US to block cotton, tomato imports from China’s Xinjiang over forced labor

The Trump administration announcement of the actions, initially expected on Tuesday, has been put off until later this week because of scheduling issues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have prepared orders to block imports of cotton and tomato products from western China’s Xinjiang region over allegations they are produced with forced labor, although a formal announcement has been delayed. The Trump administration announcement of the actions, initially expected on Tuesday, has been put off until later this week because of “scheduling issues,” a CBP spokesman said.

The cotton and tomato bans along with five other import bans over alleged Xinjiang forced-labor abuses would be an unprecedented move by CBP and likely stoke tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The “Withhold Release Orders” allow the CBP to detain shipments based on suspicion of forced-labor involvement under long-standing U.S. laws aimed at combating human trafficking, child labor and other human rights abuses.

President Donald Trump’s administration is ratcheting up pressure on China over its treatment of Xinjiang’s Uighur Muslims. The United Nations has said it has credible reports that 1 million Muslims have been detained in camps in the region, where they are put to work.

China denies mistreatment of the Uighurs and says the camps are vocational training centers needed to fight extremism. CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner Brenda Smith told Reuters that the effective import bans would apply to the entire supply chains involving cotton, including cotton yarn, textiles and apparel, as well as tomatoes, tomato paste and other products exported from the region…Read More

US, China trade to suffer as closing of consulates raises diplomatic clash

They’ve also dimmed each other’s ability to observe and to spy on critical regions of their countries

In shutting each other’s consulates, the United States and China have done more than strike symbolic blows in their escalating feud. They’ve also dimmed each other’s ability to observe and to spy on critical regions of their countries. For the United States, the loss of the Chengdu mission in southwestern China will, among other things, cloud its view of Tibet, a region where Buddhist residents say Beijing is eroding its culture and its traditional independent streak. China says Tibet has been its territory for centuries.

For China, the loss of its mission in Houston dims its view of America’s South and, according to U.S. officials, removes the nerve center of a Chinese spying network. While the impact of the consulate closures has yet to be fully felt by either side, it will be. “We’ll be flying blind if not with very dark glasses and so will they,” said Beatrice Camp, a retired career diplomat who served as consul general at the U.S. consulate in Shanghai from 2008 to 2011.

The closures of the consulates up the ante in the diplomatic confrontation, with the Trump administration turning up the heat on China in the midst of an already heated rivalry that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and ahead of the November U.S. presidential election and Beijing responding in kind.

Gold prices at new all-time high, entering years-long bull run: Analysts

Investment in precious metal safe based on outlook for India in the next four months

Gold hit an all-time high on Monday as ties between China and the United States rattled investors, boosting the allure of safe haven assets. The metal was trading at $1,933 per ounce in the international market and in India it was above Rs 50,000 per 10 gram. A gold market cycle usually last 8-10 years, indicating that a bull run is underway. The last rally started in 2001 and ended in 2011, when prices went up sent times from the 2001 level. After peaking, prices fell 46 per cent and consolidated for years.

“Gold has entered a bullish phase that can last several years. We also think that there is better than 50% probability of gold approaching $3,000 in this cycle,” said US-based analyst Nigam Arora, author of the popular The Arora Report, a newsletter service on investments.

Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, last week said in a report that gold could rise to $4,000. Imports, in US dollars, decide gold price in India. The dollar may weaken due to Federal Reserve policies and the U.S government’s government, giving gold tailwind. Real interest rates are negative, helping gold.

China celebrates 70 years of Communist rule with grand military parade

The official ceremonies began on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping paying his respects to the founder of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) Mao Zedong’s embalmed body in Beijing

China celebrated its 70th anniversary of the Communist rule on Tuesday with a massive military parade, showcasing its most advanced weapons, including nuclear and hypersonic missiles, amid mounting political and economic challenges.

The official ceremonies began on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping paying his respects to the founder of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) Mao Zedong’s embalmed body in Beijing. Xi, accompanied by six other members of the CPC’s Standing Committee, visited Mao’s mausoleum located in the heart of the power centre, the Tiananmen Square. They bowed three time in front of the former chairman’s statue.

Later, addressing a reception at the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Xi, 66, said over the past 70 years, the Chinese people under the leadership of the ruling CPC had successfully blazed a path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advanced socialism with Chinese characteristics into a new era. Hailing the remarkable achievements made by the Chinese people in the past 70 years, Xi said absolute poverty, a problem that has plagued the Chinese nation for thousands of years, was coming to an end…