In his latest foreign policy announcements via Twitter, Donald Trump says he has raised tariffs on Turkey and threatened to do so on Canada.
Trump opened Friday with the economic punishment of Ankara:
I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar! Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018
Trump did not explain the “not good” relations, but tensions have been raised between the US and Turkey by the Erdoğan Government’s detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces charges of espionage and attempting to overthrow the government.
Trump tweeted two weeks ago:
The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2018
Erdoğan and his officials repeatedly castigate the US for its refusal to extradite cleric Fetullah Gülen, whose followers they blame for a failed July 2016 coup.
The timing of Trump’s intervention may also have been influenced by Ankara’s weakening economic position. This week the Turkish lira has sunk to an all-time low against the US dollar, falling 17% on Friday.
American steel imports from Turkey had already fallen sharply, with only 4% of US purchases coming from Ankara in the first half of 2018 — a drop of almost 50% from last year.
Later in the day, Trump turned his attention to Canada, threatening more tariffs after the steel and aluminum duties imposed on Ottawa, Mexico, and the European Union at the end of May.
In an implicit refernce to his hostility towards Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump set out a different portrayal of the position with Mexico:
Deal with Mexico is coming along nicely. Autoworkers and farmers must be taken care of or there will be no deal. New President of Mexico has been an absolute gentleman. Canada must wait. Their Tariffs and Trade Barriers are far too high. Will tax cars if we can’t make a deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018
Trump turned against Trudeau after the G7 summit in Canada in June. Presenting the conference’s communiqué, Trudeau said that the Canadians would not bow down before the US steel and aluminum duties. Trump, who learned of the statement as he flew to Europe on Air Force One, refused American signature of the communiqué, and his officials said a “special section of hell” was reserved for the Prime Minister and other foreign leaders.
Administration Scraps Safeguards Over For-Profit Colleges
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos reverses an Obama-era requirement that for-profit colleges must prove their students are able to attain decent-paying jobs.
The Education Department announced plans to eliminate the gainful employment rule, holding for-profit and career college programs accountable for graduating students who have poor job prospects and overwhelming debt. The regulation revokes federal funding and access to financial aid for poor-performing schools.
DeVos said instead that the Department will students with more data about all higher education institutions including debt, expected earnings after graduation, completion rates, program cost, accreditation, and other measures.
DeVos’ approach reverses almost a decade of efforts to create a system of accountability for the for-profit sector of higher education. In recent years, chains of colleges and universities have collapsed amid complaints and lawsuits over misleading and deceptive practices.
Since 2010, more than 2,000 for-profit and career programs — almost half of the total — have closed, with the sector’s student population dropping by more than 1.6 million.
The Obama Administration encouraged the expansion of public community colleges, and forgave at least $450 million in taxpayer-funded student debt for for-profit graduates who could not find decent jobs.
Several former for-profit executives are now advisor to DeVos.
This didnt surprise me, Turkey’s economy was always based on loans, and future forecast of tourism and realestate anyway.. its a facade and was helped by Germany in order to stop Turkish Immigration to Germany. It was further propagated by Obama to back the muslim brotherhood who they bet would be the new american backed powerbroker of the sunnis in the region.
The Turkish entry into Libyan, Egyptian, Gazan, and Syrian affairs was pushed on by the Obama/Ben Rhodes foreign policy; just as the entry of Iran into Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen was supported by Obama and co.
Turkey was supposed to rule over these broken nations as a leader of the minority “oppressed” Muslim Brotherhood party in the sunni Arab nations it thought would break apart internally. Likewise Iran was supposed to be able to do the same ie. lead the minority “oppressed” Shiites of the Arab nations they thought would break apart internally.
The plan has failed and its expiration date was set by 5 events:
1. the fall of the muslim brotherhood in Egypt (Turkey lost Egypt and Libya and Gaza)
2. the stopping of the riots in Bahrain (Iran lost Bahrain and Eastern KSA)
3. the GCC alliance to fight the Houthis (Iran lost Yemen, Red Sea and SouthWest KSA)
4. the embargo of Qatar by all its neighbors (Turkey and Iran both lose regional media war)
5. the Trump election (New deal erasing old one can be sought)
The Trump administration unlike Obama, only considers the financial interests to America with no concern for what Obama before him had promised. Trump has no interest in ideology or spreading “democracy” or inside politics of other nations. If Iran or Turkey could pay more to Trump and America than Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt can, then Trump would have stayed with that plan/deal, but Iran and Turkey simply cannot. This is why Trump calls the Iran deal a “bad deal”. Trump seems to be a serial liar, but when it comes to money, he seems to live by the “greed is good” motto. It was a bad deal, financially, as he says.
