The Evening: NK Announcement, Tariffs, Pay Gap and More
March 8, 2018
Good Evening,
It's Thursday, March 8th.
Note: The Evening will be “gone fishin’” until March 14, 2018.
North Korea
President Trump told reporters late this afternoon that there will be a major announcement at 7 p.m. from South Korea on North Korea, as CNN reports.
The Trump administration’s top national-security officials huddled at the White House this afternoon with South Korean counterparts who said they were bringing a message to the U.S. from Pyongyang, as the Wall Street Journal’s Felicia Schwartz and Michael Gordon report.
Dive Deeper : “Signals on U.S.-South Korea Cost Sharing Negotiations Outpace Those of Inter-Korean Talks,” by CSIS’s Victor Cha and Predata’s Gordon LaForge
Tariff Proclamations Signed
President Trump today signed two proclamations that go into effect on March 23, one imposing a 25% tariff on steel and the other a 10% tariff on aluminum. Canada and Mexico will be exempt from the tariff increases, citing national security agreements, as Politico’s Andrew Restuccia and Adam Beshudi report.
Dive Deeper : “The Risks of U.S. Steel and Aluminum Tariffs,” by CFR’s James McBride
“The President’s Steel Tariff: Making Lemonade Out of Lemons,” by CSIS’s William Reinsch
“Trump’s Tariffs Would be a Massive, Self-Inflicted Wound,” by Heritage’s Patrick Tyrrell and Anthony Kim
TPP Minus the US
Japan, Canada, Mexico and eight other Pacific nations signed a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (or TPP) today, coming together to form a bloc aimed at boosting trade and putting pressure on China’s economic system, without the U.S., as the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Kiernan and William Mauldin report.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has asked Beijing for a $100 billion reduction in the trade deficit, as CNBC reports.
Dive Deeper : “From TPP to CPTPP,” by CSIS’s Matthew Goodman
“Why Reconsidering the TPP Might Attract Trump,” by Peterson’s Jeffrey Schott
UK Will Respond Over Nerve Attack
Britain will respond appropriately if evidence shows Moscow sponsored a nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in southern England, Prime Minister Theresa May said today, in the highest-level warning of action to date, as Reuters Estelle Shirbon reports.
And, the top U.S. general in Europe, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, said today that the U.S. government did not have an effective unified approach to deal with Russia’s cyber threat.
Your Questions
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In That Number
16%
Canada is the leading supplier of imported steel and aluminum to the U.S., accounting for 16 percent of imported steel and 41 percent of imported aluminum. Source: NPR
Critical Quote
“We have not been treated fairly by other countries.”
iDeas Lab
Railways are a major feature of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, aiming to connect the world with Beijing through $1 trillion of new infrastructure and trade agreements. Read the new report from CSIS's Reconnecting Asia Project.
The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.
Optics
(Photo Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images). Thousands of people march down Istanbul's famous Istiklal street during a rally for International Women's Day on March 8, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Recommended Reading
“Israeli trauma experts help counselors in Parkland, Florida,” by CNN’s Jake Tapper.
This Town Tomorrow
Join the CSIS Missile Defense Project at 10:00 a.m. for a conversation with Dr. Matthew Kroenight on his book, The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy , and U.S. nuclear strategy and force structure.
At 10:00 a.m., join CSIS’s Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group for “National Technology and Industrial Base Integration: How to Overcome Barriers and Capitalize on Cooperation.”
Also at 10:00 a.m., join CSIS for a discussion on the state of Australia’s resources and energy market, as well as opportunities for engagement between the U.S. and Australia.
And at 4:00 p.m., join CSIS for the launch of Robert D. Kaplan’s The Return of Marco Polo’s World: War, Strategy, and American Interests in the Twenty-first Century, on the US’ ability to influence the power balance in Eurasia.
Video
In honor of International Women’s Day, CSIS hosted a Smart Women, Smart Power conversation with Susan Gordon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. Watch the full conversation here.
Sounds
The latest episode of Tracking Nuclear Weapons Programs features Daniella Ballou-Aares, former Senior Advisor for Development to U.S. Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. The discussion focuses on the role of blended finance in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Listen here on Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud.
Smiles
People in the music industry tend to think that rock and roll isn’t dead, it’s just on loan to country music for a while. Maybe that’s because country stars are writing the most meaningful songs these days. Take Margo Price, who many believe to be country’s next big thing. Her performance last night on “Conan” underscored just why that is.
I don’t know if Price intended her performance to be associated with International Women’s Day which is today, or for that matter, my sister’s birthday which is today—Happy Birthday! But this fine rendition of her song “Pay Gap” surely made me smile, and I hope it makes you smile too.
I invite you to email me at aschwartz@csis.org and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz
