Posts Tagged ‘trade’

Howard, Smith downplay trade ahead of Lakers game

[ at 2012-1-22 in: lions share]

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Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (12) grabs a pass while being guarded by San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (12) grabs a pass while being guarded by San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Los Angeles Lakers’ Andrew Bynum (17) reacts after being called for a foul during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard laughs after making a shot while falling to the floor on a foul during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. Orlando won 96-89. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? Magic fans will get a glimpse of the present and a possible future Friday when Orlando hosts the Los Angeles Lakers.

Center Dwight Howard’s preseason trade request left fans bracing for the worst at the start of the regular season. Howard’s agent Dan Fegan is permitted to explore trades with the Lakers, New Jersey and Dallas.

That puts a bigger spotlight on the matchup, given that the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum has been the subject of speculation around a Howard trade.

Magic general manager Otis Smith remains adamant he’s in no rush to deal Howard by the March 15 trade deadline. Smith said he and Howard haven’t gotten in-depth about his trade request since training camp.

Smith expects Howard and Bynum to have their minds on the court and nothing else.

“I think both of those guys are probably the best two centers in the business right now and will be competing against each other, so I don’t know if it’s anything bigger than that,” he said.

Howard said he’s focused on improving the Magic’s 10-4 record.

“This game is not about me and (Bynum), it’s about our team trying to get better to win,” Howard said. “That was a problem back when Shaquille O’Neal played. People tried to make it about me and him. That’s not the case. We’re just trying to play basketball and trying to win. The only thing that matters is who wins the game.”

Provisions in the new CBA give the Magic the ability to offer Howard $30 million more than any other team. Orlando can offer him a five-year contract extension with 7.5 percent annual raises, while other teams are tapped out at offering a four-year pact with only 4.5 percent raises.

So the Magic could keep Howard through the deadline or sign and trade him to the team of their choice.

“Or he could still walk…with a $30 million dollar haircut,” Smith said.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said he thinks Howard and Bynum are more than equipped for the trade spotlight. He noted Howard has dealt with it all season and Bynum handled it when Bryant flirted with a trade request in 2007.

Howard said he’s focused on his job.

“I think most people wouldn’t allow whatever their situation is ? especially what’s going on with me ? to stop them from playing their normal way,” he said. “It’s just getting on the court and putting aside everything that’s going on outside and what people are saying, trade rumors or what team I’m going to…Just put it away and go play basketball.

“So when I get out there on the court, it’s go as hard as I can for as long as I can and trust my teammates when I get out there.”

Smith said the real pressure may be on teammate Jameer Nelson. Howard previously noted a desire to play alongside other point guards, including Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Nelson and Howard are friends, both entering the league in 2004.

But Nelson has struggled this season, averaging a career-low 8.3 points and shooting career-low 38 percent from the field.

“He has to play better, of course. But through all of this, he is the one taking the pounding,” Smith said. “Right now, he’s justifying the pounding because he’s not playing well. But sometimes we forget in professional sports that they’re people. Regardless of what we talk about, they’re still human beings.”

Smith said Nelson is injury-free, other than foot issues he’s dealt with for several seasons.

“So as tough as he wants to be on the outside, on the inside ? all of them ? he’s just a 30-year-old kid,” he said. “He still has to work through the mental aspect of him taking a pounding. No, the center didn’t come out and directly say it’s on Jameer, but basically he has.”

Even with needed improvements, Smith said he likes the direction so far.

“A real good team has to overcome a lot of things,” he said. “A good team has to overcome a good player not being on par, a good team has to overcome a guy getting to the foul line a bunch of times and missing a lot of foul shots.

“So I imagine if we clear up those things, we’ll be a much better basketball team.”

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-20-Magic-Howard/id-3fcf985e025b41f788f51ff46a1f8c70

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Tear gas, scuffles as SKorea OKs US trade deal

[ at 2011-11-24 in: lions share]

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Rep. Kim Seon-dong, bottom, of the opposition Democratic Labor Party, explodes tear gas in front of the speaker’s chair to block National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa, center, from pushing for the procedure to handle a pending bill on ratification of a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. South Korea’s parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT

Rep. Kim Seon-dong, bottom, of the opposition Democratic Labor Party, explodes tear gas in front of the speaker’s chair to block National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa, center, from pushing for the procedure to handle a pending bill on ratification of a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. South Korea’s parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT

South Korean lawmakers cover their mouths after an opposition lawmaker exploded tear gas to block the passing a bill on ratification of a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. South Korea’s parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Nation Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa holding a gavel declares the passage of a bill on ratification of a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement in front of gatehring opposition lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. South Korea’s parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT

National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa, holding a microphone at top, speaks after passing a bill on ratification of a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement as opposition lawmakers sit on the floor at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. South Korea’s parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa, second from left top, wearing glasses, declares the passage of a bill on ratification of a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement as opposition lawmakers try to stop it at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. South Korea’s parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? South Korea’s ruling party forced a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States through parliament Tuesday, enraging opposition lawmakers who blasted their political rivals with tear gas.

