Trump's latest China tariffs: What we know so far - USA TODAY

Nathan Bomey and Paul Davidson USA TODAY

Published 1:27 PM EDT Aug 2, 2019

President Donald Trump signaled Thursday that he would hike tariffs on Chinese imports next month after recent talks failed to deliver a trade deal, escalating his trade war with Beijing and taking more direct aim at consumer products.

The move increases the risk of recession next year as well as the chances of another Federal Reserve cut in interest rates in September, economists say.

"It's adding further stress to an already stressed trade environment," says Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist of Oxford Economics. "It adds up to a very significant slowdown in economic growth."

This latest threat is to introduce a 10% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports not covered by earlier tariffs.

An existing 25% tariff on $250 billion in Chinese imports – as well as duties on imported appliances, steel and aluminum – are already set to reduce economic growth by three-tenths of a percentage point next year, Daco says. The proposed tariff on $300 billion in Chinese shipments would shave off another tenth, cutting growth by nearly half a percentage point to 1.7%, he says.

If the trade war escalates beyond that – with the 10% tariff rising to 25% or new tariffs on European auto imports – a recession would be likely next year, Daco says.

The new 10% tariff, if it takes effect, already has led Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi to raise his recession odds over the next 12 months to 50% from 35%.

The president believes that imposing or threatening tariffs will force China to further open its market to U.S. products and make other concessions, such as clamping down on the theft of U.S. intellectual property. Critics say the tariffs harm American businesses and consumers.

Only one thing's certain: Nothing is certain. Trump has threatened tariffs before and then backed off.

Before this latest announcement, the average tariff on Chinese goods imported to the U.S. was 18.3%, up from 3.1% in 2017, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. After, and if, the new round takes effect, the average tariff will rise to 21.5%.

Here's what we know about the newest round of tariffs:

When does it take effect?

Sept. 1. If Trump doesn't back off.

The move could be a ploy to get China to bend in negotiations. Daco reckons a deal, or progress in the talks, will be announced in late August, suspending the tariff. But Goldman Sachs believes it will likely take effect.

How will this affect me?

Prices of certain goods could increase. That's because tariffs placed on imported goods are essentially tax increases.

Why? Because tariffs make it more expensive to import goods from China.

The question is: Will businesses pass along the increased cost to consumers? Many will probably choose to pass along at least some of the tariffs, even if they absorb part of it.

Pricier shoes?

It's a little too early to say with confidence which products will be most affected. But there are early indicators.

Sixty-two percent of the products affected are consumer goods, according to Goldman Sachs. Apparel and footwear make up nearly 20% of the affected products, based on value, Goldman says. Toys comprise 10%, and cellphones, 17%. The prior tariffs against China mostly hit intermediate and industrial goods.

Apple's iPhone prices could increase by about $75 to $100, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives.

UBS analysts reported recently that increased tariffs on Chinese imports could hike the price of home furnishings and toys.

Could China retaliate?

Yes. Consider it likely. In earlier phases of this trade war, China has increased tariffs on American goods like soybeans and aircraft.

American farmers and companies have complained about the negative effects on their sales to China.

How will American jobs be affected?

If China retaliates by imposing new tariffs on American goods, U.S. companies could be forced to reduce domestic production or move it outside of the U.S. to avoid the tariffs. That could have a negative effect on jobs.

Retail sales could also fall. UBS analysts said tariffs on Chinese goods could trigger "widespread store closures."

The bank's analysis said tariffs on Chinese imports could put $40 billion in sales and 12,000 stores at risk.

What about the stock market?

Financial markets around the world buckled Friday following Trump’s threat. Investors, who were taken off guard by the announcement Thursday, fear the escalating trade battle between the U.S. and China will slow the global economy. 

The S&P 500 was down 1.1%, as of 1:22 p.m. ET. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 236 points, or 1%, to 26,342, and the Nasdaq was down 1.7%.

