39 foreigners flee Myanmar scam centre: Thai police


By AFP
November 25, 2024

Myanmar's Myawaddy town is seen from across the Thai border in Mae Sot on April 11, 2024 - Copyright AFP MANAN VATSYAYANA

Thirty nine foreigners have fled an online scam centre in Myanmar across the border to Thailand, where officials are working to identify potential trafficking victims, police told AFP on Monday.

Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar’s borderlands and are staffed by foreigners who are often trafficked and forced to work, swindling their compatriots in an industry analysts say is worth billions.

The group from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia and Russia crossed into Thailand’s Tak province, according to the police chief in the city of Mae Sot.

They had fled from Myawaddy just across the border, Colonel Pittayakorn Petcharat told AFP.

Myawaddy is controlled by a military-aligned militia and is a hotbed of drug production and online scam outfits, according to observers.

Sri Lanka’s embassy in Bangkok had asked Thai authorities for help after it was informed that 32 of its citizens were trapped in Myanmar, said Petcharat.

Five Nepalis, one Malaysian and one Russian were also in the group that escaped and arrived in Thailand.

AFP has contacted the embassies of the four countries for comment.

The group crossed into Thailand on Sunday night, said a member of the security forces in Mae Sot, who asked for anonymity to talk to the media.

Immigration officials were working to identify potential victims of human trafficking, Petcharat said.

Thai local media reported the group had responded to adverts on social media promising well-paid work but were then subjected to gruelling conditions in a scam centre.

Some of the Sri Lankan workers later successfully contacted the embassy.

Myanmar’s northern border with China was previously a hotbed for online scam centres, often run by militias aligned with the ruling junta.

But a sweeping offensive by an alliance of ethnic rebels last year cleared many of the scam centres out.

More than 40,000 people suspected of taking part in cyber scams in Myanmar were handed over to China in 2023, Beijing state media said this year.

Local Myanmar media have reported that scam bosses who escaped the offensive have since set up shop further south along the border with Thailand.

Last December Myanmar junta chief and Thai military officials agreed to “jointly eradicate online gambling and online scams near Myawaddy”, according to Myanmar state media.

TotalEnergies says halting new investment in India’s Adani


By AFP
November 25, 2024

French energy giant TotalEnergies has announced plans to increase its oil and gas production until 2030 - Copyright AFP/File Sameer Al-DOUMY

French energy giant TotalEnergies said Monday it was halting new investment linked to Indian conglomerate Adani, after the indictment of its billionaire founder on US bribery charges, an announcement which saw Adani Green shares lose 7.9 percent on the Indian stock market.

US prosecutors have accused tycoon Gautam Adani of paying more than $250 million in bribes to gain lucrative government solar energy contracts, to the detriment of US investors.

The energy and infrastructure tycoon has rejected the accusations which came in a bombshell indictment in New York on Wednesday. It led to India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi demanding Adani’s arrest and Kenyan President William Ruto scrapping airport and electricity deals worth about $2.5 billion.

“TotalEnergies has learnt through public announcements made by the US authorities of the indictment of certain individual Adani group executives in relation to an alleged corruption scheme linked to the business of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL),” the energy group said in a statement.

“This indictment does not target AGEL itself, nor any AGEL related companies.

“In accordance with its code of conduct, TotalEnergies rejects corruption in any form,” the group stated.

“Until such time when the accusations against the Adani group individuals and their consequences have been clarified, TotalEnergies will not make any new financial contribution as part of its investments in the Adani group of companies,” the group went on.

TotalEnergies, one of the world’s leading independent energy companies, noted it had in January 2023 taken a minority stake in AGEL and a 50 percent holding in three AGEL renewable energy joint ventures.

“TotalEnergies, which is not targeted nor involved in the facts described by such indictment, will take all relevant actions to protect its interests as minority (19.75%) shareholder of AGEL and as a joint-venture partner (50%) in project companies with AGEL,” the group said.

The group stressed all of its investments linked to Adani were “undertaken in full compliance with applicable laws, and with TotalEnergies’ own internal governance processes pursuant to due diligence and representations made by the sellers.

“In particular, TotalEnergies was not made aware of the existence of an investigation into the alleged corruption scheme.”

The rise of Adani, one of the world’s richest people, has been dogged by controversy — and allegations he benefited from his close ties to India’s Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi.

Adani is India’s largest private port operator, and operates key airports including in the financial capital Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the biggest city in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

The empire also spans coal, cement and media interests in countries ranging from Australia to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Israel, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Nepal.

The conglomerate weathered previous allegations of impropriety that wiped $150 billion from its market value in 2023, after a report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research accused it of “brazen” corporate fraud. Adani also denied those claims.

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal to close two plants in France: unions


By AFP
November 25,2024


Around a hundred employees gathered in front of the site near Reims to protest against the plans - Copyright AFP/File Sergio LIMA

ArcelorMittal, the world’s second-biggest steelmaker, plans to close two plants in northern France, which together employ more than 130 people, unions said on Monday.

ArcelorMittal is the latest company to announce plans to cut jobs and close plants in France, which is struggling with economic headwinds.

A total of 112 people are employed at the company’s site near Reims and another 24 at Denain, according to the unions.

“Production is scheduled to cease in June,” the unions said in a statement. First departures will begin as early as April.

ArcelorMittal had indicated last week that the two sites were suffering from a “sharp drop in activity” among its industrial and automotive customers “which has accelerated in recent months”.

Around a hundred employees gathered in front of the site near Reims earlier Monday, protesting against the plans.

Workers were also called to mobilise on Tuesday.

On Monday, ArcelorMittal called on the European Union to protect the competitiveness of European steel.

In early November, French tyre company Michelin said it would close two French plants by early 2026, the latest signs of struggles in the European auto industry.

The plants in Cholet and Vannes in western France together employ more than 1,250 people.

cor-etb-ngu-kau-as/sbk

California vows to step in if Trump kills US EV tax credit


By AFP
November 25, 2024

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state will step in to plug the gap if Donald Trump removes federal tax breaks for electric vehicles

 - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP MARIO TAMA

California will revive its own subsidy programs for electric vehicles if Donald Trump guts US federal tax breaks for such cars, the state’s governor said Monday.

The president-elect has said repeatedly he would scrap what he called the “electric vehicle mandate” — actually a $7,500 federal rebate for anyone who purchases an EV.

Gavin Newsom, who heads the solidly Democratic state and has pitched himself as a leader of the anti-Trump political resistance, said Monday California was not “turning back” towards polluting transport.

“We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” Newsom said.

“We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute,” he added.

“Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong -– zero-emission vehicles are here to stay.”

If Trump scraps the tax credit, California could revive its own Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, which ran until November 2023, granting rebates of up to $7,500 for people buying battery-powered cars, a press release said.

California leads the nation in electric vehicle adoption, and is the single biggest market in the country, representing around a third of all units sold in the United States.

State figures show that more than two million so-called “zero emission vehicles” — which include fully electric vehicles as well as plug-in hybrids — have now been sold in the state, with one-in-four new cars in that category.

On the campaign trail, Trump was frequently hostile to electric vehicles, which he has linked with what he calls the “hoax” of climate change.

He vowed repeatedly that under his watch the United States would become “energy dominant,” chiefly through expanded oil and gas extraction.

For many in California, such pledges are anathema, with the state frequently battered by the tangible effects of climate change, from huge wildfires to droughts to furious storms.

Newsom — who many believe has White House ambitions of his own — has positioned himself as a bulwark against the feared excesses of an incoming Trump administration on issues from climate change to immigration, vowing to be a check on its power.

With 40 million people, the sheer size of California’s market has for a long time helped set the national tone when it comes to pollution standards for automakers.

Rather than make two versions of the same vehicles, Detroit giants have willingly adopted California’s tougher rules on emissions and efficiency for nationwide sales.

That de facto standard-setting power has angered Republicans like Trump, who say — on this issue — states should not be allowed to set their own rules.

Sonar image was rock formation, not Amelia Earhart plane: explorer


By AFP
November 25, 2024

A statue of Amelia Earhart at the US Capitol - Copyright GETTY IMAGES/AFP Nathan Howard

A sonar image suspected of showing the remains of the plane of Amelia Earhart, the famed American aviatrix who disappeared over the Pacific in 1937, has turned out to be a rock formation.

Deep Sea Vision (DSV), a South Carolina-based firm, released the blurry image in January captured by an unmanned submersible of what it said may be Earhart’s plane on the seafloor.

Not so, the company said in an update on Instagram this month.

“After 11 months the waiting has finally ended and unfortunately our target was not Amelia’s Electra 10E (just a natural rock formation),” Deep Sea Vision said.

“As we speak DSV continues to search,” it said. “The plot thickens with still no evidence of her disappearance ever found.”

The image was taken by DSV during an extensive search in an area of the Pacific to the west of Earhart’s planned destination, remote Howland Island.

Earhart went missing while on a pioneering round-the-world flight with navigator Fred Noonan.

Her disappearance is one of the most tantalizing mysteries in aviation lore, fascinating historians for decades and spawning books, movies and theories galore.

The prevailing belief is that Earhart, 39, and Noonan, 44, ran out of fuel and ditched their twin-engine Lockheed Electra in the Pacific near Howland Island while on one of the final legs of their epic journey.

Earhart, who won fame in 1932 as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, took off on May 20, 1937 from Oakland, California, hoping to become the first woman to fly around the world.

She and Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937 after taking off from Lae, Papua New Guinea, on a challenging 2,500-mile (4,000-kilometer) flight to refuel on Howland Island, a speck of a US territory between Australia and Hawaii.

They never made it.

Social media firms raise ‘serious concerns’ over Australian U-16 ban


By AFP
November 25, 2024

Two women sit on a bench looking at their phone in central Sydney. The Australian government says a new law aims to protect young people from the perils of social media - Copyright AFP/File DAVID GRAY

Laura CHUNG

Australia’s proposal to ban under-16s from social media platforms is “rushed”, social media companies claimed Tuesday, expressing “serious concerns” about potential unintended consequences.

The landmark legislation would force social media firms to prevent young teens from accessing their platforms or face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million).

Platforms such as X, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta have criticised the 24-hour time frame given for stakeholder comments, claiming a lack of consultation and inadequate details about how the legislation would work.

X said in its submission that it had “serious concerns” the ban would have “a negative impact” on children, adding it breached their “rights to freedom of expression and access to information”.

The company added that the proposed law was “vague” and “highly problematic” and that there was “no evidence” that it would work.

Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world’s strictest measures aimed at children.

The proposed laws, which were presented to parliament last week, would also include robust privacy provisions that require tech platforms to delete any age-verification information collected.

The government is trying to approve the law this week, before parliament breaks for the rest of the year.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said in its submission the ban would “fail” in its current form because there was not enough consultation with stakeholders.

“More time should be taken to get this bill right,” it said.

TikTok raised concerns over the privacy provisions — including that they overlapped and contradicted other legislation — and the limited time to consult stakeholders.

“Its rushed passage poses a serious risk of further unintended consequences,” the company’s submission said.

Key details about how social media companies are expected to enforce the ban remain unclear.

Some companies will be granted exemptions from the ban, such as YouTube, which teenagers may need to use for school work or other reasons.

Once celebrated as a means of staying connected and informed, social media platforms have been tarnished by cyberbullying, the spread of illegal content, and election-meddling claims.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted Tuesday that “social media is causing social harm”.

“It can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators,” he wrote in an opinion piece.

“And because it is young Australians who are most engaged with this technology — it is young Australians who are most at risk.”

The laws would give families “peace of mind” that their children’s well-being and mental health were being prioritised, he said.

If the proposed law passes, tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban.

The proposal comes just months before Australians go to the polls in a general election that must be held in the first half of 2025.

Internal displacement in Africa triples in 15 years: monitor


By AFP
November 25, 2024

Eighty percent of them were displaced within five countries -- the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan

 - Copyright AFP Sebastien ST-JEAN

Nina LARSON

Conflicts, violence and disasters across Africa have dramatically driven up the number of displaced people on the continent over the past 15 years, international monitors said Tuesday.

By the end of last year, Africa counted 35 million people living displaced within their own countries, according to a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).

That is nearly half of the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) worldwide, IDMC chief Alexandra Bilak told AFP.

“We have seen a tripling of the number of IDPs on the African continent over the last 15 years,” she said, adding that “the majority of this internal displacement is being caused by conflict and violence, but is also now triggered more and more by disasters”.

While IDPs typically receive less focus than refugees who flee across borders, they are far more numerous and their lives are equally turned upside down.