South Korean lawmakers voted 151 to 7 in favor of ratifying the landmark trade agreement in a surprise legislative session called by the ruling Grand National Party, parliamentary officials said.

Shouts and screams filled the National Assembly as ruling party lawmakers forced their way onto the parliamentary floor. Amid the scuffling, one opposition lawmaker doused rivals with tear gas.

Security guards hustled him out of the chamber as he shouted and tried to resist. Outside the National Assembly building, opponents of the deal scuffled with police mobilized to maintain order.

The pact is America’s biggest free-trade agreement since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Two-way trade between the United States and South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, totaled about $90 billion last year, according to the South Korean government.

After the deal was approved less than an hour after the tussle began, dozens of opposition lawmakers and aides ? who fought hard to prevent passage of an agreement they say favors U.S. over South Korean workers ? sat slumped around the chamber podium. One legislator leaned her head against the shoulder of another as they both stared at the floor in silence.

Such chaotic scenes are not uncommon in South Korea’s parliament, where rival parties have a history of resorting to physical confrontation over highly charged issues. In 2008, opposition lawmakers used a sledgehammer to try and force their way into a barricaded committee room to stop the ruling party from introducing a debate on the U.S. trade deal.

President Lee Myung-bak’s ruling party commands a majority in South Korea’s single-chamber, 295-seat parliament but hadn’t forced the deal through earlier, apparently out of worry over a public backlash ahead of next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

The presidential Blue House welcomed the deal’s passage, pledging in a statement to use it as a chance to boost the economy and create jobs. The main opposition Democratic Party said it would boycott all other parliamentary sessions in protest and demanded that top ruling party leaders resign.

Lawmakers have been wrangling over ratification of the free trade deal since the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama approved the deal last month after years of debate.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk welcomed the legislative approval in Seoul.

“This is a win-win agreement that will provide significant economic and strategic benefits to both countries,” he said. “We look forward to working closely with the government of Korea to bring the agreement into force as soon as possible.”

In South Korea, a key sticking point was a provision that opponents say would allow investors to take disputes falling under the agreement’s jurisdiction to a U.S.-influenced international arbitration panel. The opposition calls for removal of the provision.

President Lee offered to seek re-negotiation of the provision if the opponents in parliament vote for ratification. The Democratic Party, however, rebuffed Lee’s proposal, saying negotiations should take place first.

Debate over the deal has been heated, with nearly daily protests outside the National Assembly and opposition lawmakers camping out in a committee room for weeks to block the vote.

Earlier this month, South Korean police fired water cannons to disperse more than 2,000 protesters trying to break into the National Assembly during a debate.

There were concerns the demonstrations might mirror those in 2008, when South Korea’s move to lift a ban on U.S. beef triggered weeks of massive street protests over worries about the meat’s safety and criticism that Seoul had made too many concessions to Washington.

Economist Jung Tae-in said the trade deal would widen the gap between haves and have-nots. “South Korea will falter in the early stages of the implementation of the deal because the United States is economically more powerful,” he said.

But Kim Jung-sik, an economics professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University, said fears about damage to South Korea’s economy are overblown. “Free trade still works to South Korea’s advantage because the country is so reliant on exports.”

South Korea, a major exporter of industrial goods such as automobiles and consumer electronics, has aggressively sought free trade agreements and already has several in effect, including with Chile, India, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement Tuesday that it will work to get the trade deal to take effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said Washington would make “best efforts” to bring the trade agreement into force as quickly as possible in 2012.

__

Associated Press writers Sam Kim in Seoul and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-22-AS-SKorea-US-Free-Trade/id-6eb45c483d5149f4854e4542c9a0a9a1

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Obama to China: Behave like a “grown up” (Reuters)

[ at 2011-11-15 in: lions share]

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HONOLULU (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama served notice on Sunday that the United States was fed up with China’s trade and currency practices as he turned up the heat on America’s biggest economic rival.

“Enough’s enough,” Obama said bluntly at a closing news conference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit where he scored a significant breakthrough in his push to create a pan-Pacific free trade zone and promote green technologies.

Using some of his toughest language yet against China, Obama, a day after face-to-face talks with President Hu Jintao, demanded that China stop “gaming” the international system and create a level playing field for U.S. and other foreign businesses.

