Tariff Delay, Itlay, Scotland, Singapore, Apple, Spider-Man, AI, HNA
Marc Ross Daily
May 1, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
Marc Ross Daily = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits
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TOP FIVE
✔️ Trump delays steel tariff decision for EU, other U.S. allies
✔️ Italy’s governing options diminish
✔️ Scotland leads world with start of minimum alcohol pricing
✔️ U.S. weighing Singapore, Korean DMZ for Trump-Kim summit
✔️ Apple is aiming to release an AR/VR headset in 2020
GEOECONOMICS
WSJ: Trump delays steel tariff decision for EU, other U.S. allies
Trump will give Canada, Mexico and the European Union another 30-day reprieve from steel and aluminum tariffs.
Reuters: Benefit of Trump tax cuts overshadowed by technology and misplaced policies: Milken conference speakers
The Milken Institute Global Conference — an annual confab for investors, researchers and policymakers — kicked off Monday in Beverly Hills.
NAFTA: Representatives from Canada, Mexico and the United States agreed to meet May 7 in Washington to resume negotiations for a revised North American Free Trade Agreement.
Italy’s governing options diminish: The two-month search for a new government was thrown into disarray as leaders of the anti-establishment Five Star and the center-left Democratic Party said dialogue was impossible, extending the gridlock in the euro area's third-biggest economy.
President Trump will be our greatest ally after Brexit: Freed from ties to the EU, Britain can build a truly special relationship with this US president.
The Times - Jacob Rees-Mogg
Scotland leads world with start of minimum alcohol pricing: AFP reports, Scotland on Tuesday became the world's first country to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol, in what its government expects will be a trailblazing move following years of legal battles. "Scotland is the first country in the world being bold enough and brave enough to introduce minimum unit pricing," Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told AFP.
AFP: Pacific and China on agenda as Macron arrives in Australia
China woos another Taiwan partner, diluting island’s support: WSJ reports, China established formal relations with the Dominican Republic, peeling away another of Taiwan’s dwindling diplomatic partners as Beijing tries to pressure Taipei to accept Chinese terms for political engagement.
Reuters: Taiwan says China dangled $3 billion to grab ally Dominican Republic
2022: The year when China is projected to surpass the U.S. as the largest air travel market, according to a International Air Transport Association forecast.
White House considers restricting Chinese researchers over espionage fears: NYT reports, he Trump administration, concerned about China’s growing technological prowess, is considering strict measures to block Chinese citizens from performing sensitive research at American universities and research institutes over fears they may be acquiring intellectual secrets, according to people familiar with the deliberations. The White House is discussing whether to limit the access of Chinese citizens to the United States, including restricting certain types of visas available to them and greatly expanding rules pertaining to Chinese researchers who work on projects with military or intelligence value at American companies and universities. https://nyti.ms/2FuqbI5
Reuters: U.S. Treasury chief: 'Cautiously optimistic' on China trade talks
Bloomberg - Michael Schuman OpEd: In trade talks, China is too clever by half: As is often the case in China, how things appear on the surface is not actually how they are. That’s especially true with China’s recent market reforms. Beijing isn’t groveling before a tariff-rattling Washington, nor honestly addressing the frustrations of international CEOs. That’s just not how China works. https://bloom.bg/2rcIUCB
Cui's puzzlement: 'Is America still there?': CD reports, Chinese ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai is puzzled about a country where he has lived and worked for 11 years. "Is the America I used to know -- an open, confident, optimistic America -- still there?" he asked in a speech at Harvard University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies on April 17. What perplexes Cui, Beijing's longest-serving ambassador to the US, where he was once a student and UN employee, perhaps also is confounding many others, who are either coming to visit, seeking to study or doing business in the country.
In Beijing they ask, who lost America?!?
U.S. weighing Singapore, Korean DMZ for Trump-Kim summit: WSJ reports, Trump said he was considering Singapore and the demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula as the site for his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
AMERICAN POLITICS
NBC News: Kelly thinks he's saving U.S. from disaster, calls Trump 'idiot,' say White House staffers
"Some current and former officials said they expect Kelly to leave by July, and that Trump and Kelly seem to have tired of each other."
LAT: Chief of Staff John Kelly calls ‘BS' on report he called Trump an idiot
Mueller outlined over 40 questions for Trump in potentialinterview: WSJ reports, special counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year outlined for President Trump’s legal team more than 40 questions he planned to ask as part of his investigation into Trump associates’ ties to Russia.
The House and Senate are out this week.
