China angry at US sanctions, against bank, shipping company and individuals

Sanctions have been imposed on the Chinese Bank of Dandong with the U.S. Treasury department accusing it of being "a conduit for illicit North Korean activity".

The Treasury claimed that the bank had facilitated "millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea's WMD ( weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programs." The U.S. Treasury said it had been "a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity" and facilitated "millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea's WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programmes". A Chinese shipping company, Dalian Global Unity shipping has also been sanctioned for allegedly smuggling luxury goods into North Korea. Two Chinese individuals were also sanctioned for having set up front companies for North Korean entities. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman urged the U.S. to "stop wrongful actions" as they could harm cooperation between the two countries. China handles about 90 percent of North Korea's external trade and Chinese banks and companies are said to allow the North to have access to the U.S.-dominated international financial system. U.S. moves will be bound to produce a reaction against the global financial system and eventually may cause the US dollar to lose its supremacy in global trade. Anthony Ruggiero, a sanctions expert and former U.S. Treasury Department official describe the Dandong Bank as a small bank at the heart of trade between North Korea and China saying: "This is a strong message to Chinese leaders that the Trump administration will act against North Korea's sanctions evasion in China."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at a news conference while claiming the move was not directed at China: "We will follow the money and cut off the money. This is not directed at China, this is directed at a bank, as well as individuals and entities in China." The UN has already imposed several rounds of sanctions on North Korea. The North simply regards the moves as showing that they must build up their defenses against a possible invasion more quickly.

U.S. President Donald Trump had been urging Beijing to impose tougher measures. While Beijing did take some action Trump recently said that Chinese actions had not worked out. These sanctions were announced just as the new South Korean president Moon Jae-in was meeting with Trump. Trump said that many options were being discussed on the North Korean issue and repeated his view: "The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed, many years it has failed. Frankly, that patience is over". He claimed that the U.S. was working closely with South Korea, Japan, and others on a range of diplomatic, security and economic matters to protect the U.S. and its allies from the menace of North Korea. President Moon has taken the position that sanctions should also be accompanied by attempts to reach out diplomatically to the north. China has been very much against the U.S.-installed THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Air Defense) system as is Russia. Moon objected to U.S. attempts to install more units and has suspended their installation until a probe is finished.

China is also angry at the U.S. for the sale of $1.42 billion worth of arms to Taiwan. China considers Taiwan to be part of its own territory. The Chinese embassy in Washington called on the U.S. to stop the sale and said that China had every right to be outraged. The embassy statement also said that the move went against the cooperative spirit of Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping back in April. The U.S. also put China on a list of the worst offenders in human trafficking and forced labor another move that China is bound to resent.

Trump not draining the swamp but adding his own creatures

Trump campaigned as a person who was going to fight against the establishment and drain the swamp of corrupt politicians with links to Wall Street from his administration. He has done nothing of the sort.

Trump is adding to the swamp and merely bringing in new establishment figures, some connected to Wall Street. As a recent article in the Washington Post put it: "The notion that he was going to drain the swamp, however, seemed like a pretty potent theme during the campaign. And we can already be pretty sure that there will be no swamp-draining. Trump has merely added his own family and his retinue to the existing swamp." Trump's anti-establishment cabinet probably is representative of the fabled one percent top wealth bracket: "Put together, Trump’s Cabinet and administration could be worth as much as $35 billion, a staggering agglomeration of wealth unprecedented in American history." Trump himself claims to be worth more than $10 billion. Businesswoman Betsy DeVos comes from a family worth $5.1 billion. He is considering oil magnate Harold Hamm worth $15.3 billion and investor Wilbur Ross at $2.9 billion. Mitt Romney also being considered is worth around a mere $250 million and lawyer Rudy Guliani is worth just tens of millions.

Trump is also tapping people with close connections to Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs. He has named former executive of the company Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin worked behind the scenes in Trump's election campaign creating a network of small donors to try and compete with Clinton's better funded operation. While his pick is at odds with Trump's view that the economic and political elites have damaged the country, Republicans in the Senate will no doubt be comfortable with the choice and will confirm his appointment.

