House of Lords, Kim-Trump Summit, P&G, Amazon Prime, 420, Ikea

House of Lords, Kim-Trump Summit, P&G, Amazon Prime, 420, Ikea

Marc Ross Daily
April 19, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Marc Ross Daily  = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits

Subscribe here: https://goo.gl/bSQKwA

TOP FIVE

✔️ Oil at 4-year high

✔️ Lords votes to amend Brexit bill

✔️ How aging aircraft may dictate Kim-Trump venue

✔️ P&G slogs through ‘difficult’ markets for sales growth

✔️ 100 million people globally are now paying for Amazon Prime

ROSS IN THE NEWS

CGTN - American: Just how close is the US to a trade war with China? I was on CGTN-America last evening for an interview with Mike Walter on the state of US-China commercial relations.

Trade war? 

Not really.

More like a trade irritation.

You can watch the clip here: http://bit.ly/2HyWF8P

GEOECONOMICS

Oil at 4-year high ahead of OPEC-Russia meeting: FT reports, energy stocks and crude-linked currencies rally as investors eye longer production curbs

How the US positioned its warships to trick Russia ahead of Syrian strikes: Navy Times reports, the guided-missile destroyers Donald Cook and Winston Churchill never fired a shot in Friday’s allied airstrikes against Syria, but as it turns out, they were key to the mission’s success. 

UK's House of Lords votes to amend Brexit bill over customs union http://p.dw.com/p/2wI2Z

Bloomberg: May defeated in Lords on Brexit, signaling more challenges ahead

Former UK PM David Cameron says he doesn’t regret holding the Brexit vote in 2016, but still wishes the country had voted to remain.

Germans divided over impact of globalization: studyhttp://p.dw.com/p/2wIh7

Angela Merkel snubs Emmanuel Macron on plan for EU monetary fund: FT reports, Chancellor sticks to party line and disappoints French president ahead of reform summit.

Macron is rightful heir to the spirit of 1968: Today’s protesters want to cling on to the past, not seize the future.
FT - Philip Stephens

Macron wants to save Europe. He’ll need to save France first: Bloomberg reports, the French president heads to Washington in hopes of gaining support for his ambitious agenda. https://bloom.bg/2K06J9h

China conducts war games, and Taiwan is the target: NYT reports, China carried out live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, its state news media reported, an exercise intended to show the growing strength of its navy and deliver a message to self-governed Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. 

WSJ: Trump says he’ll walk out of Kim meeting if it’s ‘not fruitful’

NYT: Meet me in Mongolia: How aging aircraft may dictate Kim-Trump venue https://nyti.ms/2J7uuuO

What’s inside made-in-China electronics should worry federal customers, study says: WP reports, the U.S. government is dangerously vulnerable to Chinese espionage or cyberattack because of its dependence on electronics and software made in China, a risk that threatens to grow as Beijing seeks global technological dominance, according to a study for a congressionally chartered advisory commission. Information technology products made by enterprises owned or influenced by China could be modified to work poorly, conduct espionage or otherwise interfere with government operations, said the report for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which is scheduled to be released Thursday. Much of the government’s annual $90 billion in spending on information technology is devoted to Chinese products, offering Chinese officials an opportunity to seed U.S. government offices with spyware and electronic backdoors that could be exploited for cyberattacks, said Jennifer Bisceglie, chief executive of Interos Solutions, which conducted the study. https://wapo.st/2HbKVd0

WSJ: China wary of Qualcomm’s $44 billion NXP deal amid tensions with US

NYT: Huawei and ZTE hit hard as US moves against Chinese tech firms

Bloomberg - Daniel Moss: US earns more in China than trade numbers reveal: That leaves American companies vulnerable to retaliation by Beijing. It also gives them more reason to defuse trade tensions. The huge missing ingredient in the trade deficit number is the business done in China by American companies. General Motors Co. sells more cars in China than at home. There are more Apple Inc. iPhones used in the Middle Kingdom than in the U.S. Overall, China subsidiaries of U.S. companies sold $223 billion of stuff in 2015, reckons Deutsche Bank AG. 

The timeline for a potential U.S.-China trade war: 

May 1, exemptions to the tariffs on imported steel and aluminum expire.

