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The World Trade Organization (WTO) published a new report on Wednesday that is truly apocalyptic, and crushes all hopes that a V-shaped recovery would be seen this year (similar to what Morgan Stanley said last week):

“World trade is expected to fall by between 13% and 32% in 2020 as the COVID 19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world,” the WTO report said.

The Geneva-based body does not see a recovery in global trade until 2021, and even then, the outcome of recovery is mainly dependent “on the duration of the outbreak and the effectiveness of the policy responses.” The economic recovery could be anywhere from 21% and 24%.

“This crisis is first and foremost a health crisis which has forced governments to take unprecedented measures to protect people’s lives,” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said.

“The unavoidable declines in trade and output will have painful consequences for households and businesses, on top of the human suffering caused by the disease itself.”
“The immediate goal is to bring the pandemic under control and mitigate the economic damage to people, companies and countries. But policymakers must start planning for the aftermath of the pandemic,” he said.
“These numbers are ugly – there is no getting around that. But a rapid, vigorous rebound is possible. Decisions taken now will determine the future shape of the recovery and global growth prospects. We need to lay the foundations for a strong, sustained and socially inclusive recovery. Trade will be an important ingredient here, along with fiscal and monetary policy. Keeping markets open and predictable, as well as fostering a more generally favourable business environment, will be critical to spur the renewed investment we will need. And if countries work together, we will see a much faster recovery than if each country acts alone.”

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

The Trilateral Commission: Using Crisis As An Opportunity To Reform

March 1, 2020

The Trilateral Commission: Using Crisis As An Opportunity To Reform

A couple of years ago I posted an article that gave a brief overview of the Trilateral Commission, quoting directly from numerous former members of the institution and how their overarching goal was for the integration of nation states at the expense of self determination.

It was in the article where I argued that the prevailing model for globalists dating back to at least the First World War has been to use crisis as an opportunity, first by instigating periods of chaos before presenting themselves as the order to the ensuing turmoil. Four of the world’s largest global institutions – The Bank for International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations – were founded on this principle. Without a series of crises there would have been no rationale for them to exist.

A trend over the past few years has been how in the midst of geopolitical conflict global bodies and world leaders have called for the likes of the European Union and the World Trade Organisation to undergo substantial reforms in the wake of a rise in political nationalism and protectionism. The push for reform has been largely justified on the grounds that the international ‘rules based global order‘ – brought to be out of the ruins of World War II – is under threat, and all as a direct consequence of the growth in anti-globalisation movements that are often characterised as ‘populism‘.

So if global institutions want to broaden their level of power through deeper centralisation, where exactly does the Trilateral Commission fit into that? Earlier this month I happened by chance on a blog called ‘Dorset Eye‘, which launched in 2012 and describes itself as ‘an online citizen media magazine in which local, national and international members of the public have their voices heard‘.

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

Project Fear Goes To ’11’: Brexit Could Lead To Thousands Of Deaths, Mass Hunger

January 30, 2019

Project Fear Goes To ’11’: Brexit Could Lead To Thousands Of Deaths, Mass Hunger

If you listen to the government tell it, a post-“hard” Brexit Britain will inevitably resemble the post-apocalyptic Australia from “Mad Max”: A post-apocalyptic hellscape where Britons will be forced to battle it out “Thunderdome”-style for access to scare essentials like food, medicine and “guzzoline”.

Sound outlandish? Well, that’s because it probably is. The notion that reverting to WTO rules on trade would cause anything beyond a transient disruption to supply chains is ridiculous on its face. Most of this blatant fearmongering can be attributed to a very effective propaganda campaign we’ve dubbed “Project Fear”. In recent weeks, May’s government has staged traffic jams near would-be border checkpoints and warned that the hit to economic growth will linger for years, if not decades.

Yet, out of naivety or shrewdness, Brexiteer MPs have largely ignored these warnings and continued to oppose May’s deal, despite her insistence that it is Britain’s “best and only” option. So far, the EU has refused to reopen negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement, prompting May’s latest attempt to transform a wave of resistance into a surmountable obstacle by winning support for an amendment that she could then pitch to the EU27 as the only workable arrangement. But like her other plans, this too appears to be mired in conflict.

