Serious Germany friend 1B1R China and unfread USA, 李克强 & Ang Moh Trump BOTH in Berlin

[Ang4MohTrump]

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/30/trump-merkel-says-germany-is-very-bad-for-the-us.html

Trump fires back at Merkel, says Germany is 'very bad' for the US

Trump responds to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's criticism.
He says Germany's large trade surplus with the U.S. and its low contributions to NATO are "very bad."

Silvia Amaro | @Silvia_Amaro
Tuesday, 30 May 2017 | 7:09 AM ETCNBC.com
Trump fires back at Merkel, says Germany is 'very bad' for the US
Trump fires back at Merkel, says Germany is 'very bad' for the US
Tuesday, 30 May 2017 | 9:05 AM ET | 00:45

President Donald Trump has criticized Germany once again for its large trade surplus with the U.S. and its low contributions to NATO, saying this attitude is "very bad" for the United States.

We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change

The comments made on Twitter take current tensions in U.S.-German relations a notch higher.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said at an election rally on Sunday that Germany and the European Union can no longer rely on the United States.

"The times in which we could completely depend on others are, to a certain extent, over," she told the rally in Munich.

"I've experienced that in the last few days. We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands," she said. Her comments came as she steps up her campaign in the September federal election.

The image of friendly relations between Germany and the U.S. seems distant since Trump took office. His administration has previously said that Germany's trade surplus is a result of the country's manipulation of the euro.

Germany fought back arguing that it doesn't have powers to manipulate the euro and the only reason consumers opt for its products is because they are more competitive.

Data released last February by the German Federal Statistics Office showed that Germany's trade surplus rose to 252.9 billion euros ($270.05 billion) in 2016, surpassing the previous high of 244.3 billion euros in 2015. If it were a single trade partner, Germany would be the fifth largest in total trade flows with the U.S. But it runs the third largest trade surplus, after China and Japan.

Meanwhile, contributions to the defense alliance NATO has emerged as another problem between Berlin and Washington. Trump has repeatedly asked NATO allies to step up their contributions. At the moment, only 5 of the 28 members fulfill the target of paying at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.

According to NATO data, Germany is currently spending 1.2 percent of its GDP on NATO. The U.S. spends 3.6 percent.

At a summit last week, Germany, like other NATO members, vowed to present an action plan on how it will increase defense spending. At the time, Trump told his allies they were being unfair toward U.S. taxpayers.

—Additional reporting by CNBC's John W. Schoen.

Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
WATCH: Trump may be seriously damaging the U.S. relationship with Germany, analysts say

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-china-idUSKBN18S4CC


Germany and China vow to deepen ties amid Trump concerns

Germany and China vowed on Thursday to expand their partnership and pledged to continue fighting climate change, sending a signal to Washington hours before U.S. President Donald Trump announces if he will quit a global climate deal.

Berlin was the first stop in Europe for Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, amid growing concern in Germany over some of Trump's policies, especially on climate change and protectionism. He was due to head later for Brussels.

"China has become a more important and strategic partner," Merkel said at a news conference with Li, pointing to political, economic, social and cultural ties.

"We are living in times of global uncertainty and see our responsibility to expand our partnership in all the different areas and to push for a world order based on law," she said.

The two held wide-ranging talks on issues from trade, civil rights, the North Korea crisis and climate change and a multitude of business deals were signed.

"We are both ready to contribute to stability in the world,"

Li said.

As the world awaits Trump's decision on climate change after he denounced the Paris pact in his 2016 presidential campaign, Li said China was committed to tackling the issue, both via the Paris Agreement and by setting national targets.

"China will stand by its responsibilities on climate change," he told reporters in Berlin.

European and Canadian officials have warned Trump that the U.S. risks ceding global leadership on combating climate change to China, if it withdraws from the Paris accord.

Merkel vented her frustration with Trump on Sunday after what she described as unsatisfactory talks of G7 leaders, saying Germany and Europe could no longer totally rely on traditional allies. Since then she has hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Li.

ECONOMIC GIANTS

Merkel said she wanted quick progress on an EU-China investment deal and that this would be a precondition to any free trade talks, a move Li said would be timely.

With bilateral trade of 170 billion euros last year, China was Germany's most important trading partner, said Merkel.

