Home » Posts tagged 'economic sanctions' (Page 11)

Tag Archives: economic sanctions

Companies ‘face substantial risks’ if they’re caught trading with Iran

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday issued a statement directed at allied governments, and private companies operating out of allied countries, warning them against any trade with Iran, warning they “face substantial risks” if they are caught.

Undersecretary of the Treasury Sigal Mandelker says that the world must “harden your financial networks,” and make sure they have “airtight” procedures in place to prevent even accidental business ties to Iran. He added that nations must make sure “Iran and its proxies are not exploiting your companies to support their nefarious activities.”

Though presented as a warning about being tricked by Iran, the warning is likely primarily directed at EU nations, as the EU has already decided to prohibit its companies complying with US sanctions on Iran. The EU is planning to try to block the US from punishing those companies, but many of the major businesses are being very cautious about new deals with Iran, fearing the US will go after them anyhow.

US sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program are expected to ratchet up in the next several months, after President Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal. Yet the deal remains in place, and many nations may not be willing to follow the US in this crackdown so long as Iran remains compliant.

Trump Asked Saudi Arabia To Boost Oil Production By 1 Million Barrels Per Day

June 5, 2018

Trump Asked Saudi Arabia To Boost Oil Production By 1 Million Barrels Per Day

It all started on April 20, when having tweeted at and about virtually everything else, President Trump realized that surging oil and gasoline prices are wreaking havoc on his economic agenda and eating away at the benefits from his tax cuts, and so he made it clear when he lashed out on twitter against OPEC which he said was “at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!”

✔

Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!

6:57 AM – Apr 20, 2018

The result was instant, sending the price of oil sharply lower….

… and effectively capping the price oil, which is now at the level when Trump made his warning.

Since then Trump’s stance has only hardened, and because the US president has become an especially good friend with the ruling Saudi regime, there has been a dramatic reversal within OPEC, whose next meeting is now expected to see the cartel and Russia modestly boost oil production to comply with Trump’s demand.

But by how much?

This morning Bloomberg reported the answer, when it said that the Trump administration has quietly asked Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers to increase oil production by about 1 million barrels a day, or – not surprisingly – just enough to offset expected Iran oil export declines as a result of Trump’s renewed embargo on Tehran.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Iran diary: bracing for all-out economic war

May 30, 2018

Iran diary: bracing for all-out economic war

While the dogs of war bark, the Ancient – and New – Silk Road goes on forever and a civilization with a long and proud history gets on with life

Dawn comes to Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad. Photo: Asia Times/Pepe Escobar

The minute you set foot in the streets of Mashhad, the air smelling of saffron, a fine breeze oozing from the mountains, it hits you; you’re in the heart of the Ancient Silk Road and the New Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

To the east, the Afghan border is only three hours away on an excellent highway. To the north, the Turkmenistan border is less than four hours away. To the northwest is the Caspian Sea. To the south is the Indian Ocean and the port of Chabahar, the entry point for the Indian version of the Silk Roads. The Tehran-Mashhad railway is being built by the Chinese.

A group of us – including American friends, whose visas were approved at the highest levels of the Iranian government – have gathered in Mashhad for the New Horizon Conference of independent thinkers. Right after a storm, I’m in a van on the way to the spectacular Imam Reza shrine with Alexander Dugin, which the usual suspects love to describe as “the world’s most dangerous philosopher,” or Putin’s Rasputin.

Debating and discussion time

We’re deep in debate not over geopolitics but … bossa nova. Exit Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, enter Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto.

Persia traditionally has been a land of serious intellectual discussion. At the conference, after a lunch break, a few of us decide to start our own geopolitical debate, no cameras rolling, no microphones on. Dugin expands on what multipolarity could be; no universality; pluriversal; a realm of pluralistic anthropology; all poles sovereign. We discuss the pitfalls of Eurasian identity, Islamic identity, sub-poles, India, Europe and Africa.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Sanctioning the World, the US Inadvertently ‘Locks & Launches’ Multipolarism

May 29, 2018

Sanctioning the World, the US Inadvertently ‘Locks & Launches’ Multipolarism

The commemorative medal had already been cast and published. It depicts profiles of Trump and Jong Un, facing each other, at the 12^th June historic meeting – at which Jong Un was supposed to disavow and discard his nuclear armament, irreversibly, and then to accept Trump’s gracious benediction. The meeting now is moot (and, since drafting, has been cancelled, blindsiding both Moon and Abe), leaving in its wake, a frustrated and angry Trump. And, as we prefigured earlier, instead of realising that Team Trump had not been listening adequately to what Jong Un was signalling, Trump now blames Xi for upsetting ‘the deal’ from being struck.

China’s Global Times makes the point:

“The US unilaterally demands prompt peninsular denuclearization before it provides compensation to Pyongyang. China will not oppose such a deal between the US and North Korea. However, can Washington achieve it? Pyongyang has just given an answer … It would be OK if Washington pressures Pyongyang to gain an edge in negotiations, but Washington should think twice about the possibility of pushing the Korean Peninsula back to fierce antagonism.

It is clear from China’s perspective that the US has overestimated its weight in forcing North Korea to accept its demands. The US has forgotten the awkward situation it was in last year when it could not stop North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, and the difficulty of taking military action against North Korea.

The US has always believed it was duped by North Korea, which is, in fact, far from correct. The US was responsible for the aborted peninsula resolutions, multiple times.”

Irritated too, by harsh comments made by ‘trade hawks’ on the lack of tangible result in trade negotiations with China (Steve Bannon, for example, told Bloomberg that Trump “changed the dynamic regarding China –

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The “Axis of Gold” Just Got Stronger

May 28, 2018

The “Axis of Gold” Just Got Stronger

As you probably know by now, President Trump backed out of the nuclear deal with Iran and is re-imposing harsh sanctions.

And just this morning, Trump announced that he’s canceling the much-anticipated nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because of Kim’s recent belligerent comments.

What does that mean, aside from the added geopolitical risk to markets?

As you’re about to see, you can now expect what I call the “Axis of Gold” to get even stronger. And it has potential to accelerate the demise of the dollar-based international system.

The Axis of Gold includes Russia, China, Iran and Turkey. I would also include North Korea in that list, although as a junior member.

These countries are forming a trading and financial network revolving around gold and are acquiring massive amounts of physical gold to support it. They are steadily moving toward a gold-based balance of payment system.

Why is this happening?

Well, if you’re on the receiving end of American sanctions like Russia, Iran or North Korea, you want a way to work around these sanctions. And gold is a powerful alternative.

Let’s first consider North Korea.

With the summit called off, there’s every reason to expect that North Korea will only intensify its nuclear program.

But how can North Korea obtain the foreign nuclear and missile technology it requires to advance its program?

By using gold.

If a rogue state wants to acquire ballistic missile components or equipment to enrich uranium, it can’t buy them through SWIFT, the international payment system. But it can use gold.

Gold can’t be hacked or traced. Unlike digital money in bank accounts, it can’t be frozen. You just put it on a plane or ship and send it to its destination.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Return Of Ben Swann May Be The Most Interesting Thing Happening In Alternative Media Right Now

February 26, 2018

The Return Of Ben Swann May Be The Most Interesting Thing Happening In Alternative Media Right Now

“The Russian envoy to North Korea warned President Trump not to place any further sanctions against North Korea or Kim Jong-un surrounding ‘supplies of oil’,” says a clean-cut reporter in a polished, professional newscast presentation. “To do so, he says, would be perceived as a declaration of war.”

Hmm, interesting. What am I watching? CNN?

“But if we’re going to be honest,” the reporter continues, “aren’t all sanctions an act of war? And why are we putting sanctions on North Korea in the first place?”

Ohhhhhh.

This ain’t CNN.

The report continues with information from reputable sources explaining the spurious and politically motivated basis for labeling North Korea as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, shows data documenting how ineffective sanctions actually are in achieving their purported goals, weaving together facts and figures which culminate in the conclusion that “all that those sanctions truly do is bruise and harm the people in that country who have no real control over whether there is a war or not.”

The presentation is slick and concise enough to be indistinguishable from a professional mainstream media news broadcast, save for an abundance of information which would never be permitted on mainstream media. It’s a phenomenal resource for anti-imperialists like myself to share around when news breaks as it did today that the Trump administration is stacking even more crushing sanctions upon North Korea.