Fearful of the shortages that could lie just around the corner, both warehouses and UK citizens have begun hoarding food, medicine and other supplies. Perhaps realizing that they have pushed the country to the brink of hysteria, PM May’s government on Monday tried to walk back some of the more outrageous claims, assuring citizens that there will be enough to eat in the event of a hard Brexit, though prices on fresh foods could see a temporary spike. The walk back followed another warning from supermarket chains about possible supply shortages if ‘no deal’ goes through.

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

“It Will Be A Cold War”: APEC Summit Ends In Unprecedented Chaos After Dramatic US-China Showdown

November 18, 2018

“It Will Be A Cold War”: APEC Summit Ends In Unprecedented Chaos After Dramatic US-China Showdown

One day after vice president Mike Pence and China’s president Xi Jinping clashed after exchanging sharply worded barbs in a showdown between the two superpowers, on Sunday the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit ended in unprecedented chaos and disarray, without agreement on a joint communique for the first time in its history as the escalating rivalry between the United States and China dominated proceedings and reflected escalating trade tensions.

Competition between the United States and China over the Pacific was also thrown into focus with the United States and its Western allies launching a coordinated response to China’s Belt and Road program, Reuters added.

One diplomat told Reuters tension between the U.S. and China, bubbling all week, erupted when the Chinese government’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, objected during a leaders’ retreat to two paragraphs in a draft document seen by Reuters. One mentioned opposing “unfair trade practices” and reforming the WTO, while another concerned sustainable development.

“These two countries were pushing each other so much that the chair couldn’t see an option to bridge them,” said the unnamed diplomat. “China was angered that the reference to WTO blamed a country for unfair trade practices.”

Sunday’s dramatic conclusion was foreshadowed by accusations that Chinese officials had attempted to strong-arm officials in Papua New Guinea, which was hosting the event, into issuing a statement that fitted what Beijing wanted. The Chinese vigorously denied the claims. When asked about the impasse, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill was quoted by the South China Morning Postsaying: “You know the two big giants in the room, so what can I say?”

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

Global Stocks, Futures Slide As China Shatters Trade Calm

September 11, 2018

Global Stocks, Futures Slide As China Shatters Trade Calm

Just when it seemed that the tenuous trade ceasefire between the US and China could result in more stable market sentiment, European stocks dropped -0.5% to session lows led by mining and autos, with S&P futures sliding as volume surged, joining Asia in the red after Reuters reported that China would ask the World Trade Organization for permission to impose trade sanctions on the U.S. rekindling fears over trade relations among the world’s two biggest economies.

The latest trade rumbling pushed the MSCI index of global stocks into the red, as Asian markets dropped for the ninth straight day. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan eased 0.05 percent, but held just above last July’s lows.

There was a hint that China may do something earlier when the Shanghai Composite dipped 0.2 percent, with the index fading all gains set during the morning session. Chinese automakers were among the worst performers in Hong Kong after August sales dropped from a year earlier, adding to investor jitters about the vehicle market’s outlook. Local auto giant Geely Auto fell as much as 4.6% to lowest since June 2017.

After opening broadly higher, European shares were down on the day, with the Stoxx 600 sliding as much as 0.5%, while the Stoxx 600 basic resources index dropped 0.7%, entering a bear market down 20% from its June 6 peak, amid speculation that winter curbs on mills may be milder than had been expected, increasing the possibility of increased supply.

The pound initially rose to five-week highs against the dollar, hitting a high of $1.3087, after the European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday a Brexit deal was possible within weeks. Sterling had risen 0.8 percent on Monday.

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

Will World Trade Collapse After America Withdraws From WTO? Don’t Bet on It!

September 7, 2018

Will World Trade Collapse After America Withdraws From WTO? Don’t Bet on It!

With Trump slapping tariffs right, left and center on friends and foes alike, and threatening to withdraw America from WTO, concerns about declining global trade have heightened. Trading nations like China and Japan are wary and worried about the prospects for world trade, as are developing countries in Asia which have embarked on industrialisation and look to foreign markets for their manufactured goods in addition to their traditional agricultural produce.

The threat to growth in world trade didn’t begin with Trump’s “America First” policy. Way back in 2008 when the WTO Doha Round broke down on liberalization of agricultural trade, many already saw the writing on the wall. Countries in East Asia started to negotiate and enter into bilateral and regional FTAs.