"These are impressive figures and we both said we want to extend this," said Merkel, adding the signing of business agreements pointed to future cooperation in cars, aviation technology, recycling and artificial intelligence.

Among the deals signed was one between Daimler and joint venture partner BAIC Motor Corporation on upgrading a Mercedes-Benz factory in Beijing for electric cars.

Li said he believed they two had found a solution on the issue of Chinese quotas for electric cars after a lengthy discussion.

However, thorny issues remain between the two exporting nations, with Merkel saying she had pressed China to open up its market more to German firms who want a level playing field.

"We need fair market access ... and it's very important to protect intellectual property and ensure trade and business secrets are kept and of course in times of cyber possibilities that's not always easy," said Merkel at a business event later.

Merkel also tackled civil rights, saying she and Li had resolved the issue of German political foundations working in China which she said were crucial for a stronger civil society.

"We believe our political foundations make an important contribution and I am pleased that all our bureaus in China can be registered and hope they can resume work," she said.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Emma Thomasson, Andreas Rinke and Michelle Martin; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

 

[Ang4MohTrump]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...b30fdc-4552-11e7-8de1-cec59a9bf4b1_story.html

Germans perplexed as Trump escalates feud

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had a warm meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday that stood in sharp contrast to her growing split with President Trump. (Filip Singer/European Pressphoto Agency)
By Michael Birnbaum and Rick Noack May 30

LONDON — President Trump escalated his feud with Berlin on Tuesday, even as Germany’s leader and Trump’s own spokesman tried to defuse the conflict, which has sent tremors through Washington’s core postwar alliances.

Before the presidential tweets began flying early Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed the importance of Germany’s ties to the United States. But she pointedly did not back down from earlier comments about Europe’s need to rely on itself rather than its friends.

The dispute started as Trump sped through meetings in Europe last week and appeared to leave a trail of bruises in his wake. It heated up after Merkel did little over the weekend to hide her disappointment with Trump’s refusal to commit Washington to the climate change treaty. And it was further inflamed Tuesday at 6:40 a.m. Washington time when Trump fired a white-hot shot straight at Berlin’s glass-and-concrete chancellery.

“We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change,” Trump wrote in his early-morning tweet.

The fight has had few obvious practical consequences so far. But Merkel’s meetings this week — first a chummy meeting with India’s leader on Tuesday and then a sit-down with the Chinese prime minister on Wednesday — were bracing reminders of the trade ties being forged outside the United States as Washington moves toward a sharply more nationalist and protectionist agenda.

Merkel refused to give ground Tuesday, even as she sought to ease the dispute with a rhetorical hug.

“Transatlantic relations are of paramount importance,” Merkel said alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin. “What I did was merely to point out that in light of the present situation, there are yet more reasons that we have to take our destiny in Europe into our own hands.”

[As Merkel seeks allies elsewhere, Modi visits Berlin bursting with friendliness]

The Modi meeting was planned long before the dust-up with Trump. But the cheerful body language between the two leaders was difficult to miss.

“We are meant for each other,” Modi said to Merkel, smiling widely, as both leaders made positive comments about a European Union-India trade deal in the works.

German officials — who say that the United States remains Germany’s most important international ally and an important partner whose friendship they want to maintain — feel that Trump has prioritized relations with authoritarian nations such as Saudi Arabia instead of democratic allies. Many were shocked when Trump declared in Riyadh that “we are not here to lecture” the mostly unelected assembled leaders — and then blasted European allies in Brussels for not spending enough on defense.

That led Merkel to conclude that she needs to advocate a sharply more pro-European agenda at home ahead of September elections, one ally said. She said Sunday at a beer-hall political rally that Europe can no longer fully rely on others, a message clearly about Washington, even if it was aimed largely at her own voters.
Trump’s first trip overseas as president
View Photos
The U.S. president traveled to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Rome, Belgium and Sicily, Italy.

“It was mostly to say we have to strengthen Europe. It was not anti-Trump,” said Norbert Röttgen, a close Merkel ally who is the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of Germany’s Parliament.

“You have to explain to your voters what we make of the experience of the last days,” Röttgen said. “Trump, he is an unprecedented president. He calls into question by the way of his behavior, by what he is saying, by what he is not saying, the foundation of this alliance, and you have to give an answer to that. And the answer of the chancellor is that we have to bring into this alliance, not against this alliance, but into this alliance, a stronger German hand.”