A Democracy Now article notes that Mnuchin had a hedge fund: Mnuchin’s hedge fund also played a role in the housing crisis, after it scooped up the failing California bank IndyMac in 2008. Under Mnuchin’s ownership, IndyMac foreclosed on 36,000 families, particularly elderly residents trapped in reverse mortgages. Mnuchin was accused of running a "foreclosure machine." The bank, which was renamed OneWest, was also accused of racially discriminatory lending practices. In 2015, Mnuchin sold the bank for $3.4 billion—$1.8 billion more than he bought it for.

Mnuchin also has given money to the Democratic Party in the past.

Trump is expected to name Wilbur Ross as Commerce Secretary. He is known for buying distressed companies and cutting jobs. He formed a group of bankrupt steel companies into the International Steel Group that he sold two years later for $4.5 billion. One of his coal firms is a subsidiary of the International Coal Group was cited for more than 200 safety violations. In August, Ross' firm agreed to pay a $2.3 million dollar fine in order to settle accusations that it did not properly disclose fees that it charged investors.

If you want to help finance the introduction of new creatures into the swamp you can attend a fund-raising Trump breakfast in New York for just $5,000. Better buy your tickets now before they are all gone. Help save the swamp.

Trump victory brings an early Xmas rally to US stock markets

(Novewmber 17) Trump's campaign was in partly based on anti-establishment populism, including opposition to lobbyists and to the power of Wall Street. Much media attention has been focused on Trump's misogyny, racism and negative attitudes towards Muslims.

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However, stock markets reacted positively after Trump's election. While some Trump policies, such as his opposition to trade policies such as the TPP and NAFTA, may cause concern among some business people, overall, Trump's actions and appointments so far show an administration and transition team full of people linked to Wall Street. They are often establishment figures especially some within the Republican Party. As a recent article puts it: "A populist candidate who railed against shady financial interests on the campaign trail is now putting together an administration that looks like an investment banker’s dream."

One of the leading candidates for Treasury Secretary is Steven Mnuchin. Mnuchin worked for years at Goldman Sachs where he amassed a fortune of over $40 million. He supported Mitt Romney in the last election. In May of this year, he was made chair of the Trump election campaign. He lives in a $26.5 million dollar house in Bel Air.

A candidate for head of the Commerce Department is the billionaire investor Wilbur Ross. Even though he supports Trump he was at one time a Democrat and worked with BIll Clinton: "Ross in earlier years was a registered Democrat, served as an officer of the New York State Democratic Party and held fundraisers for Democratic candidates at his apartment in New York City." Wilbur specializes in leveraged buyouts and purchasing distressed businesses. Forbes lists him as having a net worth of $2.9 billion.

Steve Bannon is best known for being executive chairman of Breitbart news, a right-wing news outlet for the alt-right. The outlet often features anti-Islamic articles, and Brietibart has been accused of being prejudiced against Jews and also misogynist. However, he is also another Wall Street alumnus having worked at Goldman Sachs and even had his own investment bank. He also was acting director of the Arizona research project Biosphere 2 in Oracle Arizona. He left in 1995. Bannon was chosen by Trump to be his chief strategist and Senior Counselor.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase appears to be still in the running as a possible Treasury Secretary. In the past, Dimon has given mostly to the Democrats and has links to the Obama administration. Obama defended him during the financial crisis: ".JP Morgan is one of the best managed banks there is. Jamie Dimon, the head of it, is one of the smartest bankers we've got." There are conflicting reports about Dimon becoming Treasury Secretary. He may take on some type of advisory role.

Charles Geisst, a Wall Street historian at Manhattan College noted: “You would have to go back to the 1920s to see so much Wall Street influence coming to Washington. It’s the most dramatic turnaround one could imagine. That’s the truly astonishing part.” Richard Hunt head of the Consumer Bankers Association said that the group is relieved that it is not going to be subpoenaed every week.

Banks stocks are up, as deregulation is expected, along with higher interest rates and significant deficit spending. Also expected are massive tax cuts, elimination of the estate tax and more tax reductions for top earners. CNN notes that in order to shape his administration Trump is drawing heavily upon lobbyists and other denizens of the swamp he pledged to drain. A Salon article notes that Trump's transition team is rich in lobbyists plus a climate-change denier. An article in the Intercept claims that Trump's transition team is " preparing to hand his administration over to a cozy clique of corporate lobbyists and Republican power brokers." Trump has two prominent slogans: "Down with the Establishment" and "Long live the Establishment". The first slogan was operative just during the election campaign.