Displacement disrupts livelihoods, the cultural identity and social ties of entire communities, making them more vulnerable, the IDMC pointed out.

It can set back a country’s development agenda by disrupting the ability of those displaced to generate income, pay rent or taxes, as countries are called on to provide additional housing, healthcare, education and protection.

– Conflict main culprit –

Tuesday’s report showed that rising levels of conflict and violence were responsible for driving 32.5 million people into internal displacement in Africa.

Eighty percent of them were displaced within five countries — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan.

Conflict and violence “cause cyclical patterns of displacement, and the people who were displaced by conflicts already 10, 15, in some cases 20, 25 years ago have not been able to find a solution”, Bilak said.

“They haven’t been able to return home,” she said, adding that “new waves of violence and displacement are added on to protracted caseloads”, pushing IDP numbers ever higher.

Displacement due to disasters, in particular floods, is also on the rise in Africa, as climate change makes itself increasingly felt.

The number of times people were forced to flee disasters rose sixfold between 2009 and 2023, from 1.1 million displacements per year to 6.3 million, the IDMC said.

Floods triggered more than three-quarters of these movements, while droughts accounted for another 11 percent, the report showed.

– Overlap –

The IDMC cautioned that conflicts, violence and disasters often overlap, driving complex crises, which see many displaced repeatedly or for prolonged periods.

The organisation highlighted the African Union’s Kampala Convention on protecting and assisting IDPs as an important tool to address the problem.

That convention, which was adopted in 2009 and entered into force in December 2012, set an international standard as the first, and still the only, legally-binding regional agreement addressing internal displacement.

Thirty-four African countries have since ratified the treaty, with many developing legal frameworks and making significant investments to address the issue.

But the IDMC said governments had struggled in the face of rising conflicts and disasters worsened and made more frequent by climate change.

“It hasn’t fixed the problem,” Bilak said.

With most displacement in Africa due to conflict, she stressed that “much more has to be done when it comes to peace-building and diplomacy and conflict transformation”.

“That is really the key of the issue.”

‘Remarkable global progress’: HIV cases and deaths declining


By AFP
November 25, 2024

The number of HIV infections across the world declined by a fifth during the 2010s, a new study says - Copyright AFP Sebastien ST-JEAN

Julien Dury

The number of new HIV infections and deaths has fallen across the world, marking significant progress in the fight against the disease.

But HIV is far from being stamped out, health experts warn ahead of World AIDS Day on Sunday.

– Uneven progress –

During the 2010s, the number of HIV infections across the world declined by a fifth, according to a major study published in The Lancet HIV journal on Tuesday.

Deaths related to HIV, which are generally caused by other diseases during the late stages of AIDS, fell by about 40 percent to below a million a year, the study said.

The decline was mainly driven by improving rates in sub-Saharan Africa, which is by far the hardest-hit region in the global epidemic.

However infections did not go down everywhere. Other regions, such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East, saw HIV numbers increase.

And the world remains far from the United Nations target of virtually eradicating AIDS-related deaths by 2030, the researchers said.

“The world has made remarkable global progress to significantly reduce the number of new HIV infections,” said lead study author Hmwe Kyu of the US-based Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation.

“More than a million people acquire a new HIV infection each year and, of the 40 million people living with HIV, a quarter are not receiving treatment,” she said in a statement.

– Effective tools –

Preventative treatments called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) have proven to be a powerful tool in the fight against HIV.

These daily pills reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex by around 99 percent.

They have helped drive down HIV rates in many countries. In some, such as France, health authorities are urging PrEP to be made more available to more people, rather than just men who have sex with men.

“It is something that can be used by anyone who needs it at some point in their sexual life,” French infectious disease specialist Pierre Delobel told a press conference.

For people who have been infected with HIV, antiretroviral therapy can reduce the amount of the virus in their blood to undetectable levels.

An undetectable viral load means that there is less than a one percent chance that breastfeeding mothers pass HIV onto their babies, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



– New drug raises hopes –



These tools have worked well in wealthier countries but the high costs have meant that poorer countries — such as in Africa — have often been left behind.

There are fears that this history could repeat for a new drug that has been hailed as a potential game-changer in the battle against HIV.

Early trials have found that the antiretroviral treatment lenacapavir is 100 percent effective in preventing HIV infection. And it only needs to be injected twice a year, making the drug far easier to administer than current regimens requiring daily pills.