With Germany’s elections drawing closer, Merkel has been forced to turn her attention to her own voters — most of whom loathe Trump and staunchly oppose increasing defense spending, one of his key demands. She is seeking a fourth term in office and has rejected most of Trump’s criticisms as baseless.

[Even Angela Merkel’s political rivals are on her side against Trump]

Even before Trump’s victory last year, Merkel was increasing defense spending, pushing up the budget by $27 billion over the next three years. That would almost double current levels — but it would still be dwarfed by the $664 billion the United States spends every year.

Now Merkel needs to convince German voters that defense increases are in their own interest, rather than a response to Trump. In a preview of election-season arguments, leading Social Democrats said Monday that Merkel should have openly opposed Trump from the start rather than trying to work with him at first.

“Merkel needs to put some distance between herself and Trump, who is exceptionally unpopular in Germany,” said Marcel Dirsus, a political scientist at the University of Kiel in northern Germany.

But there are practical limits to any German split from Washington, Dirsus said. Germany is not militarily independent and is far from becoming so. And the United States remains an important trade partner.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that there was no dispute between Trump and Merkel.

“I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel he would describe as fairly unbelievable,” Spicer said.

But Europeans are growing weary of the message gap between Trump and the rest of his circle. They are still searching for which side to give greater weight — and last week’s trip tipped the balance toward the president.

“Europeans think they are now being treated worse by Trump than countries like Russia or Saudi Arabia,” said Stephan Bierling, an expert on transatlantic relations at the University of Regensburg in Germany.

The bilateral strains mean that the United States has, to some extent, lost the trust of one of Europe's most pro-American leaders. The German chancellor, the most powerful politician in Europe, grew up in East Germany, and her upbringing there has long been credited for her staunch support for closer European-U.S. ties.

“Given her experience with the Cold War, Merkel has long upheld and defended American ideals. But the belief in shared values has been shattered by the Trump administration,” Bierling said.

Noack reported from Berlin.

 

[Ang4MohTrump]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...rmany-over-trade-heres-what-you-need-to-know/




President Trump just threatened Germany over trade. Here’s what you need to know.
By Wade Jacoby May 30

German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with President Trump. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)

On Tuesday morning, President Trump wrote a tweet saying that the United States had a “MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany.” He further said that this was bad for the United States and (in what seemed to be a vague threat against Germany) said that this would change. This follows on Trump’s reported statement in a closed-door session with European officials a week ago that German trade policy was “bad, very bad.” What lies behind Trump’s complaints about Germany’s trade deficit? Here’s what you need to know.

We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2017

Trump doesn’t understand Germany’s trade relationships

The Trump administration seems to have some basic misunderstandings of Germany’s economic policy. Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, seems to think that Germany wants a weak euro. In fact, German officials have spoken out consistently against the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing policy that is helping hold down the euro’s value.

More broadly, the president seems to think of trade in terms of bilateral relationships between pairs of countries that bargain with one another to strike a deal. However, trade relations are much more complex and harder to trace — policy changes in one country can lead to indirect ripple effects that are difficult to trace, but very important.

Even if Trump’s criticism rests on dubious assumptions, the United States is not the only country worried about Germany’s economic policy, and some of the U.S. concerns are both reasonable and long-standing. Germany’s large current account surplus is now in its 15th year and exceeds 8 percent of German gross domestic product. However, neither the Trump nor the Obama administrations, nor, for that matter, other European officials, have convinced the Germans that this is a problem, let alone that they need to solve it.

Germany, too, misunderstands the sources of its own success

As I discuss in a recent paper for the Transatlantic Academy, Germany has responded to such concerns with two complementary rhetorical arguments. First, it says that its large surplus and other countries’ deficits are a simple product of differences in competitiveness. Second, German officials “normalize and apologize.” To do this, they start by stressing that Germany is just like any other advanced economy and that any state willing to do the right policy reforms could enjoy its competitive advantages. When they get pushback, they become apologists, articulating and defending Germany’s uniqueness and purported inability to change.