Ben Swann is an award-winning journalist whose willingness to ask questions you aren’t allowed to ask and share information you aren’t supposed to share has made him a hero of alternative media and an enemy of establishment attack dogs everywhere.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Moody’s Pegs Venezuela in “Deeper Phase” Of Financial Insolvency

February 8, 2018

Moody’s Pegs Venezuela in “Deeper Phase” Of Financial Insolvency

Venezuela is now in a “deeper phase of economic stress,” Moody’s Investor Service said on Wednesday, according to The Oil and Gas Journal.

Falling oil production and tough economic sanctions have increased pressures on the nation’s financial capacity. Mismanagement and underinvestment in the country’s oil and gas industry is causing defunct facilities to produce low quality oil that does not meet the requirements of its usual buyers.

Moody’s sees “a negative feedback loop between declining production across all economic sectors, accelerating scarcity of hard currency, and an economic policy mix defined by price controls and forced discounting that exacerbate supply shortages and hyperinflation.”

Venezuela’s production is falling faster that high barrel prices can fill the revenue gap, the credit rating agency added.

“The fall in production will only exacerbate cash-flow stress,” Moody’s research note reads. “While oil prices have rallied in recent months, the decline in oil production will more than offset the would-be increase in dollar inflows from oil exports. This has negative implications for both debt repayment capacity and Venezuela’s already grim economic outlook.”

Hyperinflation will continue at the 4000 percent level through 2018 due to the financial deterioration.

President Nicolas Maduro is still intent on milking the digital currency fad to help alleviate the cash shortage and circumvent U.S. sanctions. After proposing an oil-backed national cryptocurrency called the petro, Maduro is now calling for an OPEC-wide one that would also include other large producers.

Speaking to media in Caracas after a meeting with OPEC’s secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo, Maduro said earlier this week, “I will make an official proposal to all OPEC members and non-OPEC states to work out a joint cryptocurrency mechanism backed by oil.”

Some 5 billion barrels of crude have been set aside to back the petro, which would be priced at $60 a piece, Russian Sputnik reports, adding that the first batch of petros to be sold will be of 100 million coins. The price per coin is tied to the price of Venezuelan crude.

It’s Time to Call Economic Sanctions What They Are: War Crimes

January 22, 2018

It’s Time to Call Economic Sanctions What They Are: War Crimes

Photo by John Pavelka | CC BY 2.0

The first pathetic pieces of wreckage from North Korean fishing boats known as “ghost ships” to be found this year are washing up on the coast of northern Japan. These are the storm-battered remains of fragile wooden boats with unreliable engines in which North Korean fishermen go far out to sea in the middle of winter in a desperate search for fish.

Often all that survives is the shattered wooden hull of the boat cast up on the shore, but in some cases the Japanese find the bodies of fishermen who died of hunger and thirst as they drifted across the Sea of Japan. Occasionally, a few famished survivors are alive and explain that their engine failed or they ran out of fuel or they were victims of some other fatal mishap.

The number of “ghost ships” is rising with no fewer than 104 found in 2017, which is more than in any previous year, though the real figure must be higher because many boats will have sunk without trace in the 600 miles of rough sea between North Korea and Japan.

The reason so many fishermen risk and lose their lives is hunger in North Korea where fish is the cheapest form of protein. The government imposes quotas for fishermen that force them to go far out to sea. Part of their catch is then sold on to China for cash, making fish one of the biggest of North Korea’s few export items.

The fact that North Korean fishermen took greater risks and died in greater numbers last year is evidence that international sanctions imposed on North Korea are, in a certain sense, a success: the country is clearly under severe economic pressure. But, as with sanctions elsewhere in the world past and present, the pressure is not on the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who looks particularly plump and well-fed, but on the poor and the powerless.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Venezuela Has Officially Abandoned The Petrodollar – Does This Make War With Venezuela More Likely?

September 15, 2017

Venezuela Has Officially Abandoned The Petrodollar – Does This Make War With Venezuela More Likely?

Venezuela is the 11th largest oil producing country in the entire world, and it has just announced that it is going to stop using the petrodollar. Most Americans don’t even know what the petrodollar is, but for those of you that do understand what I am talking about, this should send a chill up your spine. The petrodollar is one of the key pillars of the global financial system, and it allows us to live a far higher standard of living than we actually deserve. The dominance of the petrodollar has been very jealously guarded by our government in the past, and that is why many are now concerned that this move by Venezuela could potentially lead us to war.