The government released its monthly jobs report on Friday, and it’s usually a major, market-moving event. But it hewed closely to economists’ expectations, and analysts said it was overshadowed by worries about trade.

How will interest rates be affected?

The Fed lowered its key rate by a quarter-percentage point this week, its first rate cut since 2008, largely because of the U.S.-China trade war and a slowing global economy. The new proposed tariff raises the odds of another cut in mid-September, Oxford and Goldman Sachs say.

The tariff, Daco says, serves two purposes for Trump: pressuring China and forcing the Fed to cut rates more sharply, something he hasn't been able to accomplish by repeatedly badgering Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

"In this bilateral trade war, the administration has now taken the Fed hostage," Daco wrote in a note to clients.

Contributing: Kelly Tyko, The Associated Press.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

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2019-08-02 16:03:00Z
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Landmark INF Treaty Between Washington And Moscow Collapses - NPR

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Bangkok on Friday, said the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is now in effect. "Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," he said. Jonathan Ernst/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Jonathan Ernst/AFP/Getty Images

A landmark Cold War-era arms control treaty between the United States and Russia officially collapsed on Friday, triggering fears of a new arms race.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 km (310-3,400 miles). More than 2,600 missiles were destroyed by 1991.

But both sides walked away from the pact Friday, each blaming the other for its demise.

"Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. He accused Russia of failing to destroy all of its 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile systems, which the U.S. says are noncompliant.

In turn, Russia's Foreign Ministry released a statement that read in part, "By denouncing the INF Treaty, the United States confirmed its commitment to abolishing all international instruments that do not suit it for one reason or another. This leads to an actual dismantlement of the existing arms control architecture."

The Trump administration announced in February that the U.S. was suspending its obligations under the 1987 INF treaty and would pull out in six months if Russia wasn't in compliance. That declaration prompted Moscow a day later to make its own withdrawal announcement.

Russia has consistently denied breaching the pact and insisted that the technical capabilities of its missile systems fall within the parameters of the agreement.

On Friday, Pompeo said Russia had developed, produced, flight-tested and fielded multiple battalions of its noncompliant missiles since "at least the mid-2000s." Trump administration officials said this week that they believe "all of western Europe is within range of this missile system."

NATO also pointed the finger at Russia for the INF Treaty's collapse. "We regret that Russia has shown no willingness and taken no demonstrable steps to return to compliance with its international obligations," the military alliance said. "A situation whereby the United States fully abides by the Treaty, and Russia does not, is not sustainable."

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference about the end of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday. Kenzo Tribouillard /AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Kenzo Tribouillard /AFP/Getty Images

NATO said it would respond in a measured way to risks posed by Russia's 9M729 missile to ensure deterrence and defense, using military exercises, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. "We don't want a new arms race," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference. "And we have no intention to deploy new land-based nuclear missiles in Europe."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Washington's steps to dismantle the INF Treaty and other arms control agreements "would eventually backfire on Washington."

A senior Trump administration official said at a briefing this week that the U.S. plans to flight-test a weapons system that would have violated the treaty. The official said the test would take place in the coming weeks, but that the United States was "years away from having an effectively deployable capability" because of "our steadfast adherence to the treaty for some 32 years."

European countries, including the U.K. and Germany, denounced the ending of the INF treaty. So did the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a coalition of non-governmental organizations in dozens of countries. The coalition called upon "the leaders of all responsible nations to step up" and join the 2017 U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

There also are fears that Washington and Moscow might walk away from the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, an Obama-era agreement to limit nuclear weapons. That treaty is scheduled to expire in early 2021.

If it is not extended or replaced, "there will be no legally binding limits on the world's two largest strategic arsenals for the first time since 1972," according to The Arms Control Association, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

When Reagan and Gorbachev came together at the White House to sign the landmark INF treaty, the U.S. president began by saying, "This ceremony and the treaty we are signing today are both excellent examples of the rewards of patience."