“We’re going to continue to be firm that China operate by the same rules as everyone else,” Obama told reporters after hosting the 21-nation APEC summit in his native Honolulu. “We don’t want them taking advantage of the United States.”

China shot back that it refused to abide by international economic rules that it had no part in writing.

“First we have to know whose rules we are talking about,” Pang Sen, a deputy director-general at China’s Foreign Ministry said.

“If the rules are made collectively through agreement and China is a part of it, then China will abide by them. If rules are decided by one or even several countries, China does not have the obligation to abide by that.”

Even as Obama issued the veiled threat of further punitive action against China, it was unclear how much of his tough rhetoric was, at least in part, political posturing aimed at economically weary U.S. voters who will decide next November whether to give him a second term.

Obama insisted that China allow its currency to rise faster in value, saying it was being kept artificially low and was

hurting American companies and jobs. He said China, which often presents itself as a developing country, is now “grown up” and should act that way in global economic affairs.

The sharp words between the U.S. and China contrasted with the unified front that Asia-Pacific leaders sought to present with a pledge to bolster their economies and lower trade barriers in an effort to shield against the fallout from Europe’s debt crisis.

The members of APEC, which accounts for more than half of the world’s economic output, said they had agreed on ways to counter “significant downside risks” to the world economy.

That followed an appeal by Obama, seeking to reassert U.S. leadership to counter China’s growing influence around the Pacific Rim, for a commitment to expand trade opportunities as an antidote to Europe’s fiscal woes.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, in Honolulu to consult with APEC leaders, said the euro zone upheaval risked sweeping the world economy into a “downward spiral” that all countries had a stake in resolving the crisis.

TRADE LIBERALIZATION PROMISED

APEC said in a final communique: “We recognize that further trade liberalization is essential to achieving a sustainable global recovery in the aftermath of the global recession of 2008-2009.”

The communique also expressed a firm resolve “to support the strong, sustained and balanced growth of the regional and global economy” — a clear reference to U.S. concerns about a huge trade deficit with China’s export-driven economy, fiscal problems in developed nations and the low savings rate in the United States.

In another bow to U.S. pressure, APEC committed to reducing tariffs on environmental goods and services to 5 percent as a way to promote green technology trade, overcoming China’s resistance to the idea.

Differences persist among APEC members — a point hammered home by U.S.-China tensions — and the question remains how far leaders will be able to go in turning promises into action. Many, Obama included, will face resistance to opening markets further to foreign competition.

Obama’s public denunciation of China’s policies came as he faces pressure at home, from Republican presidential contenders as well as fellow Democrats, for a tougher line on Beijing. But U.S. leverage is limited, not least because Beijing is America’s largest foreign creditor.

Though Obama acknowledged a “slight improvement” in the value of China’s yuan, he insisted it was not enough.

The United States has long complained that China keeps its currency artificially weak to give its exporters an advantage. China counters that the yuan should rise only gradually to avoid harming the economy and driving up unemployment, which would hurt global growth.

Hu was quoted by Chinanews.com in Beijing on Sunday as saying a big appreciation in the yuan against the dollar would not help U.S. trade and unemployment problems.

The yuan inched up against the dollar. Dealers said Hu’s comments in Honolulu indicated that China had no intention of letting the currency rise faster in the near term.

U.S. ENGAGEMENT

Obama declared U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific region as “absolutely critical” to America’s prosperity. By harnessing the potential for expanded trade with the world’s fastest-growing region, Obama hopes he can create U.S. jobs to help him through a tough reelection fight in 2012.

Obama’s drive toward a pan-Pacific free trade zone — the signature U.S. achievement of the summit — got a boost when Canada, Mexico and Japan said they were interested in joining talks now under way among nine countries, and they agreed to complete the detailed framework in 2012.

The Philippines was discussing the matter, U.S. officials said.

The Transpacific Partnership adds momentum to Obama’s pledge to double U.S. exports, made more urgent by the virtual collapse of the Doha round of trade talks. A free trade zone in the region would outstrip the market size of the European Union. But for Japan, such a deal faces major political obstacles at home.

Yet there was little promise of immediate economic dividends as such trade deals often take years to take effect.

Obama is seeking to assure allies of a U.S. “pivot” as China flexes its economic and military muscles in Asia and beyond. But leaders may doubt whether Washington can avoid being distracted by economic woes at home and foreign policy priorities like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

(Reporting by Reuters APEC team; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Stella Dawson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111114/bs_nm/us_apec1

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Obama under pressure to lay out China strategy (Reuters)

[ at 2011-10-25 in: lions share]

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? U.S. lawmakers critical of China’s trade policies will use a hearing on Tuesday to press the White House to lay out plans to confront Beijing, even as Republicans resist a bill to punish the world’s second-largest economy for its currency policies.