When Trump moved into the white house: Saudi Arabia billion dollar deals and defense contracts were signed from day one, as well as the city of NEOM where America and its British ally will get big interests. In Egypt Gas deals worth billions were also signed from day one. In the UAE defense contracts for a decade ahead as Dubai continues to build and needs an army to protect itself.
There is no money in Iran and Turkey at all. So a new deal was cut and the Americans forgot about the Obama plan to break Saudi Arabia into an Eastern portion that goes to Iran along with Bahrain Iraq, Kuwait and Syria/Lebanon; and a Western portion that would go to Turkey along with Egypt, Gaza, and Libya.
Turkey will be cut down just as Iran is. The idea of switching to alternatives to the dollar is a pipe dream and would take decades and a failing American economy to even be possible. The game plan is clear. Stability in the region so that American deals can prosper. Erdogan is a big mouth but he can be shut up with the Lira falling more or the Kurdish card pulled on him once again.
Russia will take over the Syrian mess completely and they will not pay a dime to Iran for all the destruction that it ,Russia, must now clean up and rebuild. The Iranians will also leave Iraq eventually, the people of Iraq have nothing to show since the Iranians took over, no electricity, clean water, jobs etc. Lebanon and Nasrallah will fade away as funds to them dry up and their hashish trade is not as prosperous when the legalization of Marijuana happens in Lebanon. Turkey will also be asked to rebuild Aleppo possibly. The Russians have the Kurdish support card in their sleeve for both Iran and Turkey just as the Americans do.
Even Israel has lost in this middle eastern saga. Israel thought they would get to push Gaza into Egypt and also reclaim Jerusalem completely as the capitol. The Gaza idea was scrapped when the Muslim Brotherhood was removed and the Egyptian Army went in full force against the ISIS pockets in Sinai (ISIS was put there as an excuse for Israel to enter and fight terrorists near its border in Sinai). The Jerusalem capitol idea was refused by all the arabs and they simply offered more money and Trump stopped mentioning it now in the media. All that Israel got out of all of this was the Golan is completely impossible for Syria to ever penetrate now that its Assad army is trashed. But they also have the Iranian goons headache all around next door. They are no threat but a nuisance none the less.
Long term I guess the Turkish Lira will fall again. The Iranian Rial will also fall more. But, what will be the straw that breaks the camels back in these two nations? We have to wait and see in November for that.
The Arab countries are back to stability and building. Saudi Arabia has been opening up and changing at its own pace without revolution or war; Egypt, UAE, Bahrain the same.The only arab countries with no clear resolution are Qatar and Yemen. What will be the straw in Qatar that breaks Tamim and what will finally end the Houthis in Yemen. I think those will take much longer than Iran and Turkey. Bashar Assad will have to go at some point. He is a pimple that Russia cannot wait to pop but stability and calm and removing Iran and other militias while returning to rebuilding Syria is on the agenda first. The timing will be interesting. 1 year, 5 years.
For all these questions, your guess is as good as mine.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan does not consider this to be ‘punishment’ but ‘economic war’ according to ‘Hurriyet Daily News’.
His comment comes as a result of significant devaluation of the Turkish Lira just days after the government urged citizens not to buy dollars but keep their wealth in Turkish Lira.
In an article published recently in the New York Times President Erdoğan is quoted as saying: ‘At a time when evil continues to lurk around the world, unilateral actions against Turkey by the United States, our ally of decades, will only serve to undermine American interests and security. Before it is too late, Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives,” Erdoğan concluded. “Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies.’
One cannot help but remembering how Britain forced Ottoman Turkey to ally with Germany at the start of the Great War when it confiscated the dreadnought battleship Osman I that was being constructed on the Clyde via Turkish public subscription. The British feared the warship would be used against them yet its forfeit created such outrage that Turkey (a traditional ally of the French and British) sided with Germany.
Sadly, the warship renamed H.M.S. Agincourt was useless anyway yet indirectly probably cost more lives than it could ever have taken at sea.