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Palestinian move makes Canada deal 'hard': Trump

Palestinian move makes Canada deal 'hard': Trump

RTHK5 days ago
Palestinian move makes Canada deal 'hard': Trump
Donald Trump's Truth Social post came soon after Canada's announcement that it is recognising a Palestinian state. File photo: Reuters
US President Donald Trump said it will be difficult to make a trade deal with Canada after the country announced it is backing Palestinian statehood.
"Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh' Canada!!!" he wrote on Truth Social.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carney announced on Wednesday that Canada is planning to recognise a Palestinian state at a meeting of the United Nations in September.
Canada's announcement followed similar moves by France and Britain.
Israel and its closest ally, the United States, both rejected Carney's statements.
Canada and the US are working on negotiating a trade deal by August 1, the date Trump is threatening to impose a 35 percent tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Carney said on Wednesday that tariff negotiations with the Trump administration have been constructive but that the talks may not conclude by the deadline. (Reuters)
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Vietnam should heed the risks of high-speed rail losses
Vietnam should heed the risks of high-speed rail losses

AllAfrica

time13 minutes ago

  • AllAfrica

Vietnam should heed the risks of high-speed rail losses

As Vietnam embarks on building its first high-speed rail (HSR) system, the financial struggles and failures of similar projects worldwide offer important lessons and insights. While Vietnam has only recently moved toward implementation, many countries have operated advanced HSR systems for decades. The experiences of these early adopters provide a valuable roadmap of potential pitfalls to avoid. The financial unsustainability of high-speed rail is a global phenomenon. According to the OECD, most HSR projects worldwide operate at a loss. This is supported by a World Bank study of 258 transport infrastructure projects across 20 countries, which found that nine out of ten exceeded their initial budgets and 84% had inaccurate revenue forecasts. The study's author, Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, noted that a mere 0.5% of all projects were completed on time, within budget and delivered their anticipated benefits, often because governments rushed approval before conducting thorough feasibility studies. Even the most celebrated HSR systems are not immune. Japan's Shinkansen, the pioneer of high-speed rail, required the government to cover nearly 100% of its 380 billion yen construction cost (roughly US$17 billion today) and had lost around $100 million by 1972. Similarly, China operates the world's most extensive HSR network but faces mounting debt nearing $900 billion, with only 6% of its 45,000-kilometer network reportedly profitable. More recent projects highlight specific modern challenges. Indonesia's Jakarta–Bandung high-speed rail, a joint project with China, saw its budget balloon from $5.5 billion to $7.3 billion. Reliant on Chinese loans, the line was already reporting $200 million in annual losses upon opening in 2024. In Taiwan, a $15 billion HSR project launched in 2007 suffered continuous losses for years, with deficits reaching $1.73 billion by 2014. This was largely due to fierce competition from low-cost airlines and passenger volumes falling to nearly half of projections. These cases underscore the importance of cautious planning, realistic financial projections and a thorough assessment of long-term viability. Failure to account for these factors can lead to HSR projects becoming unsustainable financial burdens. Profitability and capital recovery time of global high-speed railway projects. Graphic: The Vietnamese / Luat Khoa Magazine Vietnam need not look abroad for cautionary tales; its own domestic urban rail projects have already suffered from the same issues plaguing HSR globally. Both the Cat Linh–Ha Dong line in Hanoi and Metro Line 1 in Ho Chi Minh City have been marred by severe cost overruns, prolonged delays and continue to operate at a loss. What is particularly concerning is that these are relatively modest urban projects, far less complex than the proposed North–South HSR system. The Cat Linh–Ha Dong line serves as a stark case study. Contracted to a Chinese builder, its budget ballooned from an initial $552.8 million to $886 million. The construction timeline stretched to nearly 10 years (2011–2021) for a railway that runs only 13 kilometers at a top speed of 80 km/h. Financially, the project is unsustainable. In 2024, it reported a post-tax profit of just $600,000—a mere 0.07% return on the original investment—and remains dependent on heavy government subsidies. Current estimates suggest a staggering 6:1 subsidy ratio, meaning for every $1 in ticket revenue, the government provides $6 in support. The financial unsustainability of the Cat Linh–Ha Dong project is apparent. Based on ticket revenue alone, the line would need 247 years to recover its $886 million investment. Factoring in its 2024 net profit of just $600,000, the payback period stretches to an astonishing 1,438 years. This calculation does not even account for its annual operating cost of over $24 million. Despite this sobering precedent, Vietnam is now undertaking its largest-ever public investment: the North–South High-Speed Railway. Approved by the 15th National Assembly in November 2024, with a budget of $67.34 billion for a 1,541-kilomater route, the project's projected cost has already increased by over $35 billion from its initial concept. To mitigate the immense financial risk, the government is shifting its strategy. A revised Law on Railways, along with new resolutions, now allows domestic enterprises to participate as primary investors. As experts like Associate Professor Tran Dinh Thien and Associate Professor Bui Quang Tuan argue, 'The mindset that only the state can build national infrastructure is outdated,' suggesting the project could catalyze the growth of Vietnamese industries. However, this new public-private approach is already facing public anxiety, particularly over the decision to allow VinSpeed—a recently established company with a charter capital of just $230 million—to register for the $67.34 billion project. VinSpeed, a key potential investor, has publicly stated it will 'accept potential losses' and is participating not for land but 'to serve the nation.' The company acknowledged that 98% of global high-speed rail projects are unprofitable but did not clarify whether these expected losses would be borne by its own capital or through state-supported loans, raising concerns about the project's financial transparency. This lack of clarity has been compounded by domestic media coverage that has largely focused on the project's potential, leaving little room for critical discussion of its risks. Procedurally, the project deviates sharply from international best practices. Core assessments for ridership, financial modeling and technology sourcing have yet to be finalized. Even more troubling is the timeline: the official feasibility study is not due until the fourth quarter of 2026, just months before the scheduled groundbreaking in December. This means companies are registering to invest in a multi-billion-dollar project before a formal feasibility report even exists. Financially, the project's costs are already an outlier. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has explained that extensive use of elevated tracks and tunnels will push the estimated cost to around $43.6 million per kilometer—more than double the World Bank's global average of $17–21 million per kilometer. Despite all these unanswered questions, planning deficits and alarming cost projections, irreversible actions like land clearance and resident relocation are already underway in many provinces. Graphic: The Vietnamese / Luat Khoa Magazine The HSR era began in October 1964 with Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen, a project that laid the groundwork for a global wave of HSR development. Yet, in the decades since, only one project is widely regarded as a true financial success: the Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) line connecting Paris and Lyon in France. Inaugurated in 1981, the Paris-Lyon TGV was built for a then-record low of just $4 million per kilometer for a total length of 417 kilometers, and was financed without direct government subsidies. This technical and commercial success was proven almost immediately. The line transported 10 million passengers in its first year, a number that quickly doubled, leading to an internal rate of return (IRR) of 12%—allowing the project to recover its initial investment in just 12 years. This success has endured to this day. By 2023, the TGV network carried 122 million passengers and generated 9.7 billion euros in revenue (approximately $11.3 billion), solidifying its status as one of the few HSR models in the world to achieve long-term commercial viability. This article was published in English by The Vietnamese and originally published in Vietnamese by Luat Khoa Magazine. It is republished here with kind permission.

