Tag: The United States (US)

US wants peaceful resolution of India-China border tensions: State Department spokesperson to CNBC-TV18

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Hours after the Indian Army declared that it had lost 20 lives in clashes with Chinese forces, the United States has said it is closely following the situation at the Line of Actual Control. “Both India and China have expressed a desire to de-escalate, and we support a peaceful resolution of the current situation,” a State Department spokesperson told CNBC-TV18.

According to the Indian Army, violent clashes took place between Indian and Chinese troops on the intervening night of June 15 and June 16 during the de-escalation process in Galwan region of eastern Ladakh.

The US has condoled the loss of lives in the clashes. A senior administration official told CNBC-TV18, “We have seen the Indian Army statement that 20 Indian soldiers died as a result of today’s confrontation. We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the families of those soldiers who perished”.

The US and India have been in close touch since May 5 when Indian and Chinese troops clashed in eastern Ladakh. Since then, China has substantially increased deployment along the Line of Actual Control. President Donald Trump has also offered to mediate between India and China. Indian officials have denied seeking any intervention from the US government and have emphasized that they would like to take up the matter with China directly.

Also Read: India-China border row: Timeline of the events leading up to the violent clash

US and Indian officials are in close touch over the current situation in the Galwan region but did not comment on deliberations in the last 24 hours. “During their phone call on June 2, 2020, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi discussed the situation on the India-China border,” said a senior US administration official.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Virginia officer charged in use of stun gun on black man

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A white Virginia police officer was charged with assault and battery in connection with the use of a stun gun on a black man, authorities announced.

Fairfax County Police officer Tyler Timberlake arrived on scene and fired his stun gun at the man after other officers had spent several minutes trying to persuade him to get into an ambulance to go to a detox center on Friday, according to body camera video shown at a news conference late Saturday.

Timberlake is seen striking the man with a stun gun and then getting on top of him, along with the officer wearing the body camera. Once Timberlake is on top of the man, he presses the stun gun into the back of his neck and fires again.

“Together as a community, through our transparency, we will heal as a community,” Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said. This is behavior we shall not tolerate.

Roessler said someone had called police about a man walking down a street shouting that he needed oxygen. On the video, the man shot with the stun gun repeatedly says your body needs oxygen and talking in gibberish.

The officer who responded before Timberlake had tried to deescalate the situation, the police chief said, adding that it’s unclear why Timberlake used his stun gun.

The man was treated at a hospital and subsequently released, Roessler said.

Fairfax County Police are in the midst of a program to outfit their officers with body-worn cameras to improve transparency and community relations.

Roessler said at the news conference late Saturday night that Timberlake deployed force in violation of the department’s use of force policies and ignored the sanctity of human life.

Our nation is righteously angry at the law enforcement profession, as am I, Roessler said, in a reference to protests against police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25.

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who was elected last year on a criminal justice reform agenda, also seemingly referenced the protests in a statement announcing the three counts of assault and battery, which could yield a 36-month sentence for Timberlake if convicted, news outlets reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer to comment on his behalf.

“I can assure you that I am personally following this case closely to ensure a thorough prosecution and outcome, especially during these trying times,” Descano said.

Also Sunday, police in neighboring Falls Church said they are seeking information about a confrontation between two white officers and an African American man who was pepper sprayed after police say they received calls from two women who say they felt threatened by him.

The confrontation, which did not lead to an arrest, occurred near the site of a Black Lives Matter rally Sunday afternoon in the city.

A video posted on social media shows two officers grabbing the man as he attempts to get in a car.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

China may pass bill to crack down on Hong Kong opposition

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China’s legislature will take over long-stalled efforts to enact national security legislation in Hong Kong, a move that could limit opposition activity in the semi-autonomous territory and signals the central government’s determination to take greater control after months of pro-democracy protests last year.

The announcement drew sharp criticism from the US, which has threatened to withdraw preferential trade status for Hong Kong, and seems likely to prompt more protests in the short run.

The National People’s Congress, which starts a one-week annual session Friday, will deliberate a bill on “establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security,” spokesman Zhang Yesui said at a late-night news conference previewing the meeting.

Such a move has long been under consideration and was hastened by the months of anti-government protests last year in the former British colony that was returned to China rule in 1997.

Hong Kong’s government is bound by Article 23 of the Basic Law, its constitution, to enact laws to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition or subversion against China. It proposed legislation to do so in 2003, but withdrew it after hundreds of thousands of people came out to protest.

Beijing has increasingly pushed for measures such as punishment for disrespecting the Chinese national flag and anthem and increased pro-China patriotic-themed education in schools, but opposition in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council makes it unlikely a national security bill could pass at the local level.