May 22, the public comment period ends for another $50 billion worth of tariffs, and the Trump administration can announce a final list of targets.

August 18, potentially the deadline for the administration to act on an investigation into Chinese trade practices. But there’s a provision for a 180-day delay after that.

NAFTA: Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States are hoping to wrap up their talks for a revised North American Free Trade Agreement with a preliminary deal within the next three weeks.

AMERICAN POLITICS

WSJ: Gorsuch sides with liberal justices in immigration ruling

USTR Robert Lighthizer spent more than $917,000 to furnish the two trade offices near the White House, according to contracts reviewed by WP. 

I assume all this furniture was Made in America?!?

Across Midwest, farmers warn of GOP losses over Trump’s trade policy: NYT reports, China’s proposed tariffs on soybeans would hit hard in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota and other states with highly competitive House and Senate races. After an initial round of tariffs on a modest share of American exports, the Chinese have displayed a more keen awareness of the electoral map and moved to punish those industries whose misfortune will be felt most intensely in states and districts pivotal in 2018.

Marco Rubio, darling of GOP establishment, hires a thorn in its side: NYT reports, as chief executive of the influential conservative think tank Heritage Action for America, Michael Needham waged years of unforgiving political warfare against the Republican Party establishment, deepening the divide between party leaders and grass-roots activists that helped elevate Donald J. Trump to the presidency. Now Mr. Needham is leaving his job there to become chief of staff for one of the Republican establishment's favorite sons, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. The move is certain to raise questions about whether Mr. Rubio, whose hopes of becoming president in 2016 were dashed by Mr. Trump, may be positioning himself for another run.

Germany at the White House: Trump will welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to the White House on April 27, 2018.

There are at least 100 buildings in San Francisco that are both over 240 feet tall and built on ground that has a very high chance of liquefying in an earthquake.

Facebook enlists conservative help to resist privacy rules: Politico reports, an email seeking US groups’ assistance against EU-style regulations came as Mark Zuckerberg was preparing to testify to Congress.

ENTERPRISE

A Bon-Ton liquidation jeopardizes US mall owners already in trouble: CNBC reports, as Bon-Ton heads to liquidation, the shuttering of more than 200 regional department stores jeopardizes U.S. mall owners already struggling to fill empty stores.

A robot has been trained to achieve one of the most difficult tasks confronting humanity: assembling Ikea furniture.

FiveThirtyEight is moving from ESPN to ABC News. 

Walmart is making its website a little less like Walmart: WSJ reports, the retail giant will launch a redesigned site in May with higher-end brands in mind.

Walmart is a beast and is making a lot of wise moves.

Chinese money floods US biotech as Beijing chases new cures: Bloomberg reports, venture-capital funds based in China poured $1.4 billion into private US biotechnology firms in the three months ending March 31, accounting for about 40 percent of the $3.7 billion that the companies raised in the period overall, according to data provider PitchBook. 

P&G slogs through ‘difficult’ markets for sales growth: WSJ reports, Procter & Gamble reported weak sales growth in its latest quarter as the company continues to face challenges in its shaving business and other categories being disrupted by more nimble competitors. 

Procter & Gamble is buying Merck's consumer health business, giving P&G new vitamin and food supplements to add to its over-the-counter business. The deal is worth $4.2 billion.

Buying market share is a not a positive.

Sears opened its first-ever store in Chicago 93 years ago. This summer, it will close its last department store in the city.

Deck: Future of Retail: http://bit.ly/FutureofRetailMarcRossApril2018

More than 100 million people globally are now paying for Amazon Prime.

Netflix plots $1bn European investment drive: FT reports, the streaming service will double production budget in the region in 2018.

Netflix, which has clashed with movie theaters, may be ready to get into owning cinemas to screen its original work.