He went on to discuss a future full of possibility. "We can only hope that this history-making agreement will not be an end in itself, but the beginning of a working relationship that will enable us to tackle the other urgent issues before us," Reagan said.

The INF treaty did not come up in a phone call on Wednesday between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin, a U.S. official said at a briefing this week. The two leaders were said to have discussed trade as well as forest fires raging in Siberia.

On Friday, Pompeo said President Trump is beginning "a new chapter" and "a new era of arms control." The secretary called upon Russia and China to join in.

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2019-08-02 15:41:00Z
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US formally withdraws from nuclear treaty with Russia and prepares to test new missile - CNN

The US withdrawal puts an end to a landmark arms control pact that has limited the development of ground-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers and is sparking fears of a new arms race.

"Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Friday announcing the US' formal withdrawal from the Cold-War era nuclear treaty.

Pompeo said, "Russia failed to return to full and verified compliance through the destruction of its noncompliant missile system."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN's Hala Gorani that the treaty's end is a "serious setback."

'A bad day'

"The fact that we don't have the INF Treaty anymore, the fact that the Russians over the years have deployed new missiles, which can reach European cities within minutes, which are hard to detect, are mobile and are nuclear capable, and therefore reduce the threshold of any potential use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict -- of course that's a bad day for all of us who believe in arms control and stability in Europe," Stoltenberg said.

"At the same time, NATO is there to protect all our allies and we will take the necessary measures to retain credible defense," he added.

The new US missile test, which CNN reported Thursday, is expected to take place in the next few weeks and will essentially be the Trump administration's answer to Russia's years-long non-compliance with the INF treaty, the senior US defense official said.

A senior administration official told reporters that the US will be testing the cruise missiles that were forbidden by the INF treaty because "Russia cannot maintain military advantage," but claimed that it will take years for the US to deploy those weapons.

Deployment

"We are literally years away before we would be at a point where we would talk about basing of any particular capability. Because of our steadfast adherence to the treaty over 32 years, we are barely, after almost a year, at a point where we are contemplating initial flight tests," explained the senior administration official, noting that the US would only look at deploying conventional weapons, not nuclear weapons.

But the Pentagon said in March that this ground launched missile could be ready for deployment within 18 months. The administration's budget request for fiscal year 2020, released in February, included $96 million for continued research and development on INF range missile systems.

And arms control experts say it's not difficult to convert existing air- or sea-based systems into the ground-based missile the Pentagon plans to test. "It is not a significant engineering task," said Jon Wolfsthal, director of the Nuclear Crisis Group and a former nuclear expert for the National Security Council under the Obama administration. "It's well within the capability of major defense contractors and the army to pull off."

The end of the INF pact leaves the US and Russia with just one nuclear arms agreement, the New START Treaty, which governs strategic nuclear weapons and delivery systems for each side. If New START isn't renewed or extended by 2021, the world's two largest nuclear powers would have no limits on their arsenals for the first time in decades.

President Donald Trump's ambivalent comments about New START and national security advisor John Bolton's well-known dislike for arms control treaties have given rise to deep concern about a new nuclear arms race.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters Thursday that the INF Treaty's expiry means "the world will lose an invaluable brake on nuclear war. This will likely heighten, not reduce, the threat posed by ballistic missiles."

He urged the US and Russia to "urgently seek agreement on a new common path for international arms control."

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO supreme allied commander, said on CNN "New Day" that the termination of the treaty also marks "one more ratchet up on the movement towards a more adversarial relationship with Russia."

But he added that the US "really didn't have a choice" because the treaty wasn't effective.

'A competition with nuclear arms'

"We're going into a new competition, a military competition, including a competition with nuclear arms against development that Russia, and to some extent, China are making," Clark said. "No one wants to do this. It's expensive, it's dangerous, but it's necessary if we're going to maintain our security in an uncertain world."

The Trump administration casts the forthcoming test of the new ground-based missiles as necessary to US national security, even as it seeks to tamp down any suggestion that the US is triggering an arms race, a claim that's met with skepticism in the arms control community.