NYT: Trump’s role in midterm elections roils Republicans
"Congressional and party leaders and even some Trump aides are concerned that the president’s boundless self-assurance about politics will cause him to ignore or undermine their midterm strategy. In battleground states like Arizona, Florida and Nevada, Trump’s proclivity to be a loose cannon could endanger the Republican incumbents and challengers who are already facing ferocious Democratic headwinds."
WP: Democrats were looking at suburban districts. Now they’re glancing toward rural ones too.
"Democrats suggesting that the 2018 field is dramatically larger than anyone could have guessed last year, including in some more rural spots that they once thought of ceding to Republicans."
The lobbying firm CGCN Group emails clients: “Republicans are headed for a tough midterm election … It’s normal that sitting presidents lose many seats in midterm elections … Democratic voters continue to express significantly more interest in the upcoming midterms … enthusiasm gap compounded by the retirements of 46 House Republicans.”
Pompeo dives into NATO diplomacy as allies confront Russia: AP reports, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rebuked Russia on Friday for what he called aggression beyond its borders, and vowed to restore relevance to a badly demoralized State Department in his new role as the top American diplomat.
Today: Trump presents the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the U.S. Military Academy Football Team.
Trump’s China tariffs risk costing U.S. jobs, new study shows: Bloomberg reports, the tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports that Trump has proposed, plus promised retaliatory duties by China, would reduce U.S. gross domestic product by $2.9 billion and cost almost 134,000 U.S. jobs, according to a study commissioned by the Consumer Technology Association and the National Retail Federation, which oppose the tariffs. That includes more than 67,000 jobs in agriculture.
ENTERPRISE
Reuters: Disney to create live sports, entertainment shows for Twitter
Apple is aiming to release an AR/VR headset in 2020.
Huawei probe risks bigger shock to smartphone industry: Nikei reports, a ban similar to ZTE's would choke off supplies to the world's third-ranked vendor
Tesla is burning through more than $6,500 a minute.
Tesla has over 300 Chinese startups hot on its tail.
Toyota pushes forward launch of electric vehicle in China.
Reuters: China's HNA drops bid to buy Scaramucci's SkyBridge due to regulatory hold-up
Royal Bank of Scotland is to cut around 792 jobs and shutter 162 branches following a review of its branch network in England and Wales.
TRENDS
How much are “free” digital products worth to you? According to surveys of what consumers would have to get to give up various online services by Erik Brynjolfsson, Felix Eggers and Avinash Gannamaneni. Consumers would have to be paid $17,530 per year to give up Internet search, $8,414 for email, $3,648 for maps, $322 for social media and $155 for messaging. The fact they pay nothing suggests they reap substantial “consumer surplus” from these services that does not show up in measured gross domestic product. Of course, consumers may get even more surplus from more mundane non-digital products. How much would you have to be paid to give up indoor plumbing?
The AI arms race: China and US compete to dominate big data: Algorithms trained on mountains of Chinese data may soon be making decisions that deeply affect the lives of people in the US. Beijing plans to be the world leader in the technology by 2030. The contest will come down to who can better manipulate the data. https://on.ft.com/2KtNbdW
Big Data > Big Oil
The world's wealthiest companies are powerhouse data collectors and data users.
The bullshit job phenomenon — are you in one? More than a million people have read David Graeber’s essay arguing that many jobs are pointless. Now he’s expanded his theory into a book. http://bit.ly/2I3Ofqp
"A poll revealed that 37 percent of British workers believe that their job makes no meaningful contribution to the world"
Here's the original essay: On the phenomenon of bullshit jobs: A work rant http://bit.ly/2w52nLg
CULTURE
The spy who came home: Why an expert in counterterrorism became a beat cop. http://bit.ly/2FsJWzL
RIP: Larry Harvey, the founder of the Burning Man festival, has died at the age of 70 after suffering a stroke earlier this month. Harvey kicked off the festival in 1986, when he and about a dozen others burned a wooden man on a San Francisco beach.
SOTD
Friendly Fires - Jump In The Pool http://bit.ly/2jmAo0z
SPORT
A week inside a soccer club when the money runs out: NYT reports, every year, through careless management or reckless ambition, a handful of soccer clubs drift uncomfortably close to collapse. In February, Denmark’s Lyngby B.K. came closer than most. https://nyti.ms/2JKO1lo
AFP: Rangers sack Murty as Gerrard speculation swirls
Champions League - Semi-Finals:
Today: Real Madrid v Bayern (Aggregate 2-1)
Wednesday: Roma v Liverpool (Aggregate 2-5)