Now, China appears to be sidestepping Hong Kong’s lawmaking body to enact the legislation. Zhang said that the new measures are required by the “new situation and demands” and that action at the national level is “entirely necessary.”

Also Read: China engaged in provocative, coercive military activities with neighbours, including India: White House report

Dennis Kwok, an opposition lawmaker in the city, called the move the end of Hong Kong and the “one country, two-systems” framework under which it is part of China but has its own legislature and judicial system.

“Make no mistake about it, that Beijing, the Central People’s Government, has completely breached its promise to the Hong Kong people, a promise that was enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and the Basic Law,” he said.

In Washington, where President Donald Trump and his top national security officials have been increasingly critical of China for both its response to the coronavirus pandemic and actions in Hong Kong, the State Department said such a move would “undermine the PRC’s commitments and obligations in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.”

“Any effort to impose national security legislation that does not reflect the will of the people of Hong Kong would be highly destabilizing, and would be met with strong condemnation from the United States and the international community,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. She added that attempts to limit human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong would affect “the United States’ current treatment of Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper said a draft resolution would be brought before the National People’s Congress on Friday afternoon and voted on at the end of its session on May 28. The congress’ standing committee that handles most actual legislation will then consider the details of the measure, the newspaper said.

A vote at the NPC will add to concerns in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp that Beijing is chipping away at the territory’s rights to assembly and free speech that greatly exceed those permitted by the ruling Communist Party in mainland China.

Also Read: White House report blasts Chinese ‘malign activities’

The decision to circumvent Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to enact the security legislation is an “unprecedented and highly controversial intervention,” Johnny Patterson, director of the non-governmental organization Hong Kong Watch, said in a statement.

Patterson questioned whether charities and groups such as his own and Amnesty International could be outlawed as subversive under the legislation.

“A broad-brush interpretation of this law would signal the end of Hong Kong as we know it,” Patterson said.

The annual session of the congress is getting underway after a two-month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thursday saw the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body. That will be followed Friday by the start of the 3,000-member NPC at which Premier Li Keqiang will deliver a keynote speech outlining economic and social goals for the year.

The holding of the “two sessions,” as the annual meetings are known, is a further sign of what the party says is its success in bringing the outbreak under control, although clusters of cases are still popping up in some parts of the country.

Members of the Consultative Conference will “tell the world about how China, as a responsible major country, has taken firm action and contributed to international cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic,” Wang Yang, the chairman of the body, said in a report to the opening session.

Wang’s comments were in the prepared text distributed to journalists, although he skipped over them in his delivery, apparently to save time.

Rank-and-file members wore masks in the vast auditorium inside the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing. Other top officials, including Wang, Li and President Xi Jinping, did not.

This year’s meeting of the two bodies is being shortened to one week from the usual two as part of virus-control measures. Media access has been largely reduced and only a limited number of reporters, diplomats and observers were permitted into the meeting hall.

Backed by massive state propaganda support, Xi has received plaudits at home for having contained the virus, even while the U.S. and others question China’s handling of the initial outbreak.

The Chinese public is also largely seen as backing Xi’s tough approach to foreign policy challenges, including criticism from the U.S., Australia and others.

Abroad, however, that policy has further bolstered concerns about China’s intentions. That may ultimately add to Xi’s difficulties in reviving economic growth and jobs at a time when global markets are partly shut and skepticism toward China runs high.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

China engaged in provocative, coercive military activities with neighbours, including India: White House report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China is engaged in provocative and coercive military and paramilitary activities with neighbouring countries including India, the White House said on Thursday, a day after a top American diplomat backed India’s move to strongly resist Chinese aggression into its territory.

Beijing contradicts its rhetoric and flouts its commitments to its neighbours by engaging in provocative and coercive military and paramilitary activities in the Yellow Sea, the East and South China Seas, the Taiwan Strait, and Sino-Indian border areas, the White House said in a report.

The report, United States Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China , submitted to the Congress was required by the National Defense Authorization Act 2019, which mandated a whole-of-government strategy with respect to China.

“As China has grown in strength, so has the willingness and capacity of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to employ intimidation and coercion in its attempts to eliminate perceived threats to its interests and advance its strategic objectives globally, the report stated.

“Beijing’s actions belie Chinese leaders’ proclamations that they oppose the threat or use of force, do not intervene in other countries’ internal affairs, or are committed to resolving disputes through peaceful dialogue, it said.

A day earlier a top Trump Administration diplomat backed India’s move to strongly push back Chinese aggression into its territory by saying that the latter’s pattern of constant attempt to shift the status quo has to be resisted.

“If you look to the South China Sea, there’s a method here to Chinese operation. It is that constant aggression, the constant attempt to shift the norms, to shift what is the status quo. That has to be resisted, whether it’s in the South China sea where we’ve done a group sail with India, or whether it’s in India’s own backyard, both, on land as well as in the Indian ocean, Alice Wells, the outgoing Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, told a Washington DC-based think tank.

For anyone is under any illusions about that Chinese aggression was only rhetorical and I think they need to speak to India where India, on a weekly, monthly, but certainly a very regular basis, has to experience the pinpricks of a Chinese military, Wells said.

Also Read: White House report blasts Chinese ‘malign activities’

It is a reminder of what’s at stake in building a world order that and sustaining a world order that respects, sovereignty, territorial integrity, as well as respects the rules of international trade, that have allowed again so many hundreds of millions to be lifted out of poverty, she said.

China attempts to dominate the global information and communications technology industry through unfair practices is reflected in discriminatory regulations like the National Cyber Security Law, which requires companies to comply with Chinese data localization measures that enable CCP access to foreign data, it said.

Prevailing in strategic competition with China requires cooperative engagement with multiple stakeholders, and the administration is committed to building partnerships to United States Strategic Approach to protect their shared interests and values.

The United States, the White House said, is also building cooperative partnerships and developing positive alternatives with foreign allies, partners, and international organizations to support the shared principles of a free and open order.

According to the White House, the United States is working in concert with mutually aligned visions and approaches such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, Japan’s free and open Indo-Pacific vision, India’s Security and Growth for All in the Region policy, Australia’s Indo-Pacific concept, the Republic of Korea’s New Southern Policy, and Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy.

Guided by a return to principled realism, the United States is responding to the CCP’s direct challenge by acknowledging that we are in a strategic competition and protecting our interests appropriately, the White House said.

House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Mac Thornberry said that the Administration’s report is a good first start to articulating a whole of government approach to China.

Only by focusing on all elements of national power can we effectively compete with China and deter China’s malign activity in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world. The strategy also reinforces the need to invest in the military elements of that strategy, as well as increased engagement with our allies and partners, he said.

Congressman Mike Rogers, House Homeland Security Committee ranking member said that the Chinese Communist Party represents an existential threat to democratic values across the globe.

Their totalitarian rule crushes human rights, undermines democratic institutions, and threatens our way of life, he said. China’s policy of targeting critical infrastructure, exploiting America’s world-class educational institutions, and state-sponsored intellectual property theft will continue to present a challenge that the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and other federal agencies will combat for the foreseeable future, Rogers added.

In another statement, Congressman Michael McCaul, Republican Leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the White House for recognizing the need to return to principled realism’ with respect to CCP.

The CCP has always framed its relationship with the United States as a great power competition, and we can no longer deny this reality. With this strategic approach, the Trump Administration is setting out to reverse decades of complacency towards the CCP and to better secure American leadership on the world stage, Rogers said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US will be world’s premier pharmacy drug store and medical manufacturer: Trump

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The COVID-19 pandemic has proven once and for all that to be a strong nation, America must be a manufacturing nation, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday declaring the goal of making his country the world’s premier pharmacy, drug store, and medical manufacturer.

“The global pandemic has proven once and for all that to be a strong nation, America must be a manufacturing nation…. Today, I’m declaring a simple but vital national goal. The United States will be the world’s premier pharmacy, drug store, and medical manufacturer. We are bringing our medicines back, he said in Michigan.

The United States, he said, must produce critical equipment, supplies, pharmaceuticals, technologies for itself. We cannot rely on foreign nations to take care of us, especially in times of difficulty, he said.

In previous decades, he alleged, politicians shipped away jobs, outsourced supply chains and offshored industries.

They sent them abroad and we’re bringing them back and we’ve been doing that long before this crisis. We’re bringing them back. That’s why we have so many plants being built all over the United States that make a beautiful product called cars. Bringing them back. You see it, he said.

In his speech, Trump spoke on a number of political topics only tangentially or not at all related to the coronavirus — manufacturing, trade, his ‘Buy American’ initiative, “America First” mantra and, while asking union members why they continue to support Democrats.

Observing that he will continue to fight for US autoworkers as it rebuilds the economic strength, Trump said that his strategy is for a phased and responsible reopening that protects high-risk American lives from the virus while allowing those at lower risk, such as young healthy people.

