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Politics : World Affairs Discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (2936)	12/11/2003 3:32:39 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3959

Re: "I can't think of anything dumber or more insulting or more inviting to the disdain of countries and potential failure of our policy," Kerry said. Wolfowitz's decision is certain to further test strained U.S. relations with France and Germany. Well, contrary to popular opinion, I see the whole incident as yet another, clumsy attempt by the US administration to mend fences with "Ol' Europe".... That rebuilding contract thing is a trial balloon of sorts aimed at the Atlanticist corporate quarter of Europe. The Judeocons' ploy is to get some EU tycoons to lobby their governments into a compromise with the US and, ultimately, sharing the burden in Iraq. But let's face it: the Iraqi market is just... peanuts for the EU powerhouse! I mean, when balanced against the geopolitical cost... The whole Iraqi crisis is fundamentally a POLITICAL issue and the US deludes itself as it tries to bribe miffed EU countries back into the game. Gus

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (2936)	12/11/2003 4:13:55 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 3959

Footnote re: ...the Bush administration is excluding France and Germany, which opposed the invasion of Iraq, from bidding on $18.6 billion in U.S.-funded reconstruction projects in the war-torn country. Just balance that figure against Germany's exports to China: ECONOMIC MONITOR: CHINA A Yawning Chasm It's more than just cheap labour on the mainland that has caused the United States' trade deficit with China By David Murphy Issue cover-dated December 18, 2003 Mind the gap. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United States from December 7-10 highlighted tensions around Washington's huge trade deficit with Beijing, which expected to balloon to $130 billion this year. By contrast Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was all smiles when he swung through China with the leaders of German industry in tow in early December. Germany saw its exports to China rise over 40% in the first nine months of the year to $16 billion and Berlin had a relatively modest deficit of just over $2 billion over the same period. Schroeder was so happy with China, where German investment is also rising sharply, that he promised to work towards lifting a European Union arms embargo imposed on the country after troops massacred civilians in Beijing in June 1989. Even arch-rival Japan's deficit with China--$15 billion in the year to October--is a mere fissure next to the yawning chasm between the U.S. and China. And, as its economy goes into top gear, China is sucking in imports from most of its nearby neighbours, many of whom run trade surpluses. Why is the U.S. deficit so large? For sure, the deficit is principally evidence of the migration of traditional U.S. suppliers to China. Some 61% of China's exports to the U.S. have their origin in another country as raw materials or components, says a Chinese trade official. They are shipped to China--typically from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan or Southeast Asia--for processing or assembly and then exported to the U.S. [...] feer.com