I don’t know why this isn’t headline news all over the country, but it should be. One of the few major media outlets that is reporting on this is the Wall Street Journal…

The government of this oil-rich but struggling country, looking for ways to circumvent U.S. sanctions, is telling oil traders that it will no longer receive or send payments in dollars, people familiar with the new policy have told The Wall Street Journal.

Before we go any further, we should discuss what we mean by the “petrodollar” for those that are not familiar with the concept. The following comes from an excellent article by Christopher Doran…

In a nutshell, any country that wants to purchase oil from an oil producing country has to do so in U.S. dollars. This is a long standing agreement within all oil exporting nations, aka OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The UK for example, cannot simply buy oil from Saudi Arabia by exchanging British pounds. Instead, the UK must exchange its pounds for U.S. dollars. The major exception at present is, of course, Iran.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How Putin can win global economic war against Russia

March 19, 2015

How Putin can win global economic war against Russia

What are the objectives of the global economic war against Russia? Will the West disconnect Russia from SWIFT? Will Europe and the USA impose more sanctions on Russia? What’s happening to the oil prices? Will Syrian President Bashar Assad surrender? Pravda.Ru asked these and other questions in an interview with Ron Holland, author of many best-selling books

It has been a year since the US economic war against Russia began by the West. Which objectives have been set and have they been achieved?

I would suggest the objectives have been three fold but in fact I would date the sanctions war from Friday August 30, 2013. This was when President Putin offered a peaceful alternative at the last moment to stop the US military operation against Bashar al-Assad and Syria that was within hours of starting. Surprisingly the US called off the attack and this set in motion a series of events contrary to the goals of the US administration. I believe both Russia and China covertly played the Treasury debt card in order to protect their client states, Syria and Iran, from the impending US invasion.

I wrote in my September editorial at that time; Did Putin Quietly Play the Debt Card Over Syria that both Russia and China might have covertly played the Treasury debt card in order to protect their allies, Syria and Iran, from an impending US invasion.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Do Economic Sanctions Work? by Kenneth Rogoff – Project Syndicate

January 3, 2015

Do Economic Sanctions Work? by Kenneth Rogoff – Project Syndicate.

CAMBRIDGE – With Western economic sanctions against Russia, Iran, and Cuba in the news, it is a good time to take stock of the debate on just how well such measures work. The short answer is that economic sanctions usually have only modest effects, even if they can be an essential means of demonstrating moral resolve. If economic sanctions are to play an increasingly important role in twenty-first-century statecraft, it might be worth reflecting on how they have worked in the past.

As Gary Hufbauer and Jeffrey Schott note in their classic book on the topic, the history of economic sanctions goes back at least to 432 BC, when the Greek statesman and general Pericles issued the so-called “Megarian decree” in response to the abduction of three Aspasian women. In modern times, the United States has employed economic sanctions in pursuit of diverse goals, from the Carter administration’s efforts in the 1970s to promote human rights, to attempts to impede nuclear proliferation in the 1980s.

Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/do-economic-sanctions-work-by-kenneth-rogoff-2015-1#ws02Wc2VhD4Tw211.99

Putin Blames West for Russia’s Economic Crisis

December 18, 2014

Putin Blames West for Russia’s Economic Crisis.

MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to fix Russia’s economic woes within two years, voicing confidence that the plummeting ruble will recover and promising to diversify Russia’s gas-dependent economy.

Speaking with strong emotion and looking confident, Putin also displayed a defiant stance toward the West, which he insisted was still trying to destroy Russia.

Putin acknowledged that Western economic sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine was just one factor behind Russia’s economic crisis, accounting for roughly 25 to 30 percent of the ruble’s troubles. He said a key reason for the currency’s recent fall was the nation’s failure to ease its overwhelming dependence on oil and gas exports.

As Putin spoke, the Russian currency was trading at 61 rubles to the dollar. That was slightly lower than last night but up 12 percent from the historic low of 80 to the dollar that it hit earlier this week. Russia’s benchmark MICEX index rallied by 5.5 percent by midday Thursday.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Tag Archives: economic sanctions

Content

Post categories

Economic Links

Energy/Resource Links

Environmental Links

Geopolitical Links

Liberty Links

News Links

Other Links

Survival Skills

Post Archives by Category

Post navigation

Latest Posts