With bipartisan concern about the loss of American jobs to China already an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign, the House Ways and Means Committee hearing gives lawmakers a chance to blow off steam at Beijing and to grill top Obama administration officials on what the White House is doing.

“I look forward to hearing the administration’s plan for addressing China’s persistent barriers to U.S. exports and investment and exploring what should be done to ensure American employers and workers are treated fairly,” Committee Chairman Dave Camp said in a statement last week.

The hearing with U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Lael Brainard and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis comes just two weeks after the Senate passed legislation to push China to let its currency rise in value.

Many U.S. lawmakers contend Beijing keeps its yuan weak to gain an advantage in international markets.

But with House Speaker John Boehner refusing to schedule a vote on that legislation for fear it could start a trade war, Camp plans a broader inquiry into a host of Chinese policies believed to hurt U.S. exports and sales.

In addition to questioning Brainard and Marantis on the yuan’s value, the panel will dig into issues such as China’s subsidies to state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfers, discriminatory government regulation, poor enforcement of U.S. copyrights and patents and a multitude of other barriers to U.S. exports and investment.

“We want to find that balance between aggressively enforcing our rights without provoking a trade war that would boomerang back on the U.S. economy and cause additional job losses,” Representative Kevin Brady, who chairs the Ways and Means subcommittee on trade, told Reuters.

TENTH ANNIVERSARY

The rapidly approaching tenth anniversary of China’s entry into the World Trade Organization on December 11 also has focused attention on how much the world has changed over the past decade in Beijing’s favor.

China, relying primarily on export-led growth, vaulted over Japan to become the world’s second-biggest economy, while the United States fought two wars, racked up huge budget deficits and endured a brutal recession that left it with an unemployment rate stuck above 9 percent.

The U.S. trade gap with China more than tripled from $83.1 billion in 2001 to a record $273.1 billion in 2010 and is on track to set another new record in 2011.

Camp has been careful not to promise Tuesday’s hearing would lead to legislation, but House Democrats say they intend to keep pushing and note that Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has promised to declare Beijing a currency manipulator on his first day in office.

The former Massachusetts governor also has said he would direct the Commerce Department to impose countervailing duties on imports from China to offset the price advantage of the nation’s undervalued exchange rate.

The Senate’s bill would do essentially the same thing and so would similar legislation in the House of Representatives that Republican leaders have blocked from a vote, even though more than a majority of members support it.

Brady said it was up to Camp and Boehner to decide whether to pursue legislation, but argued the “Republican focus on the broad range of trade barriers will create more jobs and a more level playing field sooner than simply addressing currency.”

Many U.S. lawmakers contend China’s currency is undervalued from 15 percent to 40 percent.

Brady said he would support the White House leading a broader effort with other nations to get China to revalue the yuan. “I think there is an opportunity to work together with them on this,” he said.

China has pledged to address its trade imbalance with the United States and has made some currency reforms. But many Chinese officials worry a faster rise in the yuan could hurt exports and the tens of millions of manufacturing jobs they create.

Beijing has dubbed the Senate currency bill as “protectionist” and urged the White House to stop it.

26TH BIGGEST CONCERN

Still, U.S. companies that do business in China rate other issues as much bigger challenges.

Members of the U.S.-China Business Council on Monday ranked China’s exchange rate policies 26th on their list of concerns, far below problems the companies face in China recruiting and retaining employees, obtaining licenses needed to do business, and coping with rising costs for labor and materials and rising competition from Chinese companies.

But for U.S. steel and other manufacturers that compete in the U.S. market against lower-priced imports from China, addressing the currency is the top priority.

“The view on this side is that we are in a trade war already and we’re losing because of permitting this unbalanced current relationship to continue,” said Tom Gibson, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Despite such appeals, analysts said they doubted the Republican-controlled House would pass a China currency bill.

“Will the Republicans actually do very much? No, I don’t believe they will,” said Michael Colopy, co-founder and principal at International Commerce Consultants Inc.

Meanwhile, the White House has already ramped up its criticism of China, with President Barack Obama accusing Beijing of “gaming” the international trade system and U.S. trade officials turning up the heat on Chinese practices they say unfairly discriminates against foreign suppliers.

In Geneva on Monday, U.S. trade officials took Beijing to task for either its “inability or lack of political will” to stop widespread piracy and counterfeiting of U.S. software, music, movie, books and other products including apparel, athletics footwear, textile fabrics and floor coverings, consumer goods, chemicals, electrical equipment, industrial products and clean energy products.

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert; editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/pl_nm/us_usa_china_trade

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