by Pamela Williams
When President Trump said he made a deal with China, it seems he did. It is a good deal for US coal miners! President Trump said he wanted to help the coal miners get back to work, and he has made just a deal that will do that. North Korean coal shipments have been turned away at Chinese ports, and some are sitting abandoned.
China has placed massive orders for the steel-making commodity from U.S. producers. This is amazingly good news for the United States. It seems President Trump’s time with China’s President was well spent, and Trump is delivering his promise to bring back jobs to the US.
China is North Korea’s bread and butter, largest source of trade, and aid. This rejection of North Korean coal is meant to deprive Pyongyang of important source of foreign currency.
Surely North Korea is in shock and should be rethinking it present day threats to the United States.
This is a big deal, as buying US coal marks a major change in China’s direction. No US coal was exported to China between late 2014 and 2016. In February, coal shipments from the US to China was estimated to be more than 400,000 tons.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/11/china-rejects-north-korean-coal-shipments-opts-for-us-supplies-instead.html
I just found an update to this news article.
Senior North Korean Envoy Visits Beijing After China Coal Ban!
North Korea’s main ally said it would ban coal imports about a week after North Korea tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile, for the first time since US President Donald Trump took office.
As we Americans know Barack Obama did nothing to deter North Korea’s aggression toward the United States. He seemed to think if he ignored it, it would just go away. In fact, it has gotten progressively worse. Now North Korea and the United States is at a boiling point, and President Trump has asked for China’s help.
“The visit of the North Korean vice foreign minister is normal diplomatic contact and exchange between China and North Korea,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
North Korea has said to China it was “dancing to the tune” of the United States for halting coal imports over the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
In a Reuters interview, President Trump said he welcomed China’s ban, Beijing could solve the challenge posed by the North “very easily if they want to,” turning up pressure on China to do more.
Chine later said the crux of the matter was a dispute between Washington and Pyongyang.
This was originally reported by REUTERS.
Source:
http://www.todayonline.com/world/senior-north-korea-envoy-visits-beijing-after-china-coal-ban
Published on Feb 18, 2017
China will suspend all imports of coal from North Korea starting Feb. 19, the country’s commerce ministry said in a notice posted on its website on Saturday, as part of its efforts to implement United Nations sanctions against the country.
The Ministry of Commerce said in a short statement that the ban would be effective until Dec. 31.
The ministry did not say why all shipments would be suspended, but South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported last week that a shipment of North Korean coal worth around $1 million was rejected at Wenzhou port on China’s eastern coast.
The rejection came a day after Pyongyang’s test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, its first direct challenge to the international community since U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.
China announced in April last year that it would ban North Korean coal imports in order to comply with sanctions imposed by the United Nations and aimed at starving the country of funds for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
But it made exceptions for deliveries intended for “the people’s wellbeing” and not connected to the nuclear or missile programs.
Despite the restrictions, North Korea remained China’s fourth biggest supplier of coal last year, with non-lignite imports reaching 22.48 million tonnes, up 14.5 percent compared to 2015.