Trump touts 'America First' to skeptical Davos elite

DAVOS - President Donald Trump strode into the lion's den to confront the world's political and business elite on Thursday, as his "America First" administration executes an anti-globalist manifesto in trade, taxes and currency rates.

A year after taking office, Trump joined the World Economic Forum in Davos with foreign exchange markets in turmoil and Washington's trading partners in uproar.

Vying to take the air out of one storm, he insisted that he wants to see "a strong dollar," after comments by his treasury secretary appearing to signal the opposite sent the US currency plunging to three-year lows and provoked anger in Europe.

Trump smiled and waved on his arrival at the gathering in the Swiss Alps, as crowds of onlookers held up camera phones. One woman admirer grabbed Trump's autograph while other delegates muttered -- out of his earshot -- about wanting to pelt him with fruit.

The former property mogul held one-on-one meetings with the British and Israeli prime ministers. Then, having demonized the globalist Davos crowd on his unorthodox march to the White House, he went on to a gala reception and dinner with European business chiefs attending the gathering.

Interviewed on CNBC, Trump said there was no contradiction between his populist campaign and his decision to come to the headquarters of the global elite.

"When I decided to come to Davos, I didn't think in terms of elitist or globalist, I thought in terms of lots people that want to invest lots of money and they're all coming back to the United States, they're coming back to America," he said.

Basking in near-daily highs on Wall Street and accelerating US growth, he added: "It's about coming to America, investing in money, creating jobs, companies coming in, we're setting records every week, every day, we're setting records."

ANTI-TRUMP MESSAGES

Seeking to demonize the president in turn was Swiss activist group Campax, which hung a giant banner on an Alpine peak near Davos reading "Trump not welcome", and Greenpeace, which beamed anti-Trump laser messages onto another mountain.

Trump is due to address the forum on its closing day Friday, at the end of a week that saw his administration announce a new package of trade tariffs targeting China and South Korea, and spark upheaval on the currency markets.

"I think the most fascinating thing with President Trump is that he has the capacity to surprise, and I'm sure we will be surprised tomorrow," Alexander Stubb, former prime minister of Finland and the new vice president of the European Investment Bank, told AFP in Davos.

FOREX ROWS 

Traders and US partners already had one surprise in Davos this week when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared to back away from decades of support by his predecessors for a "strong dollar" policy. He declared "a weaker dollar is good for us", flouting US commitments in international fora such as the G20.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday urged Mnuchin to "clarify" his stance on the dollar. European Central Bank head Mario Draghi reminded trading partners to "refrain" from language that could cause currency volatility.

A weak dollar would potentially boost US exporters but cause headaches for all other trading nations.

In comments to CNBC that helped the dollar recover some lost ground, Trump said Mnuchin had been misquoted.

The Treasury secretary told reporters Thursday: "We are not concerned with where the dollar is in the short term, it is a very liquid market and we believe in free currencies."

But Mnuchin's apparently hands-off approach was taken as reinforcing a broad offensive in trade built on the "America First" platform,.

It drew the ire of French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

"We want exchange rates to reflect economic fundamentals... and we shouldn't play with these rates," Le Maire said in Davos.

Business leaders in Davos have this week offered a broad welcome to controversial tax reforms enacted by Trump's Republicans, which slashed the headline rate of US corporate tax. But European political leaders fear a "race to the bottom" as the United States jockeys for an edge among foreign investors.

NICE OR NASTY 

A year ago, the Davos spotlight was claimed by China's communist leader Xi Jinping, who took up the torch of global trade to the delight of the well-heeled audience then anxious about Trump's inauguration.

The Davos elite are keen now to see which version of Trump will speak on Friday -- the business-friendly tycoon or the leader who berated the rest of the world at the UN General Assembly last September.

"I think they've already built down their expectations so far that anything he may say that's conciliatory, they'll be grateful for," Robert Kaplan, senior fellow at Washington's Center for a New American Security, told AFP at the forum.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel "stole the show" at Davos already, Kaplan added, after the European leaders used separate speeches on Wednesday to push back hard against the Trump manifesto.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump to bring 'America First' to World Economic Forum

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump will take his populist message directly to the world's political and business elite later this month, becoming the first US president to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos in nearly 20 years.

Trump -- who ran for president on a nationalist "America First" platform -- will mingle at the annual Alpine festival of globalism in Switzerland, and perhaps offer a few views of his own, the White House said.

"The president welcomes opportunities to advance his America First agenda with world leaders," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

"At this year's World Economic Forum, the president looks forward to promoting his policies to strengthen American businesses, American industries and American workers."

A string of US presidents have avoided attending the annual upscale event, fearing a sojourn to a European ski resort would make them look out of touch.

The last president to go was Bill Clinton, who attended in 2000.

The gathering might seem antithetical to Trump's brand of politics, but the White House insists his message will be the same surrounded by chalets as it would be in Washington.

LOOKING TO MAKE HIS MARK?  