A better explanation, however, would move the focus away from competitiveness to capital flows — large financial flows between countries that reflect policy-driven changes in incomes, consumption, savings and investment. In Germany’s case, a host of labor market, pension, public investment and fiscal policy changes have helped lower the share of national income that goes to labor. This put far more money in the hands of those who save rather than spend. As a result, German domestic consumption has necessarily grown much more slowly than has national income, and lower consumption, by definition, has meant greater savings.

Practically, this means firm profits have soared ever higher, and, more recently, government debt has shrunk — both manifestations of these higher savings. Overall, German national savings grew from about 21 percent of German GDP to 28 percent during the period in which its current account went sharply into surplus (2003-2017). Meanwhile, German private investment stagnated, and public investment fell to among the lowest levels in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This means that of the three usual sources of economic growth — consumption, investment and trade — Germany has become disruptively reliant on trade since about 2003.

[Analysis | Thanks to Trump, Germany says it can’t rely on the United States. What does that mean?]

Thus, where German apologists claim that the trade surplus is simply the aggregate result of free consumer choices, it is, in fact, mostly the result of Germany’s capital outflows, which are a result of policy choices, especially those that shift national income from consumers to firms (as profits or capital subsidies) or to government (as budget surpluses). Global capital flows have their own logic and have now grown to dwarf trade flows.

This has policy implications

Why should it matter to other countries how much Germany saves? The answer is that national savings don’t just sit in banks. They often have large unanticipated knock-on effects elsewhere. It is an economic truism to say that global savings and investment must equal each other by definition. This means that savings increases in one place logically must be matched either with investment growth (there or somewhere else) or by savings declines somewhere else.

Broadly speaking, Germany is one of a number of countries, including China, Japan and South Korea, that are now saving far more than they are either consuming or investing (a country’s GDP is the sum of its consumption and investment. Because all GDP is income for the nation’s residents, another way to put this is that GDP is the sum of consumption and savings — the two things people can do with their income). This alone is complicated enough to make most elected officials’ heads hurt.

But it gets worse. What happens to those “extra” savings (e.g., in excess of the nation’s total investment)? According to macroeconomic theory and data, these savings are going to any country with a trade deficit. Indeed, another way to understand a country’s trade surplus is that it is (and must be) exactly equal in size to its investment deficit.

The academic literature on capital flows emphasizes the importance of this relationship and spells out its counterintuitive and often unwelcome results. For example, it is difficult for countries to deal with unwanted capital inflows when their current investment needs are largely covered, as is true in the United States today. Because savings must, again by definition, match investment, those inflows that aren’t invested must generate lower savings in the receiving country. Put differently, countries don’t simply get to choose their own savings rates because these are profoundly affected by the presence of foreign capital.

Thus, countries that persistently save more than they invest — even if for sensible reasons such as the aging of their society — can nevertheless cause trouble for other states. However, free capital flows in the euro zone and in the liberal international order more broadly mean that there are few ways of stopping inflows of capital.

The two main ways that a country like the United States reacts to inflows from Germany, China and elsewhere are through a consumption boom or an increase in unemployment. Both ultimately bring down U.S. savings rates to compensate for inflows. For example, consumption decreases savings by increasing debt, and the boom runs out when no more credit is extended; meanwhile, unemployment also causes savings to shrink because people have to live off past earnings. Unfortunately, however, this can persist for a very long time, especially when fresh supplies of foreign capital arrive every day.

Of course, German capital flows are not the only problem for the United States or countries in Southern Europe — but German commentators rarely acknowledge that they are a problem.

There are responses Germany could make

If the German government actually wanted to tackle this problem, there are steps it could take, such as reducing taxes on labor and consumption (Germany, like other E.U. member states, has a value-added tax that hits consumer spending), increase public spending, and either reduce national savings or improve the domestic investment climate for firms. Equally, there are steps that the United States could take, too. But vituperative disagreements about trade miss the point — trade relations are dwarfed in importance by capital flows.

At some point, the world will be unable to absorb the capital surpluses of Germany, China and others, leading to another painful correction that might undermine the liberal order. As a surplus country, Germany depends on that order, even if it is difficult for German and U.S. politicians to understand that.

Wade Jacoby is a professor of political science at Brigham Young University.

 

[eatshitndie]

anyone by the name of keqiang will kechiang very soon.