US pharmaceutical giant Gilead has been charging around $40,000 per person per a year for the treatment in several countries.

But researchers have estimated the drug could be made for as little as $40, calling on Gilead to allow for cheaper access in hard-hit nations.

Last month, Gilead announced it had signed licensing deals with six generic drugmakers to produce and sell lenacapavir in lower-income countries.

While experts largely welcomed the move, some noted that millions of people with HIV live in countries not included in the deal.

The twice-yearly injection is also hoped to help get around another problem for administering HIV drugs — the stigma that comes along with having the disease.

– What about a vaccine? –

Despite decades of effort, a vaccine for HIV remains elusive.

But the lenacapavir shot is “like having a vaccine basically”, Andrew Hill, a researcher at the UK’s Liverpool University, told AFP earlier this year.

A handful of patients have also been effectively cured of HIV.

But these cures happen only after a patient endures a brutal stem cell transplant for their leukaemia, so is not an option for almost all people living with HIV.

Extreme weather threatens Canada’s hydropower future


By AFP
November 25, 2024

The Daniel-Johnson Dam in Manicouagan, Quebec, where engineers say they are starting to feel the impact of climate change on production

 - Copyright AFP Sebastien ST-JEAN

Mathiew LEISER

Hydropower production in Canada is plummeting as extreme weather linked to climate change, particularly sudden swings between drought and flood, hampers output while threatening the structure of dams themselves.

A world leader in hydroelectricity, Canada has also been forced to cut exports to the United States, which have reached their lowest levels in 14 years, according to the national statistics agency.

For three straight months earlier this year, Canada had to import energy from the US — a first in eight years, and a role reversal that highlights dramatic shortfalls in hydropower production in Canada and abroad.

The International Energy Agency said 2023 marked “a record decline” in global hydropower generation, with other major producers like China, Turkey and the US also impacted. The IEA tied the declines to “severe and prolonged drought” in major producing regions.

In Canada, which gets 60 percent of its energy from hydropower, drought has hit hard in the key production provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec.

– Record Lows –

Production challenges are being acutely felt at Quebec’s enormous Daniel-Johnson dam, northeast of Montreal, which was made with enough concrete to build a sidewalk from the North Pole to South Pole, according to Hydro-Quebec.

Hydro-Quebec engineer Pierre-Marc Rondeau said the low levels recorded at certain reservoirs in recent years has “broken records.”

The public company is “starting to feel” the impacts of climate change, he said.

Water shortages have reduced profits by 30 percent through the first nine of months of this year, the company confirmed this month.

Hydro-Quebec has also had to cut exports to meet local demand this year and in 2023 — a bitter setback for a company that has invested in new transmission lines and signed long-term supply contracts with customers in New York and Massachusetts.

“We’re adjusting the ways we operate the reservoirs to be ready at any time” in the event of flood or drought, Rondeau told AFP.

– Flash floods –

The combined impacts of extreme drought and extreme floods are “exponentially increasing” the challenges facing the hydropower sector, said Reza Najafi, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Ontario’s Western University.

Najafi is part of a group of researchers working on new guidelines for dams in response to the intensification of extreme weather events.

“We found some critical gaps in the current frameworks and practices in both the design and planning management of dams and levees,” he said.

Up to 50 percent of the country’s dams are more than 50 years old and not designed to cope with extreme weather swings, he explained.

Eloise Edom, of L’Institute de l’Energie Trottier at Polytechnique Montreal, noted flash floods that used to be once-in-a-century events in parts of Canada are now happening twice a decade.

For Philippe Gachon, a professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, it is crucial that national planning bodies consider the dramatic water cycle changes when contemplating Canada’s hydropower future.

“We are going to have volumes of water that we have never seen before,” he told AFP.

He noted Hydro-Quebec has already integrated the new reality of weather extremes into its infrastructure plans.

“But will this reflection, this rethinking of infrastructure, keep pace with the changes that are happening? Nobody knows,” he said.

NAFTA ALLIES HIT FIRST

Trump vows big tariffs on Mexico, Canada 


By AFP
November 25, 2024




US President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he intends to impose sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China in response to illegal drug trade and immigration.

In a series of posts to his Truth Social account, Trump vowed to hit some of the United States’ largest trading partners with duties on all goods entering the country.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 percent tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote.