When asked if the US will commit to maintaining some kind of arms control despite this treaty being defunct, the official largely put the onus on Russia.

"I can't speak for the Russian federation so I can't promise that they will be amenable to additional arms control," the official said. "I can only tell you that the US, from the President on down, is interested in finding an effective arms control solution."

On Friday, Russia said it is inviting the US and NATO to join them in declaring a moratorium on deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.

'Not credible'

"We invited the US and other NATO countries to assess the possibility of declaring the same moratorium on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range equipment as we have, the same moratorium Vladimir Putin declared, saying that Russia will refrain from deploying these systems when we acquire them unless the American equipment is deployed in certain regions," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Stoltenberg on Friday dismissed Russia's offer of a moratorium as "not credible," because Russia has been deploying missiles for years.

"There is zero credibility in offering a moratorium on missiles they are already deploying," he said. "There are no new US missiles, no new NATO missiles in Europe but there are more and more Russian missiles," Stoltenberg said in a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

International allies, including the United Kingdom, emphasized their support for the US' move to withdraw from the INF treaty.

NATO allies said in a statement that Russia remains in violation of the INF Treaty, "despite years of U.S. and Allied engagement," adding that they fully support the US' decision.

NATO added that over the past six months Russia had a "final opportunity" to honor the treaty but failed.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Russia caused the INF Treaty collapse, tweeting, "Their contempt for the rules based international system threatens European security."

The senior US defense official said that the US has long had evidence that Russia has developed, tested and fielded "multiple battalions" of non-INF compliant cruise and ballistic missiles. The US believes the deployments are "militarily significant" because the missiles are mobile, allowing Moscow to move them rapidly and making it difficult for the US to track them.

The Russian missiles use solid fuel, which also means they can be readied in a very short time frame to be fired at targets, especially in western Europe.

Alexandra Bell, senior policy director at the non-partisan Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation, explains that "with this type of missile there's very short warning, attacks are harder to spot by radar, so it's just more destabilizing. They made the situation in Europe more dangerous."

Russian targets

The Pentagon has been working on the new missile system's very initial phases, which will lead to the first test in the coming weeks, the defense official said. The official emphasized there is no formal program yet to develop the missile, because the INF treaty has been in effect.

The US also has yet to formally discuss and commit to firm basing options, the defense official said. The concept, the official said, would be to position the missiles in militarily advantageous positions from which they could fire past Russian defenses and target ports, military bases or critical infrastructure.

But no NATO member "has said it would be willing to host new US intermediate range missiles," Kingston Reif, director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms Control Association.

Indeed, several NATO members, including Poland, have made clear that any deployment of the missiles in Europe would have to be approved by all NATO members. Stoltenberg has emphasized that NATO will respond to the end of the INF Treaty as an alliance and would not be amenable to US missile deployments on its border.

"What we will do will be measured, it will be coordinated as a NATO family, no bilateral arrangements, but NATO as an alliance," Stoltenberg said last month. "We will not mirror what Russia is doing, meaning that we will not deploy missiles," the NATO chief said.

CNN's Vasco Cotovio, Laura McMillan and Zahid Mahmood in London contributed to this report.

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2019-08-02 14:32:00Z
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In a flash, Boris Johnson’s working majority in Britain’s Parliament is now just one seat - The Washington Post

LONDON — It was just a one-off race out in a small district in Wales, where sheep outnumber voters, an off-year by-election to replace a Conservative Party lawmaker who was ousted by petition for cheating on his expense account. Normally, it would be back-page news.

But the Conservative Party candidate lost on Thursday night — and a member of the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrat party won — and suddenly Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s working majority in Parliament has been reduced to a single seat.

Johnson, in office just a week, inherited a minority government from his ousted predecessor Theresa May. Johnson holds a wafer-thin majority in Parliament with support from the 10 lawmakers in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party.

Now Johnson has to pass his “do-or-die” Brexit through a potentially hostile House of Commons, where he has just a one-member advantage.

Remember May’s Brexit deal? It was defeated three times in Parliament. Some Conservatives thought her deal was too weak. Other Tories have announced they will oppose any no-deal Brexit. Some members of Parliament oppose leaving the European Union altogether.

In a flash, the new math has only gotten worse for Johnson.

[Who is Boris Johnson?]

If enough anti-Brexit rebels in his own Conservative Party balk at Johnson’s vow to take Britain out of the E.U., “no ifs, no buts,” with his promised new, better Brexit deal or with no deal at all, the renegades could bring the U.K.’s scheduled departure in October to a halt.

If Johnson’s pledge to get Britain out by October is threatened, many assume he might call a snap election to seek a greater majority in Parliament — but this result makes it unclear how he and his party would fare.

In the Brecon district by-election in Wales on Thursday, the ousted Conservative, Chris Davies, tried to hold onto his seat but was beaten by the Liberal Democrat candidate, Jane Dodds.

What makes this doubly interesting is that the Liberal Democrats have emerged as the most potent voice in British politics for stopping Brexit and have increased their clout by forging a “Remain Alliance.”

In the election in Wales, the Liberal Democrats teamed up with other anti-Brexit parties, including the Greens and Wales’ Plaid Cymru, which both agreed not to stand in the election to increase the Liberal Democrat candidate’s chances.

“Boris Johnson’s shrinking majority makes it clear that he has no mandate to crash us out of the E.U.,” said the Liberal Democrats’ new leader, Jo Swinson. on Friday. She added that she envisioned the “Remain Alliance” to grow to fight Johnson’s Brexit.

“The country doesn’t have to settle for Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn,” she told BBC Radio, referring to opposition Labour Party leader, who can’t seem to make up his mind whether Labour supports leaving or remaining in the European Union.

The winner in Wales, Jane Dodd, said the Liberal Democrats “are the party that want to stay as part of the United Kingdom. We want to stay in Europe. We see that as healthy for our communities. We have to stay in Europe and we have to stay in this bigger team.”

Guy Verhofstadt, a Belgian politician and a leader on Brexit in the European Parliament, tweeted his congratulations to the Liberal Democrats, asserting “the party goes from strength to strength & it really could change everything.”

The Liberal Democrats took 13,826 votes with the Conservative Party 12,401, a margin of 1,425 that overturned the Tories’ previous majority of more than 8,000.

The voting district backed leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Johnson visited Wales on Wednesday, where he was jeered. The new prime minister met with chicken farmers and sheep herders who are worried that if Britain crashes out of Europe without new customs and trade arrangements, their roasters and lamb chops could immediately face high tariffs in Europe that would make their meats far less competitive.

“October, November and December are peak times to sell Welsh lamb,” Dodd said on Friday. “There are two issues for farmers — firstly, how are they going to cope with 40 percent tariffs on their lamb exports. The second is mental health. Farming is the profession with the highest suicide rate. These are real concerns.”

Read more

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-08-02 12:23:34Z
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US formally withdraws from Cold-War era nuclear treaty with Russia - CNN

"Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Friday announcing the US' formal withdrawal from the Cold-War era nuclear treaty.

Pompeo said "Russia failed to return to full and verified compliance through the destruction of its noncompliant missile system."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday the termination of the treaty was at the initiative of Washington, Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

The US initially announced in February that this would take place on August 2.

CNN reported Thursday that the US military is set to test a new non-nuclear mobile-launched cruise missile developed specifically to challenge Russia in Europe, according to a senior US defense official.

The test is expected to take place in the next few weeks and will essentially be the Trump administration's answer to Russia's years-long non-compliance with the INF treaty, the senior US defense official said.

A senior administration official told reporters that the US will be testing the cruise missiles that were forbidden by the INF treaty because "Russia cannot maintain military advantage" but said that it will take years for the US to deploy those weapons.