A permanent lockdown is not a strategy for a healthy state, for a healthy country. Our country wasn’t meant to be shut down. We did the right thing, but now it’s time to open it up. A never-ending lockdown would invite a public health calamity, Trump said.

To protect the health of our people, we must have a functioning economy. And as I said, and I’ll say it a hundred times, we’re going to have an incredible near next year right at the beginning. Even our fourth quarter is going to be very good. There’s a tremendous pent-up demand, and that includes for your cars, he said.

Also Read: US secures 300 million doses of potential AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Americans who need and want to return to work should not be vilified. They should be supported, he asserted.

Unlike many politicians and journalists, for those who are not living with their own two hands, working remotely is just not an option. You don’t have the option of doing that. Our plan emphasizes safety and protection for returning employees, he said.

Trump commended Ford along with General Motors, General Electric, Fiat Chrysler, and so many other companies, a lot of them in the Michigan area, for blazing a trail to safely restart America’s economic engines.

You are demonstrating that we can open our country while taking precautions like social distancing, daily medical screenings, strict hygiene. You can get tremendous numbers of very quick temperature checks. Whoever heard the aim a camera right there in two seconds later they tell your temperature more accurately than the old days when you put it under your tongue for two and a half minutes. This is a little better. But you get temperature checks, he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

April jobs data to show epic losses and soaring unemployment in the US

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The economic catastrophe caused by the viral outbreak likely sent the US unemployment rate in April to its highest level since the Great Depression and caused a record-shattering loss of jobs.

With the economy paralyzed by business closures, the unemployment rate likely jumped to at least 16 percent — from just 4.4 percent in March — and employers cut a stunning 21 million or more jobs in April, economists have forecast, according to data provider FactSet. If so, it would mean that nearly all the job growth in the 11 years since the Great Recession had vanished in a single month.

Yet even those breathtaking figures won’t fully capture the magnitude of the damage the coronavirus has inflicted on the job market.

Many people still employed have had their hours reduced. Others have suffered pay cuts. Some who’ve lost jobs won’t have been able to look for work amid widespread shutdowns and won’t even be counted as unemployed. A broader measure — the proportion of adults with jobs — could plunge to a record low.

“What we’re talking about here is pretty stunning,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. “The shock is unique because the cause is unique. It’s such a different animal from anything that we’ve ever seen.”

The government will issue the April jobs report on Friday morning. On Thursday, it will release the latest weekly report on applications for unemployment benefits. It will likely show that about 3.5 million people sought jobless aid last week. That would bring the total number of layoffs to nearly 34 million since the shutdowns began seven weeks ago.

That figure is much larger than the expected April job loss because the two are measured differently: The government calculates job losses by surveying businesses and households. It’s a net figure that also counts the hiring that some companies, like Amazon and many grocery stores, have done despite the widespread layoffs. By contrast, the total jobless claims is a cumulative figure that includes aid applications that began in March.

Still, the job loss for April may be much larger than expected, with most economists acknowledging that their usual models might not work as well in a collapsing job market. Swonk notes that several million unauthorized immigrants who weren’t able to file for unemployment benefits were nevertheless probably laid off last month. Those jobs losses would be counted, though, in the government’s surveys. Swonk estimates that April’s job loss could total as high as 34 million.

Companies are still cutting jobs in the midst of a severe downturn, with the economy possibly shrinking at an unheard-of 40 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. GE Aviation said it is cutting up to 13,000 jobs. Uber will shed 3,700 positions.

Amy Egert, a dental hygienist in Severn, Maryland, was laid off in mid-March. She was told she could return a month later, but she’s still waiting and it’s unclear when she will able to go back. She monitors Maryland statistics on coronavirus cases in hopes that the figures will show enough of a downward trend for her to work again.

“As I watch the numbers, it’s like OK, are we going to make it back by the end of May?” Egert asked. “Is it going to be the first of June? Is it going to be mid-June?”

She is receiving the extra USD 600 in unemployment included in the government’s relief package but still wants to return.

“I’ve got diabetics out there that haven’t had their teeth cleaned,” Egert said. “They come every four months, and I’m thinking they’re going to be a mess.”

Even as the unemployment rate reaches dizzying heights, it will likely be held down by several factors. The Labor Department counts people as unemployed only if they’re actively searching for work. Yet many laid-off workers may be discouraged from looking for a new job given that so many non-essential businesses are closed. Others may stay home to protect their health. Still others may feel they have to stay with children who are home from school.

In addition, some workers on temporary layoff might be incorrectly classified as what the government calls “employed, but absent from work.” This can happen if employees assume they will return to their jobs once their employer reopens. In March, the Labor Department said that such misclassification by its survey takers — who have never before dealt with pandemic-related shutdowns — lowered the unemployment rate by a full percentage point.