The most significant FTA concluded in the new millennium in Asia was between the 10 member states of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, dubbed ACFTA. China and ASEAN have a combined population of 1.9 billion and aggregate nominal GDP of almost $16 trillion in 2017 or 22% of global total. ACFTA is the largest trade grouping in terms of headcount, and the second largest measured by GDP, which ranks a close second to NAFTA’s 28%. After ACFTA came into effect in 2010, China’s bilateral trade with ASEAN members soared from under $200 billion in 2009 to more than half a trillion dollars last year, a whisker shy of China-EU trade of $540 billion, and a fifth less than China-US trade. Close to 90% of products are transacted at ZERO tariffs under ACFTA.

Earlier this year, all the TPP signatories sans the US agreed on a slightly modified version of TPP called CPTPP with a combined GDP (excluding America’s) representing 13% of the global total.

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

Russia Joins Global Trade War – Imposes Tariffs On US Energy, Mining Imports

July 6, 2018

Russia Joins Global Trade War – Imposes Tariffs On US Energy, Mining Imports

Whether this is a coordinated response is unclear – and certainly on a much smaller scale – but Bloomberg reports that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree this morning imposing higher tariffs on U.S. products in retaliation for U.S. duties on metals imports, according to Economy Ministry statement.

Reuters reports that Russia’s additional duties will apply to imports of fiber optics, equipment for road construction, oil and gas industry, metal processing and mining, according to an economy ministry statement.

Russia will impose duties on goods which have Russian-made substitutes, Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin is quoted as saying in the statement.

“The compensation measures will be applied in the form of additional, higher rates of import duties ranging from 25% to 40% of the price of imported goods. Duties will be imposed on some U.S. goods, the analogues of which are produced in Russia. In particular, the measures cover some types of road construction equipment, oil and gas equipment, metalworking machines, rock drilling equipment, and optical fiber,” Minister Maxim Oreshkin said as quoted by the ministry.

“The financial damage inflicted on Russian exporters by the U.S. trade restrictions amounts to $537.6 million. This is the amount of additional duties that Russian suppliers have to pay in the U.S.

The current increase of duties allows us to compensate for only part of the damage amounting to $87.6 million. This is compensation that Russia has the right to recover under the WTO rules,” he said.

Russia will be able to compensate for the remaining part in three years since the introduction of the U.S. duties or after approval of the WTO dispute settlement body if it finds the U.S. restrictions violating the organization’s rules, the ministry said.

Makes you wonder how long Russia will stay with WTO – just like Trump – if this is all the response “you’re allowed.”

Shots fired…

Then They Came for the Globalists

March 23, 2018

Then They Came for the Globalists

Photo by Francisco Osorio | CC BY 2.0

Thank God for the corporate media. If it wasn’t for them, and the ADL, I’d have probably never discovered that I’m a Nazi. Apparently, I’ve been one for quite some time … which is weird, as I had no idea. Here I was, naively believing that I’d been writing about global capitalism and the realignment of political power and ideology in the post-Cold War world, when all along I had really just been persecuting the Jews. I didn’t think I was persecuting the Jews. But such is the insidious nature of thoughtcrime. When you’re a Nazi thought criminal (as I apparently am), it doesn’t matter what you think you’re thinking. What matters is what the global capitalist ruling classes tell you you’re thinking, which it turns out is often a lot more complicated and horrible than what you thought you were thinking.

For example, I’ve been thinking and writing about globalism, which most dictionaries define as “a national policy of treating the whole world as a proper sphere for political influence,” or “the development of socioeconomic networks that transcend national boundaries,” or something like that … which was more or less my understanding of the term. Little did I know that these fake “definitions” had been infiltrated into these dictionaries by discord-sowing Strasserist agents to dupe political satirists like myself into unknowingly spreading anti-Semitism as part of Putin’s Master Plan to destroy the United States of America and establish worldwide Nazi domination.

Fortunately, the lexicography experts in the corporate media and the Anti-Defamation League cleared that up for me earlier this month. According to these experts, words like “globalist” and “globalism” don’t really mean anything. They are simply Nazi code words for “the Jews.” There is actually no such thing as “globalism,” or “global capitalism,” or “transnational capitalism,” or “supranational quasi-governmental entities” like the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank … or, OK, sure, there are such entities, but there is no legitimate reason to discuss them, or write about them, or even casually mention them, and anyone who does is definitely a Nazi.

Now, imagine my horror when I took that in, especially given my repeated references to “the corporatocracy,” “global capitalism,” and “the global capitalist ruling classes” in the essays I’ve been publishing recently. I didn’t want to accept it at first, but the more “authoritative sources” I consulted, the more glaringly obvious my thoughtcrimes became.

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

“It Could Reshape The Global Trading System For Decades” – US Rejects China’s Bid “Market Economy” Status

November 30, 2017

“It Could Reshape The Global Trading System For Decades” – US Rejects China’s Bid “Market Economy” Status

The US has filed a legal submission to the WTO as a third party, intervening in a case that China has brought against the European Union. The US rejects China’s argument that under the 2001 agreement, which confirmed China’s WTO status, it would should automatically be considered a “market economy” fifteen years after joining. The dispute could affect both America’s and China’s future within the international body and, as the New York Times contends, “shape the global trading system for decades to come.” It goes without saying that this will only ratchet up the current tensions between the US and China over trade, which has been a cornerstone of Trump’s rhetoric since he launched his election campaign.

Briefly, the US submission sets out the legal arguments explaining why China should not be designated as a market economy, which would give it preferential treatment under existing WTO rules. China is currently designated a “nonmarket economy” which allows the US, EU and other countries to decide whether China is dumping products at unfair prices under a WTO framework. If they decide that China is dumping, countries can add an extra duty to protect domestic manufacturers.

According to the Financial Times, “the Trump administration has opposed China’s bid for recognition as a “market economy” in the World Trade Organization, citing decades of legal precedent and what it sees as signs the country is moving in the opposite direction under Xi Jinping. The US opposition to China’s efforts to be recognised as a market economy in the WTO came in a legal submission due to be released on Thursday in a case brought by Beijing against the EU. Market economy status would make it more difficult for the US to prove anti-dumping cases against Chinese companies at the WTO.”

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

Trade negotiations are not necessary

June 7, 2016

Trade negotiations are not necessary

From today’s Open Europe news summary:

WTO CHIEF WARNS OF “COMPLEX AND DRAWN-OUT” TRADE NEGOTIATIONS AFTER BREXIT

Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the WTO, has warned that it could take Britain decades to disentangle its trading relations with the EU and negotiate new ties with the rest of the world after Brexit. He told The Times, “It seems that there is a great deal of confusion about the trade implications of a British exit from the EU. I think it’s important to provide the facts. The likelihood is that a British exit would lead to a sequence of complex negotiations – with the EU itself, with the 58 countries that have trade agreements with the EU, and also with all the other members of the WTO. These negotiations would be complex and drawn-out.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday that leaving the EU would cause an immediate shock, then uncertainty, and negatively impact trade. Boris Johnson said the risks of remaining in the EU are “massive”, due to the Eurozone and migrant crises.

Source: The Times The Sun Institute for Fiscal Studies The Daily Telegraph: Hague

No so-called trade negotiations are needed. The idea that a nation must seek the approval and reciprocity in order to lower or completely eliminate barriers to trade is one of the most persistent myths in all of economics. It is akin to believing that one cannot start a diet until everyone else starts a diet. Lowering barriers to trade does not require the cooperation of any other nation. All a nation has to do is unilaterally eliminate all barriers to foreign products. Such an action will lower the cost of living for the citizens of the importing country.

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

Behind Brazil’s ‘Regime Change’

April 4, 2016

Behind Brazil’s ‘Regime Change’

Government “corruption” – trumpeted by international media and exploited by U.S.-funded NGOs – is a favorite weapon for discrediting and removing populist leaders, as is now occurring in Brazil, explains Dan Steinbock.

While international media focuses on Brazil’s mass demonstrations against corruption, efforts behind the façade precipitate regime change, restoration of a pre-Lula order, and a struggle against the BRICS nations. The U.S. feels threatened by an era of multi-polarity, which deeply implicates China, and other emerging economies.