"We are literally years away before we would be at a point where we would talk about basing of any particular capability. Because of our steadfast adherence to the treaty over 32 years, we are barely, after almost a year, at a point where we are contemplating initial flight tests," explained the senior administration official, noting that the US would only look at deploying conventional weapons, not nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, analysts fear the US test of the non-nuclear cruise missile will mark the start of a new arms race with Moscow.

The Trump administration casts the forthcoming testing of these missiles as necessary to US national security, seeking to tamp down any suggestion that the US is triggering an arms race.

When asked if the US will commit to maintaining some kind of arms control despite this treaty being defunct, the official largely put the onus on Russia.

"I can't speak for the Russian federation so I can't promise that they will be amenable to additional arms control," the official said. "I can only tell you that the US, from the President on down, is interested in finding an effective arms control solution."

International allies, including the United Kingdom, emphasized their support for the move.

NATO allies said in a statement that Russia remains in violation of the INF Treaty, "despite years of U.S. and Allied engagement," adding that they fully support the US decision to withdraw.

NATO added that over the past six months Russia had a "final opportunity" to honor the treaty but failed.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Russia caused the INF treaty collapse, tweeting, "Their contempt for the rules based international system threatens European security."

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN's Vasco Cotovio in London contributed to this report.

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2019-08-02 11:21:00Z
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US formally withdraws from Cold-War era nuclear treaty with Russia - CNN

"Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Friday announcing the US' formal withdrawal from the Cold-War era nuclear treaty.

Pompeo said "Russia failed to return to full and verified compliance through the destruction of its noncompliant missile system."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday the termination of the treaty was at the initiative of Washington, Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

The US initially announced in February that this would take place on August 2.

CNN reported Thursday that the US military is set to test a new non-nuclear mobile-launched cruise missile developed specifically to challenge Russia in Europe, according to a senior US defense official.

The test is expected to take place in the next few weeks and will essentially be the Trump administration's answer to Russia's years-long non-compliance with the INF treaty, the senior US defense official said.

A senior administration official told reporters that the US will be testing the cruise missiles that were forbidden by the INF treaty because "Russia cannot maintain military advantage" but said that it will take years for the US to deploy those weapons.

"We are literally years away before we would be at a point where we would talk about basing of any particular capability. Because of our steadfast adherence to the treaty over 32 years, we are barely, after almost a year, at a point where we are contemplating initial flight tests," explained the senior administration official, noting that the US would only look at deploying conventional weapons, not nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, analysts fear the US test of the non-nuclear cruise missile will mark the start of a new arms race with Moscow.

The Trump administration casts the forthcoming testing of these missiles as necessary to US national security, seeking to tamp down any suggestion that the US is triggering an arms race.

When asked if the US will commit to maintaining some kind of arms control despite this treaty being defunct, the official largely put the onus on Russia.

"I can't speak for the Russian federation so I can't promise that they will be amenable to additional arms control," the official said. "I can only tell you that the US, from the President on down, is interested in finding an effective arms control solution."

International allies, including the United Kingdom, emphasized their support for the move.

NATO allies said in a statement that Russia remains in violation of the INF Treaty, "despite years of U.S. and Allied engagement," adding that they fully support the US decision to withdraw.

NATO added that over the past six months Russia had a "final opportunity" to honor the treaty but failed.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Russia caused the INF treaty collapse, tweeting, "Their contempt for the rules based international system threatens European security."

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN's Vasco Cotovio in London contributed to this report.

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2019-08-02 10:51:00Z
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North Korea test-fires weapons again Friday, South Korea says - Fox News

North Korea fired what appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles twice Friday into the sea off its eastern coast in its third round of weapons tests in just over a week, South Korea's military and presidential office said.

The increased testing activity is seen as brinkmanship aimed at increasing pressure on Seoul and Washington over stalled nuclear negotiations. North Korea also has expressed frustration at planned U.S.-South Korea military exercises, and experts say its weapons displays could intensify in coming months if progress on the nuclear negotiations isn't made.

