Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 21 June 2018
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
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​Global
- Asia markets mixed as trade concerns simmer; oil prices slip (CNBC) Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday as global markets calmed after an elevation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China triggered a sell-off earlier in the week. The dollar index was up at 95.11 but lower than its highest since mid-July 2017 (95.299) overnight. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.03% to trade at $65.59 per barrel after settling higher by almost 2% in the last session. Brent crude futures edged down by 0.27% to trade at $74.54. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,269.05 an ounce by 0055 GMT.
U.S.
- White House to recommend combining Education, Labor Departments: report (The Hill) The White House will recommend merging the Departments of Education and Labor as part of an overall reorganization of the federal government, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The proposed merger, which is expected to be unveiled Thursday morning, would mark a significant step toward the Trump administration’s goal of decreasing the federal workforce.
- Neglect & Abuse of Unaccompanied Children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (ACLU) Over 4,600 pages of records obtained by the ACLU from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (“CRCL”). These records consist of complaints submitted by legal service providers and immigrants’ rights advocates on behalf of migrant children detailing various forms of abuse. The CRCL records also consist of internal agency records documenting the limited investigations it undertook. Before the Trump administration started creating “unaccompanied minors” by forcefully separating them from their parents, the U.S. had a dismal history regarding abuse of minors that arrived at the border without an accompanying adult. Read the full report from the Unversity of Chicago Law School.
- Lawsuit alleges drugs were forcibly administered to migrant children (The Hill) A lawsuit made public on Wednesday alleges that immigrant children held at a detention center near Houston were forcibly administered drugs. Immigrant children at Shiloh Treatment Center, a government contractor that houses unaccompanied migrant kids, were held down and told they would not be able to see their parents unless they took the psychiatric drugs, according to documents filed April in U.S. District Court in California.
The court documents also say that workers administering the drugs at the center told children that some of the pills were vitamins. According to filings, one child said “the staff told me that some of the pills are vitamins because they think I need to gain weight. The vitamins changed about two times, and each time I feel different.”
One child was given a variety of drugs, including seizure medications, antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs, and the Parkinson’s medication known as Benztropine.
Children said the drugs had negative effects on them, including leaving them unable to walk, fatigued, and fearing other people.
- Why he caved: Inside Trump’s rare reversal (CNN) Frustrated that even his political allies were questioning his heart, President Donald Trump determined early Wednesday he would break with days of his own misleading claims and end the practice of separating families at the border. It was an abrupt decision for a President known more for leaning into his unpopular decisions than abandoning them. Even though internal discussions about confronting the child detentions had been ongoing for a week, Trump’s decision to sign an executive order still caught some of his closest aides off-guard.
- Airlines to Trump administration: Don’t fly migrant children separated from families on our planes (CNBC) U.S. airlines, including American and United on Wednesday asked the federal government not to use their flights to transport children who were separated from their families under a controversial immigration policy.
The airlines responded after a public outcry over the separations of children from their parents and reports that claimed some of the children were transported on U.S. flights. More than 2,300 migrant children were separated from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border from May 5 and June 9, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.
- Family immigration detention centers could be at capacity within days: report (The Hill) Family immigration detention centers in the U.S. could be at capacity within days of President Trump signing an executive order meant to keep immigrant families together, NBC News reported Wednesday. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement-run centers have a current capacity of 3,335 beds, and 420 parents and children are crossing the U.S.’s southern border in groups on a daily basis, according to data obtained by NBC News. That means the centers could be full within 8 days, according to the report, given that none of the beds are already occupied.
- U.S. Commerce Dept probing steel ‘profiteering’ after tariffs (Reuters) The U.S. Commerce Department is investigating recent steel price hikes to determine whether some market participants are “illegitimately profiteering” from new tariffs, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday. Ross told a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the price of steel in the U.S. market has risen far more than justified by the 25% tariff imposed by the Trump administration, possibly because of “speculative activity,” with some market intermediaries holding back inventories. U.S. benchmark hot-rolled steel coil June futures prices were quoted at $902 per ton on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday, up 53% from $589 a year ago.
- Charlottesville rally organizer requests permit for ‘white civil rights rally’ in Washington (CNN) The organizer of the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year has applied for a permit to hold a “white civil rights rally” in front of the White House in August. The event application was filed by Jason Kessler, the organizer of last year’s “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that turned deadly. Kessler requests in the application that the event take place at Lafayette Park, and the application states that the purpose of the event is for “protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville,” and expects “400” people to participate.
- For The First Time In U.S. History White Deaths Outnumber Births In Majority Of States (Zero Hedge) Deaths now outnumber births among whites in more than half of the United States, according to demographers at the University of Wisconsin in partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio. Meanwhile the birth/death ratio among blacks, asians and latinos remains robust. Notably, the number of white deaths increased while births diminished between 1999 and 2016, signaling what could usher in a faster-than-expected transition to a future in which whites are no longer the majority in America.
UK
- May faces down pro-EU rebel lawmakers to win Brexit vote (Reuters) Prime Minister Theresa May won a crucial Brexit vote in parliament on Wednesday, keeping her divided government’s plans to end more than 40 years of British partnership with the European Union on track.
Iran
- China’s Oil Trade Retaliation Is Iran’s Gain (Zero Hedge) Could it be that Donald rump could end America’s oil boom? China intends to slap tariffs on U.S. petroleum products and shift purchases away from the U.S. Who is likely a big beneficiary? Iran which will find a market for oil exports that would otherwise be sanctioned. And the price Iran receives will be higher, as well.
North Korea
- U.S. identifies North Korea missile test site it says Kim committed to destroy (Reuters) The missile engine test site that President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had committed to destroy is a major facility at Sohae in the western part of the country that has been used for testing engines for long-range missiles, according to a U.S. official. The U.S.-based North Korea monitoring group 38 North said in an analysis at the end of last week there had been no sign of any activity toward dismantling Sohae or any other missile test site.
- Trump says North Korea has returned remains of 200 U.S. war dead (Reuters) President Donald Trump said North Korea had returned on Wednesday the remains of 200 U.S. troops missing from the Korean War, although there was no official confirmation of the move from military authorities.
China
- China has a big ace up its sleeve in the trade war with the US (Quartz) the Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. China can’t match Trump’s latest threat, simply because it doesn’t actually import $200 billion worth of US goods. (In 2017, China imported $130.4 billion in US goods, according to US data, though China’s customs agency puts the figure at $154.8 billion.) But the Chinese government has pledged to “issue strong countermeasures” (link in Chinese). And there’s one possible countermeasure that could make China come out on top.
Some of China’s potential retaliative moves include snarling imported US goods in customs inspections, upping penalties for US companies operating in China and delaying their licensing approvals, and limiting US-bound tourism. These actions have worked well in China’s past kerfuffles with South Korea and Japan, says Trivium China, a Beijing-based research firm.
But China has a much “stronger countermeasure” at its disposal when it comes to the US, notes Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Namely, it could stop honoring US intellectual property rights.
- The yuan slipped against the dollar on Thursday, with some experts forecasting more weakness ahead.
- The currency had slumped earlier this week on an escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions.
- Apart from trade, the rate hiking from the Federal Reserve was another factor highlighted by analysts.