 

[tanwahtiu]

Back in1700s -1900s ngmoh rurope trade w N Adia is easier opium trade w wealthy china. No quarrels among themselved where British Empire grow opium in India.

and main one and only markey is tge china 300m population adds another 20m overseas Chinese in their conquered colonies targeted for opium addicts.

All good and easy dru money can buy expensive made in US ans UK gunboats to attack China if China refused to open mire ports to them doe trading opium.

The physical constitutions of The Chinese need opium and angmoh Europe and British Empire US and UK are merely help supply the need to China - UK MP Palmerston.

This was a humiliation trade which they intimidated China totally.

These ex-US drug mules and smugglers mus pay sea route protection gunboats provided by pommies Empire to China.

 

[Ang4MohTrump]

https://hk.news.yahoo.com/傳美退出-巴黎協定-中歐聯手發聲明撑減排-225031383.html

傳美退出《巴黎協定》 中歐聯手發聲明撑減排
[晴報]
晴報2017年6月2日 上午6:50
傳美退出《巴黎協定》 中歐聯手發聲明撑減排
查看相片
默克爾本周迎接到訪的李克強，中德建交45周年後經貿關係空前密切。（資料圖片）

【晴報專訊】美國總統特朗普今晨宣布是否退出遵守應對氣候變化的《巴黎協定》，多間美媒均指他傾向退出。同時歐盟及中方發表聯合聲明重申減排承諾，分析指中方有意在國際事務擔當領導，中美和歐盟的三角關係轉變。

特朗普一直批評協議影響美國經濟和就業，他早前出席七國集團峰會，拒絕承諾履行協定，令峰會未能就應對氣候變化議題達共識。他周三發文時，表示今晨宣布關於《巴黎協定》決定，並附加一句「讓美國重新偉大」，被解讀為退出協議。歐盟委員會主席容克強調，美國加入協定後頭三年不能退出，之後亦要有一年通知期。

以特斯拉（Tesla）行政總裁馬斯為首的美企向特朗普施壓，要求不要退出協議。馬斯稱若美國真的退出協定，他會離開特朗普的顧問團隊。蘋果行政總裁庫克周二致電白宮，要求特朗普不要退出協議。

默克爾稱「美英靠不住」重心移亞洲

總理李克強將赴比利時參加第19次中歐領導人會晤，消息指中歐正草擬聯合聲明，中方重申支持《巴黎協定》立場，並列出落實協議的具體細節。有歐盟官員透露中國表明會繼續支持協定，有信心即使美國退出亦可全面執行。分析認為中方此舉有意在國際事務上擔當領導角色，在歐美漸行漸遠的同時，中歐將逐步走近。

特朗普多項議題均與歐洲唱反調，加上英國脫歐的亂局，德國總理默克爾體會到已沒可能與美國合作，她早前公開表示：「我們完全依靠別人（美國）的日子已過去，如我過去幾天所經歷的，我們歐洲人要將命運掌握在自己手中。」

德媒普遍認為這話是未來德國外交政策指標，提醒歐盟雖要和美國續維持友好，但必須準備進入一個靠自己的新時代。巧合地，默克爾安排李克強及印度總理莫迪同一周來訪，德媒認為正引證了外交戰略大轉移，把目光放到亞洲崛起強國，對歐洲來說會愈來愈重要。一心要把美國做大的特朗普，到現在為止卻把中國給做大了。

內部分歧嚴重 強大歐洲難行

若默克爾於9月大選連任，她可專注打造不看美國臉色的新歐盟，惟歐盟內部分歧仍嚴重，打造更強大的歐洲挑戰仍嚴峻。

默克爾指英國脫歐後少了人「扯後腿」，惟法國或藉機要求改變開支政策，匈牙利和波蘭都傾向支持特朗普，南歐亦因債務問題需經濟緊縮。除非默克爾肯作重大讓步，否則難加快成立歐盟軍隊。

 

[Leongsam]

Any leader who admits A MILLION muslims of dubious character into the country in one fell swoop has to be a moron so whenever it's Merkel vs Trump I know which side I am on.

 

[pusy2rights]

Any leader who admits A MILLION muslims of dubious character into the country in one fell swoop has to be a moron so whenever it's Merkel vs Trump I know which side I am on.

This is the Muslim's century since Ang Mohs are weak poor coward and in-fighting themselves. Muslim power will leverage and champion the globe.