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Gothmog

(144,005 posts)
Mon Jun 25, 2018, 04:49 PM Jun 2018

America's allies should respond...targeted sanctions on the Trump Organization

This will be fun to watch. The sanctions against Russia are against targeted businesses. Trump's sanctions are so stupid that the best response may be to target the trump organization https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/5/17422492/sanction-trump-organization

The Canadian writer Scott Gilmore is also thinking along these lines, and makes the case for sanctioning the Trump Organization in Maclean’s.

“Canada could add a tax to Trump properties equal to any tariff unilaterally imposed by Washington,” he writes. “The European Union could revoke any travel visas for senior staff in the Trump organization. And the United Kingdom could temporarily close his golf course.”

The potential points of leverage here are quite real. Trump has two golf courses in Scotland and one in Ireland. The wine list at BLT Prime in Trump’s DC hotel is full of European vintages. Travel sanctions could also be painful. Donald Trump Jr. was vacationing in Spain as recently as April.

Hitting Trump personally might work on its own terms. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is chaired by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who has committed to working to halt Trump’s tariffs. So has Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who also sits on the committee. Both Corker and Flake have also, from time to time, offered commentary on Trump’s basic unfitness for office. What they’ve never done is exerted their power as US senators to engage in meaningful oversight over his corruption and conflicts of interest. Directly injecting Trump’s business interests into an international conflict might spur them to actually do their jobs.
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America's allies should respond...targeted sanctions on the Trump Organization (Original Post) Gothmog Jun 2018 OP
I agree duforsure Jun 2018 #1
I wish they (and the EU) would entertain Clarity2 Jun 2018 #2
America's closest allies are furious about Trump's tariffs, and now an unorthodox idea to go after h Gothmog Jun 2018 #3
Houston Chronicle Editorial-EU should sanction trump organization Gothmog Jun 2018 #4
US Alliers should target the Trump organization with sanctions Gothmog Jun 2018 #5

Clarity2

(1,009 posts)
2. I wish they (and the EU) would entertain
Mon Jun 25, 2018, 05:17 PM
Jun 2018

sanctioning the Koch bros and the Mercers too. Now that would be something to see.

Gothmog

(144,005 posts)
3. America's closest allies are furious about Trump's tariffs, and now an unorthodox idea to go after h
Mon Jun 25, 2018, 05:28 PM
Jun 2018

America's closest allies are furious about Trump's tariffs, and now an unorthodox idea to go after him is gaining steam http://www.businessinsider.com/canada-france-trump-organization-tariffs-trade-response-2018-6

Op-eds in The Houston Chronicle and the Canadian news magazine Maclean's suggested the only way to quell the rising trade tensions is to strike at Trump's businesses. While some countries, such as China, have appeared to try and sway the president through treating his family's businesses more favorably, countries have not made moves to curtail the businesses' activity within their borders.

Meanwhile, the countries appear to have little immediate recourse elsewhere, other than to try and negotiate with the Trump administration. Several countries have lodged a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization regarding the tariffs, but WTO cases take years to resolve.

Could they do it?
Debbie Shon, an international trade lawyer at Quinn Emanuel and a former official in the US Trade Representative's office under President Bill Clinton, said that effectively hitting Trump's businesses using trade actions — while legal — would be difficult.

"Looking at Trump's businesses, I'm not sure what goods he sells that could be subject to tariffs or how you could use trade actions to hit his businesses unless you really tailored some sort of measure targeting key industries like real estate," Shon told Business Insider.

That would force any country trying to go after Trump to get creative with their response. Scott Gilmore, a social entrepreneur and former Canadian diplomat, suggested in Maclean's that Canada should use anti-corruption laws to pressure Trump on trade.
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