In another post, Trump said he would also be slapping China with a 10 percent tariff, “above any additional Tariffs,” on all of its products entering the US in response to what he said was its failure to tackle fentanyl smuggling.

Tariffs are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda, with the Republican president-elect vowing wide-ranging duties on allies and adversaries alike while he was on the campaign trail ahead of his November 5 victory.

Trump’s first term in the White House was marked by an aggressive and protectionist trade agenda that also targeted China, Mexico and Canada, as well as Europe.

While in the White House, Trump launched an all-out trade war with China, imposing significant tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods.

At the time he cited unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and the trade deficit as justifications.

China responded with retaliatory tariffs on American products, particularly affecting US farmers.

The US, Mexico and Canada are tied to a three-decade-old free trade agreement, now called the USMCA, that was renegotiated under Trump after he complained that the US businesses, especially automakers, were losing out.

“Mexico and Canada remain heavily dependent on the US market so their ability to walk away from President-elect Trump’s threats remains limited,” Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and former US trade official, told AFP.

By citing the fentanyl crisis and illegal immigration, Trump appeared to be citing national security concerns as a means to break that deal, something that is usually allowed under the rules set by the World Trade Organization or in trade deals.

But most countries and the WTO treat national security exceptions as something to be used sparingly, not as a routine tool of trade policy.

Trump in 2018 cited national security justifications to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that targeted close allies like Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.

This led to retaliatory measures from the trading partners.

– ‘Bet on China tariffs’ –

Many economists have warned that tariffs would hurt growth and push up inflation, since they are primarily paid by importers bringing the goods into the US, who often pass those costs on to consumers.

But those in Trump’s inner circle have insisted that the tariffs are a useful bargaining chip for the US to push its trading partners to agree to more favorable terms, and to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas.

Trump has said he will put his commerce secretary designate Howard Lutnick, a China hawk, in charge of trade policy.

Lutnick has expressed support for a tariff level of 60 percent on Chinese goods alongside a 10 percent tariff on all other imports.

William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that that move was classic Trump: “threaten, and then negotiate.”

“In terms of what might actually happen, I’d bet on some China tariffs going into effect. That’s legally easier and politically more palatable,’ he said.

“On Canada and Mexico there was going to be a renegotiation of their trade deal (the USMCA) anyway in 2026.”

Trump: Huge tariffs coming for consumers who buy from China, Mexico and Canada

Matthew Chapman
November 25, 2024 

RAW STORY

Donald Trump wants everyone to know, he's going to make good on his tariff threats on day one.

The president-elect took to his Truth Social platform to single out three particular countries — China, Mexico, and Canada — as places whose goods will be sharply taxed when Americans go to buy them in stores.

"I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail," wrote Trump. "Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before. Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

He put up another post expanding the threats.

"As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before," wrote Trump. "Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border. On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!"

"Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem," he continued. "We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"

Economists have warned that large-scale, across-the-board tariffs of the type Trump is proposing would lead to massive price increases and general market chaos, which could be a shock to millions of people who only recently saw inflation return to normal levels after years of price instability following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump, however, has misrepresented how tariffs work, repeatedly — and falsely — insisting that U.S. consumers will not pay his tariffs, only the countries whose goods are being targeted.

Experts blast Trump over latest tariff announcement: 'Enjoy your cheap avocados'


Maya Boddie

 ALTERNET 

November 26, 2024

President-Elect Donald Trump announced via social media on Monday that he will enforce tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico, and China.

"On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders," the MAGA leader wrote via Truth Social. "This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"

He continued, "I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States - But to no avail. Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before. Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Several political and economic experts slammed the president-elect's announcement.

Adam Isacson replied: "Using the same logic, Mexico and Canada could impose tariffs on US goods until we get serious about: - Reducing US demand for illicit drugs - Stopping cross-border trafficking of guns easily purchased in US shops - Curtailing money-laundering in US banks, real estate, etc."

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) said: "Donald Trump’s first act as president will be to intentionally *raise* prices for the American people."

Economist and University of Los Angeles law professor Kimberly Clausing commented: "Policy by tweet is something we once again brace for. But the uncertainty and chaos are just part of the economic damage that these policies bring. Canada and Mexico are our largest trading partners, and these huge tariffs will raise prices for consumers."