TRENDS

Earbuds and tastebuds: Does chocolate taste better if you're listening to Pavarotti? Ad Age looks at how marketers are pairing music and sounds with different tastes. http://bit.ly/2EXEJPU

The loos at Lollapalooza: Music festivals are using RFID bracelets and anonymized data to track and improve the user experience, like shortening the lines at the porta-potties. http://bit.ly/2qGm4Dl

The ultra-cheap phones even iPhone users will crave: WSJ reports, flip phones, and candy bars are back, with low prices, great battery life, and some modern conveniences. https://on.wsj.com/2J5FFV2

CULTURE

AP: 420's long, strange trip to pot holiday began in California http://bit.ly/2HfExgS

Deck: The Future of Retail

Israel, 5G, Telecom, Macron, Berlin, TPP, Starbucks, Porsche, Golden Knights

Israel, 5G, Telecom, Macron, Berlin, TPP, Starbucks, Porsche, Golden Knights

Marc Ross Daily
April 18, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Marc Ross Daily  = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits

Subscribe here: https://goo.gl/bSQKwA

TOP FIVE

✔️ Israel at 70

✔️ The 5G race: China and South Korea are winning

✔️ U.S. moves to block sales by Chinese telecom equipment makers

✔️ WWII bomb to force mass evacuation in central Berlin Friday

✔️ Barbara Bush remembered as a tough, classy 'force of nature'

ROSS RANT

The 5G race: China and South Korea are winning

The 5G race is being won by China and South Korea, according to a report conducted by research firm Analysys Mason and released today by CTIA, America's premier wireless industry association.

According to the research, China is in the lead, followed by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. Germany, the U.K., and France are in the second tier of countries in terms of readiness.

America lags in “5G readiness” due to reliance on private providers -- Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint -- to build antenna infrastructure. China’s wireless providers, on the other hand, are streamlined by government mandate. 

Why this matters - 5G systems support 1k more devices per meter than 4G, using higher frequencies and secondary antennae to relay signals. It also eliminates the transmission inconsistencies and slowdowns caused by buildings, mountains, and crowds.

The global competition is propelling 5G development much faster than was originally expected, with carriers and some cities moving quickly to install infrastructure, said CTIA president and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker, a former FCC commissioner.

The Trump administration see this situation as a threat, especially from China.

Last month the administration blocked Broadcom's proposed buyout of Qualcomm on national security grounds. The administration also fears that Broadcom's business practices would weaken Qualcomm's and the U.S.'s 5G position — allowing Huawei a bigger advantage.

Key findings by Analysys Mason include:

- All major Chinese providers have committed to specific launch dates and the government has committed to at least 100 MHz of mid-band spectrum and 2,000 MHz of high-band spectrum for each wireless provider.

- Countries around the world are moving quickly to make spectrum available for 5G. This year alone, the U.K., Spain, and Italy are all holding 5G spectrum auctions.

- At the end of 2018, the U.S. will rank sixth out of the 10 countries in mid-band (3–24GHz) spectrum availability, a critical band for 5G. The U.S. joins Russia and Canada as the only countries currently without announced plans to allocate mid-band spectrum on an exclusive basis to mobile by the end of 2020.

- Countries like the U.K. and regions like the European Union are taking significant steps to modernize infrastructure rules to facilitate the deployment of 5G networks.

Read can read the report here: http://bit.ly/2HFbTqA

GEOECONOMICS

AP: Israel at 70: Satisfaction and grim disquiet share the stage

"It has a standard of living that rivals Western Europe, without the natural resources. It can boast of scientific achievements and military and technological clout beyond its modest size. It controls most of biblical Israel, and despite widespread criticism of its policies toward the Palestinians, it has cultivated good diplomatic ties with most of the world."

China seeks trade firewall with U.S. allies in rush of ambassador meetings - sources: Reuters reports, China’s international trade representative held a series of meetings with the ambassadors from major European nations last week to ask them to stand together with Beijing against U.S. protectionism, according to four sources familiar with the discussions. Some of the western diplomats involved in the meetings with Fu Ziying, who is also a vice-commerce minister, have viewed the approaches as a sign of how anxious Beijing is getting about the expanding conflict with Washington, the sources said.

China overtakes U.S. as top export market in one more nation: Bloomberg reports, China has displaced the U.S. over the past decade as the top export market for many Asian economies, including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. India is one of the few countries in the region that still counts America as a bigger market for goods than China.

