US-China Trade War: Trump Attempts to Veto China's Industrial Policy
June 3, 2019
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to push through an $8 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Now those sales to Saudi Arabia have been blocked by Congress. The website RootsAction has written a 21-point “Articles Of Impeachment” piece listing impeachable offenses committed by Trump, and just added to that list is Trump declaring an emergency to bypass Congress to sell arms in the Gulf. Writer David Swanson, who contributes to RootsAction, spoke to The Real News Network's Sharmini Peries, where they discussed Trump and Iran, impeaching Trump for the “right” reasons, and Congress' limited success countering Trump.
“Here we have Trump declaring an emergency in the absence of any actual emergency in order to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia that Congress had been blocking,” Swanson said. “So again, blatantly violating the will of Congress, not to mention the Geneva Conventions. This would be illegal even if Congress approved of it. And the question is … will this be enough to finally start an impeachment process?”
Swanson explained that what is happening to the people of Yemen is the emergency worth declaring.
“The actual emergency in Yemen is millions of people at risk of dying from direct violence and starvation and disease imposed by direct violence and blockade and a lack of aid as a result of Saudi Arabia not running out of weapons—not a shortage of weapons—and there are countries in Europe that have forbidden selling weapons to Saudi Arabia,” Swanson said. “There are countries in Europe attempting to ship weapons to Saudi Arabia and the loading of the ships is being blocked by labor unions.”
Meanwhile, Swanson observed, here in the United States, Congress has been slow to act against Trump as he continually sidesteps them. Congress passed a bill to end U.S. military participation in Yemen and had it vetoed by Trump, and then failed to pass it in another form. What Congress needs to do, Swanson explained, is “set aside the partisanship and defend itself as a branch of government,” though he does not hold out hope that will happen.
“It's unclear what [Congress is] willing to do or contemplating doing when someone like Congressman Steny Hoyer puts out a statement that says, 'I am against this, I will do unspecified things whatever I can against it' but doesn't use the forbidden 'I' word,” Swanson said. “Because when you promise a president that you won't impeach him and then you beg and plead and whine that he comply with subpoenas, that he cease violating laws, you know, you've sort of tied two hands behind your back. You're not really engaging in the checks and balances."
https://therealnews.com/stories/us-china-trade-war-trump-attempts-to-veto-chinas-industrial-policy
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