Iran told Europe to grow a pair after France, Germany, and the U.K. launched the dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear agreement Trump bailed on in 2018. The dispute mechanism adds another layer of badass to Iran’s sanction misery. But Iran’s foreign minister knew what was behind the move to apply maximum pressure on his country. President Trump threatened to put a 100% tariff on every European-made vehicle unless they took his side in the Iranian-screwing.
Mr. Trump has a habit of making deals by using mobster tactics. He got the Chinese to sign phase one thanks to the tariff-screwing that’s still in progress. China’s economy slowed down in 2019, and consumer debt in China is on the high side. China’s central bank continues to inject cash into the economy, and international businesses get incentives from the government so they stay competitive.
The phase one agreement is not the end of the tariff war. There’s a 25 percent tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese products. That won’t go away until the president manages to disrupt Huawei’s 5G growth and hurt all tech growth in China and the United States. Mr. Trump didn’t realize how connected U.S. tech companies are with China. Huawei is the second-largest smartphone maker on the planet, plus the company’s components are in electronic devices all over the world.
When Trump told American tech companies to stop working with Huawei, Ren Zhengfei’s team developed their own operating system called Harmony. Harmony replaces Google’s Android operating system. Huawei can’t use Google’s operating system because the president’s blackballed the company last May.
The biggest threat to the global economy in 2020 is the chaotic political environment in the United States, according to experts at consultancies Control Risks and Eurasia Group. Mr. Trump plans to attend this year’s economic forum in Davos, but his impeachment trial may get in the way of that Trip. Trump’s lawyers will come in hot, and try to end the trial quickly, so Trump can make some wild claim that will make him look like a hero.
The Parnas documents made the press loop. Bill Barr, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, and Mike Mulvaney, as well as other Trumpians, knew about the president’s plan to force Ukraine to be his Biden bitch. Mr. Parnas wants to cut a deal now the Southern District of New York has him by the shorthairs.
Mr. Parnas claims he hung out at Trump’s Washington Hotel to talk business. According to Lev, that’s where all the Congressmen drink and party with mobsters and sleazeballs.
Dil Bole Oberoi