In August 2016, Rio de Janeiro should host South America’s first-ever Olympic games, which were supposed to be its great coming out carnival, even amid campaigns against the Zika virus. Only a few years ago, Brazil exemplified the BRIC dream of rapid growth. Now it is coping with its most severe recession in a century. But there’s worse ahead.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff addressing the United Nations General Assembly. (UN Photo by Marco Castro)

When Brazil’s first working-class President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2003, the poor nation was on the verge of an economic implosion. President Lula’s center-left Workers’ Party (PT) and its coalition won the markets with conservative fiscal policy and lifted millions from poverty, while living standards rose by 60 percent.

Timing was favorable. A year after China joined the World Trade Organization; Lula initiated Brazil’s economic reforms. To modernize, Brazil needed demand for its commodities; to industrialize, China needed commodities. In the subsequent eight years, the U.S. share of Brazil’s exports plunged, while China’s soared. Regionally, Brazil became Latin America’s growth engine. Brazil and China shunned President George W. Bush’s unipolar foreign policy; each supported a more multipolar view of the world.

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

Global Trade (Still) In Freefall: Imports Collapse At Largest Three US Ports

November 15, 2015

Global Trade (Still) In Freefall: Imports Collapse At Largest Three US Ports

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: global growth and trade are grinding to a halt.

Back in September, we flagged comments from WTO chief economist Robert Koopman who warned that after a “burst of globalization”, we are now “at a point of consolidation, maybe retrenchment.”

“It’s almost like the timing belt on the global growth engine is a bit off or the cylinders are not firing as they should,”Koopman concluded.

Trade growth, the WTO observed, has averaged just 3%/year since 2010. That compares rather unfavorably with around 6% a year from 1983 to 2008. “Few see any signs that trade will soon regain its previous pace of growth, which was double the rate of economic expansion before 2008. In 2006, global trade volumes grew 8.5%, compared with a 4% expansion in global GDP,” WSJ pointed out at the time.

Besides being proof that trillions in global QE – not to mention DM central bankers’ descent into NIRP-dom – has been utterly insufficient to provide the global economy with the defibrillator shock it apparently needs, this also suggests that we may have entered a new era, where lackluster global growth and trade are systemic rather than cyclical.

For the latest bit of evidence that global trade is indeed in free fall, look no further than the container terminals at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif. and around New York harbor which handle more than 50% of seaborne freight coming into the US. As it turns out, “peak” season turned out to be anything but. Here’s WSJ:

For the first time in at least a decade, imports fell in both September and October at each of the three busiest U.S. seaports, according to data from trade researcher Zepol Corp. analyzed by The Wall Street Journal. Combined, imports at the container terminals at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif. and around New York harbor, which handle just over half of the goods entering the country by sea, fell by just over 10% between August and October.

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

The TPP, Monsanto, Rockefeller, Trilateral Commission, Brzezinski

May 30, 2015

The TPP, Monsanto, Rockefeller, Trilateral Commission, Brzezinski

All hands on deck for global, economic, corporate dictatorship

There are dots to connect here. They’re real, and they’re spectacular.

Let me begin with a brief exchange from a 1978 interview, conducted by reporter Jeremiah Novak. He was speaking with two American members of the Trilateral Commission (TC), a group founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller and his intellectual flunkey, Zbigniew Brzezinski.

NOVAK: Yes, but why doesn’t President Carter come out with it and tell the American people that [US] economic and political power is being coordinated by a [Trilateral Commission] committee made up of Henry Owen and six others? After all, if [US] policy is being made on a multinational level, the people should know.

RICHARD COOPER [Trilateral Commission member]: President Carter and Secretary of State Vance have constantly alluded to this in their speeches.

KARL KAISER [Trilateral Commission member]: It just hasn’t become an issue.

Source: “Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and Elite Planning for World Management,” ed. by Holly Sklar, 1980. South End Press, Boston. Pages 192-3.

This through-the-looking-glass moment summed up the casual arrogance of Trilateral members: of course US government policy was in the hands of Trilateralists; what else would you expect?

US government policy most certainly covers the area of international trade—and Cooper and Kaiser were foreshadowing blockbuster trade treaties to come: e.g., NAFTA, GATT (which established the World Trade Organization), CAFTA, and now, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is being negotiated in secret among 12 nations responsible for a major amount of world trade and world GDP.

Here are two key Trilateral quotes that reflect this global outlook—by which I mean a world dominated by mega-corporations:

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

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