EU suspends retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth US$107 billion, keeps reinstatement option
EU suspends retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth US$107 billion, keeps reinstatement option

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  • South China Morning Post

EU suspends retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth US$107 billion, keeps reinstatement option

The EU announced the suspension on Tuesday of its retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth 93 billion euros (US$107 billion) after Brussels struck a deal with Washington last month. Advertisement 'The commission has today adopted the necessary legal procedures to suspend the implementation of our EU countermeasures, which were due to kick in on August 7,' EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said. The European Commission, in charge of trade policy for the 27-country bloc, had prepared a list of US goods to target if talks with the United States failed to end in a deal. The EU's countermeasures were set to target a raft of US exports, ranging from soybeans to planes, cars and whisky. But commission president Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord with President Donald Trump on July 27, as an August 1 deadline loomed for steep levies. Advertisement Following the deal, EU exports are now set to face across-the-board tariffs from August 8 of 15 percent -- higher than customs duties before Trump returned to the White House, but much lower than his threatened 30 percent.

Cold War fears return as Russia lifts intermediate-range missile restrictions
Cold War fears return as Russia lifts intermediate-range missile restrictions

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timean hour ago

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Cold War fears return as Russia lifts intermediate-range missile restrictions

Russia has declared that it no longer considers itself bound by a self-imposed moratorium on the deployment of nuclear-capable intermediate range missiles, a warning that potentially sets the stage for a new arms race as tensions between Moscow and Washington rise again over Ukraine. In a statement on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry linked the decision to efforts by the US and its allies to develop intermediate range weapons and preparations for their deployment in Europe and other parts of the world. It specifically cited US plans to deploy Typhoon and Dark Eagle missiles in Germany starting next year. The ministry noted that such actions by the US and its allies created 'destabilising missile potentials' near Russia, which were a 'direct threat to the security of our country' and carried 'significant harmful consequences for regional and global stability, including a dangerous escalation of tensions between nuclear powers.' It didn't say what specific moves the Kremlin might take, but President Vladimir Putin has previously announced that Moscow was planning to deploy its new Oreshnik missiles on the territory of its neighbour and ally Belarus later this year. 'Decisions on specific parameters of response measures will be made by the leadership of the Russian Federation based on an interdepartmental analysis of the scale of deployment of American and other Western land-based intermediate-range missiles, as well as the development of the overall situation in the area of international security and strategic stability,' the Foreign Ministry said. The Russian statement follows President Donald Trump's announcement on Friday that he's ordering the repositioning of two US nuclear submarines 'based on the highly provocative statements' of Dmitry Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012 to allow Putin, bound by term limits, to later return to the office. Trump's statement came as his deadline for the Kremlin to reach a peace deal in Ukraine approaches later this week.

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