Bloomberg: China takes carrot-and-stick approach to U.S. trade tensions

“We’ve seen comments from China about their plans to liberalize, but until we see the regulations and laws that will actually implement these plans, it’s hard to say what the benefit will be,” said Erin Ennis, senior vice president at the US-China Business Council, in Washington.

Guardian: China defiant after new US security regulations target telecoms firms

U.S. moves to block sales by Chinese telecom equipment makers: NYT reports, the United States undercut China’s technology ambitions on Tuesday, advancing a new rule that would limit the ability of Chinese telecommunications companies to sell their products in this country. The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to move forward with a plan that would prevent federally subsidized telecommunications carriers from using suppliers deemed to pose a risk to American national security. The decision takes direct aim at Huawei, which makes telecommunications network equipment and smartphones, and its main Chinese rival, ZTE, sending a message that the government doesn’t trust them.

Decades after Mao Zedong denounced horse racing as immoral, China is to allow an experiment that some hope will lead to wider adoption of the sport. 

FT: China cuts required reserve ratio in ‘subtle easing’ move

China’s $1 billion white elephant: Bloomberg reports, each year roughly 60,000 ships vital to the global economy sail through the Indian Ocean past a Chinese-operated port on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Almost none of them stop to unload cargo. The eight-year-old Hambantota port -- with almost no container traffic and trampled fences that elephants traverse with ease -- has become a prime example of what can go wrong for countries involved in President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” trade and infrastructure initiative. Sri Lanka borrowed heavily to build the port, couldn’t repay the loans, and then gave China a 99-year lease for debt relief. https://bloom.bg/2J60kYX

China’s shock call for ban on lethal autonomous weapon systems: IHS Jane’s 360 reports, China has called on nations “to negotiate and conclude a succinct protocol to ban the use of fully autonomous weapon systems”, in so doing becoming the first Permanent Member of the UN Security Council to call for a ban on ‘lethal autonomous weapon systems’ (LAWS). 

Pakistan shuns US for Chinese high-tech weapons: FT reports, Pakistan is focusing instead on the rollout of the next batch of the JF-17, the fighter jet it is developing with China, and which is catching up with the F-16 in terms of capabilities.

India desperate to replenish ATMs before cash crunch spreads: Nikkei reports, currency shortage comes amid clean-up at banks plagued by fraud, bad debt

Theresa May faces a new Brexit challenge from the House of Lords: Bloomberg reports, UK PM Theresa May’s Brexit strategy faces a renewed threat on Wednesday when her flagship bill returns to Parliament’s upper chamber, where Lords of all political stripes are seeking to amend it. A proposal to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU after leaving the bloc may pass by more than 50 votes, according to Dianne Hayter, a Labour peer who sponsored the amendment with independent member John Kerr, former Conservative Party Chairman Chris Patten, and Liberal Democrat Sarah Ludford.

State Dinner: President Emmanuel Macron of France and Mrs. Macron will be welcomed to the White House on Tuesday, April 24 for a State Dinner.

AFP: WWII bomb to force mass evacuation in central Berlin Friday

"The discovery of an unexploded World War II bomb will force a mass evacuation around Berlin's central railway station, covering several government ministries and a hospital"

Italy’s president hopes neutral politician can break stalemate: WSJ reports, Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella asked a parliamentary leader to mediate among party chiefs in an attempt to form a government, hoping a neutral figure can end the political paralysis that has persisted since March’s elections.

Trump reflects America at the moment, which has hardly anything to do with traditional values: Neil Macdonald of CBC opines, what would be the reaction if, say, a foreign leader flatly stated that Trump personifies all that is best in America? My guess is that a lot of Republicans would take that as an insult. Or at least be taken aback. Because everyone knows Trump personifies few of the values Americans are brought up to believe their country stands for. http://bit.ly/2vo7pSJ

AFP: Quebec wary of bitcoin gold rush

"a sea of 7,000-odd computers hidden away in this industrial park at a center operated by Bitfarms, one of the emerging players of the cryptocurrency "mining" boom."

Mexico leftist opens up 22 point lead in presidency race: poll: Reuters reports, Mexican leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has extended his lead in the race to win the July 1 election, opening up a gap of 22 percentage points in effective terms, a poll by newspaper Reforma showed on Wednesday.

