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The Morning Risk Report: Trump Administration Accelerated Sanctions After Election Day
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chairing a cabinet meeting in Tehran. The nation was the target of many of the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. PHOTO: IRANIAN PRESIDENCY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Good morning. The Trump administration issued a flurry of sanctions after Election Day, a move that could complicate foreign policy for the Biden administration, sanctions policy observers said.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced 307 designations of blacklisted individuals and entities between Nov. 3 and Tuesday, the last full day under the Trump presidency, according to data analysis from law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Sanctions designations at the end of the Trump administration moved at a faster pace than during the rest of President Trump’s time in office, with an average of about 1,000 entities and individuals blacklisted each year.
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Many of the Trump administration’s postelection sanctions were related to Iran or China, continuing a theme in 2020 as a whole, according to an analysis of designations data by the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, D.C., think tank. The organization’s study found that Iran was by far the most prominent target of U.S. sanctions last year.
The volley of postelection sanctions on Iran could be seen as the outgoing administration’s effort to complicate the Biden administration’s policy objectives, policy observers said. Advisers to President Biden have signaled the new administration would seek to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran, which would mean a lifting of nuclear-related U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.
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How Sanctions Policy Could Change in 2021
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Join us Feb. 11 for a discussion about the outlook for sanctions policy under President-elect Joe Biden and now that the U.K. is fully separated from the European Union. Register here.
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President Biden’s first-day agenda included revoking a permit granted by the Trump administration to allow developers of the Keystone XL pipeline to extend it across the U.S.-Canada border. PHOTO: EVAN VUCCI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Businesses prepared for an era of stricter regulation Wednesday as President Biden ordered a review of dozens of environmental policies, foreshadowing more stringent efficiency requirements for auto makers and appliance manufacturers, new limits on mining and drilling on federal lands and tougher emissions standards for power plants.
The actions were aimed at reversing former President Donald Trump’s deregulatory push in environmental regulation, prompting optimism among many executives backing renewable technologies, but irking others. Mr. Biden also took a range of other executive actions, including implementing a national mask mandate on federal property, revoking a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline and reversing a travel ban from several largely Muslim and African countries, officials said.
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China said after President Biden assumed office that it would sanction 28 American officials who served in the Trump administration as part of a testy send-off that included bidding the former president “good riddance” via Twitter.
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The parting shots from Beijing punctuated a tumultuous turn in bilateral relations under Mr. Trump, who over the past four years moved between friendly overtures toward Chinese leader Xi Jinping and aggressive rhetoric and punitive measures designed to punish China for trade imbalances, alleged technology theft and alleged culpability for the coronavirus pandemic.
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Tyson Foods agreed to pay $221.5 million to settle with plaintiff groups of poultry buyers that sued it for price-fixing claims, helping resolve a four-year legal battle over alleged collusion in the $65 billion chicken industry.
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Restaurant chains, supermarket operators and food distributors have accused Tyson, the largest U.S. meat company by sales and the nation’s top chicken supplier, and other major chicken companies of coordinating production and pricing to boost prices for staples such as chicken breasts, tenders and wings. Chicken suppliers have pushed back in court, pointing to economic factors they said drove poultry prices.
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China’s big telecom carriers asked the New York Stock Exchange to rethink their planned delisting, the latest twist in a to-and-fro about whether they should be allowed to trade in U.S. markets. In separate filings today in Hong Kong, China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Telecom Corp. said they had filed requests asking the NYSE to reverse its decision to delist their American depositary receipts. They said they had asked if a trading halt on their ADRs could be lifted in the meantime.
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President Biden is expected to nominate Michael Barr, a former Treasury Department official, to a top post overseeing national banks, according to people familiar with the decision. Mr. Barr, who would serve as comptroller of the currency, was assistant treasury secretary for financial institutions during the Obama administration. In that role, he helped craft the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
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Jack Ma made his first public appearance in nearly three months during a philanthropic event with 100 teachers in China. PHOTO: LIU YANG/VCG/GETTY IMAGES
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Embattled billionaire Jack Ma made his first public appearance in nearly three months, speaking via a video link at a philanthropic event on Wednesday, easing speculation about his safety and whereabouts. Spokespersons for the Jack Ma Foundation and Ant Group Co., the financial-technology giant that Mr. Ma controls, confirmed a Chinese media report that said he gave a speech to a group of teachers from rural schools.
It was the first time Mr. Ma has appeared in public since Oct. 24, when he gave a speech at a financial forum in Shanghai that drew the ire of regulators, who subsequently started scrutinizing his business empire. Mr. Ma has kept a low profile since the speech, sparking speculation about his whereabouts.
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Starboard Value LP is seeking to take control of agricultural giant Corteva Inc.’s board and replace its chief executive, according to people familiar with the matter. Starboard has privately nominated eight directors to Corteva’s 12-person board, the people said. Starboard is aiming to oust Corteva Chief Executive Jim Collins over what the activist says is mediocre performance. It has an unnamed replacement in mind.
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Mr. Biden will face numerous challenges, many resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. PHOTO: JIM WATSON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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President Joe Biden will lead a country with an aging population that is on shakier economic footing and is more politically polarized than at most points in recent years.
Key metrics of financial and social well-being show the challenges Mr. Biden faces as he moves into the White House. The coronavirus pandemic halted the 11-year economic expansion and drove up unemployment just as the typical American household was starting to enjoy sustained income growth. Americans were living longer—an improvement from a period when the opioid crisis eroded life expectancy—until the pandemic exacted a swift, deadly toll. One government official said life expectancy could decline by the largest amount since World War II once the government completes last year’s mortality figures.
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Investigators suspect malfunctioning engine controls and pilot efforts to troubleshoot the problem likely played a major role in an Indonesian airliner’s fatal plunge into the Java Sea earlier this month, according to people familiar with the details.
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Conagra, owner of food brands such as Reddi-wip and Birds Eye, is among the companies taking stock of their finances with an eye on potential tax changes. PHOTO: NATI HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Companies are ramping up their financial forecasting and planning to prepare for potential changes to the U.S. tax code under the incoming Biden administration, which are more likely now that Democrats control the Senate.
President Biden, during his campaign, proposed reversing elements of the 2017 tax overhaul that lowered the federal tax rate for companies from 35% to 21%. Changes to rules on global intangible low-taxed income also could result in a higher tax burden for companies.
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A coronavirus testing site on Wednesday in Beijing, where health officials said they had discovered the more-contagious U.K. variant of the virus. PHOTO: JU HUANZONG/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS
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Chinese health authorities have ramped up their efforts to contain a resurgence of coronavirus cases, as the country faces its worst flare-up since the pandemic first exploded there early last year.
Cities across the northern provinces of Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin have built temporary quarantine facilities, imposed lockdown measures on millions of residents and rolled out rounds of citywide testing. Armies of volunteers clad in protective gear, meanwhile, have fanned out across the affected areas, disinfecting empty streets and shops, according to state-media reports.
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Tension is rising between European authorities and Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE after officials said the companies had unexpectedly cut their deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines and put their immunization schedules at risk.
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Janet Woodcock, who has led the Food and Drug Administration’s drug review efforts for years, is slated to oversee the agency on an interim basis after the departure of Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Wednesday. President Biden has yet to nominate an FDA commissioner.
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Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics face a long list of obstacles—including the rise in Covid cases around the world and the need to speed up Covid-19 vaccinations globally—as they attempt to carry off the postponed Games in six months.
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