the nation does not join the agreement. The three countries conduct more than $1 trillion in...

Japan Times: Japanese Firms Face Tough Choices as Trade War Drags On

Cory Baird August 24, 2018
The US-China war is disrupting global supply chains, and companies must decide if they will relocate assembly lines away from China, temporarily or permanently, or wait for a compromise. Companies with long supply chains have more adjusting to do, and one petrochemical industry expert warned that recovery will require more time than the period the tariffs are in effect. China and the United...

Forbes: Will Tariffs Cause the US Fish Industry to Flop

Maisie Ganzler August 23, 2018
Another round of tariffs in the US-Chinese trade battle go into effect in September and will increase US seafood prices. About $900 million worth of US seafood is “first caught or raised in the U.S., sent to China for processing, and then subsequently imported back into the U.S. by companies that sell it to American consumers,” explains Maisie Ganzler for Forbes. “The fish was caught in Alaska,...

HuffPost: Manafort Is Tiny Part of DC Lobbying Corruption

Paul Blumenthal August 22, 2018
Foreign governments make their preferences known about leaders of other nations, with some attempting to influence policies and even elections. Paul Manafort, the former chairman of the Trump campaign, has been found guilty of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The jury could not reach a decision on 10 other counts....