Trump, a real estate mogul-turned-president, has rarely shied away from the rich and famous, but may have additional geopolitical incentive to attend.

Last year, the forum was dominated by the appearance of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Xi became the first Chinese leader to go, picking up the mantle of defender of free trade and globalization in the face of Trump's protectionist rhetoric.

"No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war," Xi warned, fueling a sense of rapidly growing China stepping into a space vacated by the United States.

During a decades-long spending spree, China has bankrolled infrastructure projects from Sri Lanka to Zambia, often earning political influence in the process.

Last year, the Trump administration was represented by informal emissary Anthony Scaramucci, who challenged Beijing to match words and deeds.

Firms were also quick to point out the gap between Xi's rhetoric and the realities of doing business in China, which is a frequently tortuous affair.

'AMERICA FIRST'   

But it is unclear how Trump's pitch for "America First" trade will play among the disciples of a global rules-based order.

"The question appears to be whether he'll play to the global Davos audience or use his speech to shock the crowd with the anti-globalization rhetoric he loves to use back home," said Scott Mulhauser, former chief of staff at the US Embassy in Beijing.

"The two sides of Trump stand in particular contrast on trade and globalization and may even both appear in the same speech," added Mulhauser.

"So this one should be fascinating -- and the signals he sends will be heard at home and across the globe."

Since coming to office in January 2017, Trump has ripped up or sought to renegotiate a series of trade pacts that underpin global commerce.

A series of investigations into Chinese trade practices have put his administration on a collision course with Beijing.

This year's Davos gathering takes place January 23-26, with a theme of "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World."

It is not yet clear when precisely Trump will attend.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pia Wurtzbach, ASEAN put world spotlight on Philippine chocolates

MANILA - Pia Wurtzbach swears by her Miss Universe crown that a local chocolate brand is better than the foreign competition, so much so that she sent a box to Hollywood blogger Perez Hilton.

And when Pacific Rim leaders converge in the Philippines this week to discuss free trade and nuclear tensions in the Korean peninsula, their spouses will get dark chocolates from Davao City, President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown.

Filipino chocolatiers are pushing back against imported candies that are being offered at cheaper prices while building niche markets abroad.

"Kapag tinanggal mo yang mga brand na yan, hindi mo talaga mapapansin yung difference kasi masarap talaga siya," Wurtzbach told ABS-CBN News.

(If you strip the brand names, you won't notice the difference because it's really delicious.)

Hilton asked for samples of the chocolate brand she was endorsing when she posted a photo on Instagram, Wurtzbach said. The gossip writer was among judges who voted unanimously for the Filipina beauty queen during the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant.

Foreign brands such as Cadbury and Meiji have been offering smaller servings at around P20 per bar to compete on price with local brands such as Goya, endorsed by Wurtzbach.

Still, Filipinos prefer local brands due to their "level of sweetness that suits local taste preferences," research firm Euromonitor International said in a study.

Chocolates and chocolate-covered bars such as Nips and Cloud 9 from tycoon John Gokongwei's Universal Robina, accounted for 61 percent of the market last year, according to Euromonitor.

Davao-based Malagos Chocolates has built a steady following abroad with its dark chocolate bars and tablets that dissolve into drinks. Spouses of ASEAN leaders will get to try both this week, courtesy of Honeylet Avancena, the President's partner.

 Philippine cacao gives Malagos Chocolates its unique flavor, said lead chocolatier Rex Puentespina told ABS-CBN News.


"It has to be local because we really have to promote sustainability para magtulong-tulungan tayo (We need to help each other)," he said.

Malagos is experimenting with chocolate-covered dried fruits and more Instagram-friendly packaging to attract more clients, especially in hotels, Puentespina said.

The company's foreign clients include a Singaporean ice cream shop that uses Malagos in its concoctions, he said.

"Tourism arrivals there is very high and it's close to us, but it's a tough market also because all the major brands are there and they are price-sensitive, he said.

For Wurtzbach, international recognition for Philippine chocolates is overdue.

"I think it's about time na ma-recognize worldwide ang isang Filipino brand na kaya din naman to be at par with international brands," she said.

(I think it's about time that a Filipino brand is recognized worldwide, that it can be at par with international brands.)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pope Francis is Time 'person of the year'

NEW YORK - Time magazine on Wednesday named Pope Francis its person of the year, saying that in nine months in office the head of the Catholic Church had become a new voice of conscience.

"For pulling the papacy out of the palace and into the streets, for committing the world's largest church to confronting its deepest needs and for balancing judgment with mercy, Pope Francis is TIME's 2013 Person of the Year," wrote managing editor Nancy Gibbs.

"Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly -- young and old, faithful and cynical -- as Pope Francis.

"In his nine months in office, he has placed himself at the very center of the central conversations of our time: about wealth and poverty, fairness and justice, transparency, modernity, globalization, the role of women, the nature of marriage, the temptations of power."

The runner-up for the accolade was NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has been granted asylum in Russia and with whom Time published an exclusive interview conducted over email.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com