Jason Faberman, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, says that including those workers, as well as millions who still have jobs but who have been reduced to part-time status, could raise a broader gauge of what’s called under-employment to 25 percent or higher on Friday.

Alexander Bick and Adam Blandin, economists at Arizona State University and Virginia Commonwealth University, respectively, have conducted two surveys since the virus outbreak began that mirror the government’s monthly survey that it uses to calculate the unemployment rate. They conclude that the proportion of American adults in their prime working years — 25 through 54 — who have jobs, fell to just 60.4 percent in April, the lowest on record.

They also noted that millions of Americans have had their hours cut in April.

“We have never had such low hours” worked, on average, for each employed person, Bick said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US, UK launch trade talks, pledge quick deal as virus ravages global economy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The United States and Britain launched formal negotiations on a free trade agreement on Tuesday, vowing to work quickly to seal a deal that could counter the massive drag of the coronavirus pandemic on trade flows and the two allies’ economies.

The talks, to be conducted virtually, will involve over 300 US and UK staff and officials in nearly 30 negotiating groups, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and UK trade minister Liz Truss said in a joint statement.

“We will undertake negotiations at an accelerated pace and have committed the resources necessary to progress at a fast pace,” they said.

“A Free Trade Agreement would contribute to the long-term health of our economies, which is vitally important as we recover from the challenges posed by COVID-19,” the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The first round of talks began as new US data showed a record drop in US exports and a contraction in the vast US service sector for the first time in over a decade.

It is Washington’s first major new trade negotiation in 2020. London has also been working out trade terms with the European Union following its exit from the bloc in January.

London’s goal was to expeditiously complete both negotiations and there could be a positive dynamic between them, even though they are being headed by different lead negotiators, one UK official told journalists in a background briefing.

British Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters it was “a very good sign of confidence in economic recovery” that the two countries were moving ahead with the talks.

Lighthizer, who has named the UK trade talks one of his top priorities for 2020, published objectives more than a year ago that sought full access for US agricultural products and reduced tariffs for US manufactured goods.

Stung by shortages of medical equipment and drugs during the pandemic, both countries are seeking to shift some supply chains away from China.

Lighthizer said in remarks released later that the pandemic “has shown that depending purely on cheap imports for strategic products can make us vulnerable in times of crisis” and that the United States needs a healthy manufacturing base and thriving farmers.

But they are at odds over tariffs, including steel and aluminum duties imposed by Washington in 2018.

Asked about President Donald Trump’s threat to impose more tariffs on China over its handling of the outbreak, Pierce said, “In general terms, tariffs are not particularly conducive to free trade, and we the Brits believe very much in free trade. It’s in our history, it’s in our DNA. The dispute between the US and China is for them to resolve.”

Britain is also pushing the United States and the EU to resolve a dispute over aircraft subsidies that has resulted in tit-for-tat tariffs, including on Scotch whiskey.

Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, another big critic of tariffs, said he hopes a strong agreement with the UK lays the groundwork for an improved trade deal with the EU, which has so far resisted US demands for increased agriculture access.

“If we get a good deal with the UK on agriculture, it’s going to embarrass Europe,” Grassley told reporters on a conference call.

Agriculture is expected to be among the thorniest issues in the talks, given strong British opposition to US genetically modified crops and antibacterial treatments for poultry. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to drive a “hard bargain” and Truss has said that Britain would not diminish its food safety standards.

Britain also will not change its approach to drug pricing or Britain’s National Health Service, the UK official said.

Trade in goods between the United States and United Kingdom was valued at USD 127.1 billion in 2018, with the two sides roughly in balance, while the services trade topped USD 13USD .8 billion. Britain is the seventh-largest US goods trading partner, after South Korea, according to the US Census Bureau.

Ted Bromund, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, said one area ripe for tariff reduction was automotive trade, Britain’s largest export sector to the United States. US passenger car tariffs are 2.5 percent, with pickup truck tariffs at 25 percent, while Britain maintains a 10 percent car tariff.

Tuesday’s opening plenary will be followed by virtual meetings from May 6 to 15. The UK official said while it was unusual to negotiate on all areas at once, the two sides were keen to move forward quickly.

Further rounds will take place approximately every six weeks and will be carried out remotely until it is safe to travel, the UK embassy said. There was no specific deadline for completing the talks, the official said.

Grassley said he thought the talks will be more difficult via videoconference.

“It seems to me it’s not quite as good as sitting across the table from them,” he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow