Trump team mulls Mexico “invasion” amid crushing tariff threats
Tag: USMCA
Banning Chinese Cars Is Dangerous And Self-Defeating
Banning Chinese Cars Is Dangerous And Self-Defeating
Significantly, the administration is justifying the rule on national security grounds. As Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, “Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens.”
Meanwhile:
Mozilla: Modern Cars Are A Privacy Shitshow
All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label — making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed.
US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions
DARWIN, July 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. military is building infrastructure in northern Australia to help it project power into the South China Sea if a crisis with China erupts, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with U.S. and Australian defence officials show.
US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions
Related:
US military eyes Australia’s Indian Ocean toehold to deter China
SYDNEY – A remote Australian island close to an Indian Ocean chokepoint for Chinese oil shipments is on a list of possible locations for US military construction aimed at deterring China, with the US saying it “may or may not” support American forces.
Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish
Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish
Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish
“We were given a warning order to support the Philippines defense forces in resupplying of the Second Thomas Shoal,” Marine Rotational Force — Darwin commander Col. Brian Mulvihill told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday at an Outback training camp in the Northern Territory.
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The Marines have been monitoring events at the shoal over a drone feed, Mulvihill said.
“We were ready to support the Philippine defense forces,” he said, noting that Marines across the Pacific are also ready to back the U.S. ally.
The rotational force can airlift food and water by pushing pallets out of helicopters, he added.
“We can control airspace and aircraft from many nations,” he said. “We provide a range of options if a host nation, through the embassy, requires assistance.”
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Darwin is an excellent platform for launching forces into Southeast Asia, according to Grant Newsham, a retired Marine colonel and senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.
“It’s good to see Darwin and Northern Territory being used this way … rather than just as a training area for Marines, Air Force, and Australian and other forces,” he said by email Thursday.
The Marines can offer the Philippines fire support coordination. They can help with logistics and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and guard locations that support Philippine forces operating towards the disputed shoal, he said.
“Of course, Marines can deploy aboard Philippine resupply boats alongside [Philippine] personnel,” he said.
Marine engineers could repair the Sierra Madre at the shoal and Marine helicopters could resupply it, Newsham added.
“A U.S. amphibious ship or two with Marines and their aircraft and other hardware aboard deployed to Second Thomas Shoal would be a serious force — and also sending a clear message,” he said. “Deploying Marines in the Philippines with their aviation, long-range rockets, and other hardware has a political significance in itself.”
Related:
Japan Forum for Strategic Studies
South China Sea: Philippines says to solely run Second Thomas Shoal resupply missions
Senate Approves AMLO’s Request for US Military Personnel in Mexico
This past Wednesday, December 13, the Senate approved the request from president Andrés Manuel López Obrador for the presence of US military personnel in Mexican territory.
Senate Approves AMLO’s Request for US Military Personnel in Mexico
Related:
President AMLO invites US special forces to train troops in Mexico
The request to the Mexican Senate for the entry of 11 armed US personnel to participate in the exercise “Strengthen the capabilities of the Special Forces of the Ministry of National Defense” was signed by López Obrador less than a week after he met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco on November 17.
Mexico Pressured to Filter Immigrants to US: The Situation South of the Border
Miguel speaks about Mexico’s growing role as a filter of South American immigration for the United States, and how unfair it is for Mexico’s limited resources to be pressured into that role, especially since they also suffer from the neoliberal policies that cause immigration in the first place.
“Mexico has been told to use its military against the Latin American siblings that have also endured the imperialist and neoliberal impositions which have produced the economic and political crisis that most of the South is currently suffering- undoubtedly the primary reason that these waves of migrants are traveling north.” – Miguel Robles-Durán
This is a clip from S03 E02 of Cities After… Neo-Imperialism & Neo-Fascism at the Border via Democracy At Work
Mexico Pressured to Filter Immigrants to US: The Situation South of the Border
Policies Matter: Volkswagen, Mercedes, & Hyundai React To Inflation Reduction Act
Policies Matter: Volkswagen, Mercedes, & Hyundai React To Inflation Reduction Act
In June, Johan DeNysschen, the COO of Volkswagen of America, told Bloomberg his company is considering the construction of a battery manufacturing facility in North America. That would satisfy the requirement in the Inflation Reduction Act that batteries are manufactured in the US or other countries that are approved trading partners. According to the current North American free trade agreement, American trade officials consider anything made in Canada or Mexico to be domestically produced.
But manufacturing is one thing, The IRA goes further and requires the materials used to manufacture products also be sourced from approved trading partners. Canada is certainly one of them.
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Then the roof fell in. The IRA only applies to vehicles built in the US, and that Georgia factory was not scheduled to be up and running until 2025. Two weeks ago, Hyundai and Kia vehicles imported from South Korea were eligible for the federal EV tax credit of up to $7,500. After the IRA was signed into law, they are eligible for nothing. The South Korean government is considering bringing the matter to the World Trade Council, but according to Reuters, Hyundai will now speed up construction of its new Georgia factory.
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In the final analysis, that may be a good thing for America. Globalization left many countries like the US vulnerable to the machinations of crooks, thieves, and lunatics. The cheapest solution is often not the best solution.
Interesting that South Korea isn’t an “approved trading partner”. Then again, they’re not part of the USMCA. I suppose this is good for bringing some jobs to America.
Mexico’s AMLO Blasts IMF for Causing Global Crisis, After Fund Takes Aim At His Energy Policy
Canada: Fast-moving proposal creates filtering, blocking and reporting rules – and speech police to enforce them
BY CORYNNE MCSHERRY AND KATITZA RODRIGUEZ | EFF | AUGUST 10, 2021
Policymakers around the world are contemplating a wide variety of proposals to address “harmful” online expression. Many of these proposals are dangerously misguided and will inevitably result in the censorship of all kinds of lawful and valuable expression. And one of the most dangerous proposals may be adopted in Canada. How bad is it? As Stanford’s Daphne Keller observes, “It’s like a list of the worst ideas around the world.” She’s right.
Canada: Fast-moving proposal creates filtering, blocking and reporting rules – and speech police to enforce them
Will the New U.S. Trade Rep Be Hobbled by Lobbyists?
Will the New U.S. Trade Rep Be Hobbled by Lobbyists?
Tai could represent a new era in Democratic trade policy, replacing both “free trade” scams on one flank, and the incoherent economic nationalism of Donald Trump on the other, with careful, substantive policy that serves America’s economic interest.
But the way these things work, Tai is at risk of having corporate types imposed just below her, in the key deputy USTR slots. There is a revolving door between USTR and powerful corporations, notably Big Tech companies, which have much to gain or lose from trade deals. As I’ve written, the next round of trade deals will resolve significant questions about e-commerce, privacy, the use of algorithms, and much more.
Related:
Joe Biden’s US trade chief pick ‘unmatched’ on China issues, would not be soft on Beijing
[Clete] Willems said she would “share Lighthizer’s hawkishness on China and has a tonne of direct background on China’s industrial policy from her days at USTR”, adding that “having someone who can directly converse with China in their own language is going to command respect”.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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