New leader in Cuba: What's in store after the Castros?http://p.dw.com/p/2wBvd

"Analysts say little will change as Miguel Diaz-Canel is expected to take over the presidency in Cuba." 

AMERICAN POLITICS

NYT: Trump, in another apparent reversal, says trans-pacific trade pact has ‘too many contingencies’ 

FT: Trump hails meeting between CIA chief and Kim Jong Un

Trump will welcome the leader of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, on April 30.

Yahoo: Power to the party: Why political reforms can be bad for democracy https://yhoo.it/2HwsPlx

"Populism is popular these days, and many Americans want to make the political system more fair. ... But ... anti-party reforms have gone too far and are now having a multitude of negative impacts."

"Anti-establishment thinking has been one of the most constant and dominant trends of the last half-century. ... Yet ... institutions can protect us from the abuse of power."

Sean Hannity’s rising role in Trump’s world: ‘He basically has a desk in the place’: WP reports,the conservative commentator is so close to Trump that some White House aides have dubbed him the unofficial chief of staff. For a president who feels that he is under siege, Hannity offers what he prizes most: loyalty and a mass audience.

Whiskey sour? China importers fret over U.S. trade battle: Reuters reports, when spirits dealer Daniel Taytslin brought his first pallet of American Ragtime Rye whiskey into Shanghai in early April, the 672 bottles faced a 5 percent import tariff at China's customs.

ENTERPRISE

Amazon is suspending plans to sell and distribute prescription drugs and instead will continue to focus on "less sensitive" medical supplies.

WSJ: Retail rivals Amazon and Best Buy team up to sell smart TVs

Amazon has launched an international shopping feature that will allow customers across the world to shop more than 45M items that can be shipped to their country from the U.S.

Coffee brands fight California ruling on cancer warnings: WSJ reports,  Los Angeles judge's recent ruling in a lawsuit over cancer labels has galvanized coffee brands and retailers, including Starbucks Corp., to push harder to avoid carrying the labels.

WP: Starbucks arrests: Who decides whether you’re a patron or a trespasser?

@kairyssdal: Starbucks Coffee Company today announced it will be closing its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education

Alibaba is developing its own driverless cars: TR reports, the Chinese tech giant comes to the self-driving game later than rivals Baidu and Tencent but says it will build an entire ecosystem around autonomous cars. The effort is led by Gang Wang, a scientist at the company’s AI lab and one of MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 in 2017.

Meet the CEO who could become China's wealthiest man after Xiaomi IPO: SCMP reports, stock exchange officials from New York to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, are trying to pitch their bourses for what would probably be the largest global initial public offering in four years.

Moncler transformed ski parkas with $1,000 price tags. What’s next? Bloomberg reports, the company made expensive puffy jackets a status symbol. Now it has plenty of competition and must find new ways to grow.

TRENDS

Why China will win the global race for complete AI dominance: Wired reports, Kai-Fu Lee – a former Apple, Microsoft and Google executive turned investor – is placing big bets on machine learning. And China is leading the way. http://bit.ly/2HacAuY

Norway, China spearhead the e-mobility drivehttp://p.dw.com/p/2wEHJ

CULTURE

Barbara Bush dies at age 92: WSJ reports, Barbara Pierce Bush went from a privileged childhood to become the wife of one president and mother of another, serving throughout as a pugnacious guardian of what had become America’s most prominent political family. 

LAT: Barbara Bush remembered as a tough, classy 'force of nature'

Matriarch of a presidential family dies at 92: WP reports, Bush embraced her image as America’s warmhearted grandmother, which belied her influence and mettle during a half-century in the public eye. Within the Bush clan, she was known as “the enforcer.”

LAT: Porsche's L.A. Experience Center is a theme park for grown-ups who love to drive https://lat.ms/2Hus10s

The 11 keys to keeping the band together: On the occasion of their 12th album and 27th year together, Sloan shares their wisdom on how to make musical matrimony last. http://bit.ly/2JUmVsU

SPORT

Las Vegas Golden Knights: The team became the first expansion team in NHL history to sweep their first playoff series.