By test-firing weapons that directly threaten South Korea but not the U.S. mainland or its Pacific territories, North Korea may also be trying to dial up pressure on Seoul and test how far Washington will tolerate its bellicosity without actually causing the nuclear negotiations to collapse.

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES TWO SHORT-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES, US DEFENSE OFFICIALS SAY

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were conducted at 2:59 a.m. and 3:23 a.m. from an eastern coastal area and said the projectiles flew 137 miles on an apogee of 15 miles and at a max speed of Mach 6.9.

People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea's a multiple rocket launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 1, 2019. (Associated Press)

South Korea's presidential office, which held an emergency meeting presided over by chief national security adviser Chung Eui-yong to discuss the launches, said the South Korean and U.S. militaries shared an assessment that the projectiles were likely newly developed short-range ballistic missiles the North has been testing in recent weeks. However, the office said further analysis was needed because the projectiles showed similar flight characteristics with the weapons that the North test-fired on Wednesday and described as a new rocket artillery system.

Kim Eun-han, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, said the Seoul government expressed "deep regret" over launches that it believes could hurt efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Japan's Defense Ministry said it was analyzing the launch and that the projectiles did not reach Japanese territorial waters or its exclusive economic zone.

The North fired short-range ballistic missiles on July 25 and conducted what it described as a test firing of a new multiple rocket launcher system on Wednesday.

People watch a TV showing a file footage of a North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Associated Press)

Amid the stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States, North Korea has significantly slowed diplomatic activity with the South while demanding Seoul turn away from Washington and proceed with joint economic projects that have been held back by U.S.-led sanctions against the North.

The North's new launches came as the United Kingdom, France and Germany — following a closed U.N. Security Council briefing — condemned the North's recent ballistic activity as violations of U.N. sanctions and urged Pyongyang to engage in "meaningful negotiations" with the United States on eliminating its nuclear weapons.

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHED NEW TYPE OF SHORT-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILE, OFFICIAL SAYS

The three countries also urged North Korea "to take concrete steps toward its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" and said international sanctions should remain in place and be fully enforced until its nuclear and ballistic missile programs are dismantled.

U.S. officials have downplayed the threat of the launches to the United States and its allies.

However, the North's recent weapons demonstrations have dampened the optimism that followed President Donald Trump's impromptu summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 30 at the inter-Korean border. The leaders agreed to resume working-level nuclear talks that stalled since February, but there have been no known meetings between the two sides since then.

People watch a TV showing a file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. The sign reads "North Korea launches frequently." (Associated Press)

The North has claimed the United States would violate an agreement between the leaders if it moves on with its planned military exercises with South Korea and said it will wait to see if the August exercises actually take place to decide on the fate of its diplomacy with Washington.

Trump said on Thursday he wasn't worried about the weapons recently tested by North Korea, calling them "short-range missiles" that were "very standard."

On Thursday, North Korea's state media said leader Kim Jong Un supervised the first test firing of a new multiple rocket launcher system he said would soon serve a "main role" in his military's land combat operations.

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South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff had assessed the activity Wednesday as a short-range ballistic missile launch, saying the missiles flew about 250 kilometers (155 miles), a range that would be enough to cover the metropolitan region surrounding capital Seoul, where about half of South Koreans live, and a major U.S. military base just south of the city.

On July 25, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles that Seoul officials said flew 600 kilometers (370 miles) and as high as 50 kilometers (30 miles) before landing in the sea.

North Korea said those tests were designed to deliver a "solemn warning" to South Korea over its purchase of high-tech, U.S.-made fighter jets and the planned military drills, which Pyongyang calls an invasion rehearsal. The North also tested short-range missiles on May 4 and 9.

Attending an Asian security conference in Bangkok, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday the Trump administration remains ready to resume talks with North Korea now, but said a meeting this week would be unlikely.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-test-fires-weapons-again-friday-south-korea-says

2019-08-02 04:14:24Z
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