August 8, 2017 / 5:29 PM / 2 hours ago
Trump appears to grant China banks sanctions reprieve after U.N. dealWASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Trump administration appears to be granting Chinese banks dealing with North Korea a temporary reprieve from threatened U.S. sanctions to give Beijing time to show it is serious about enforcing new U.N. steps against Pyongyang, U.S. officials said.
The White House has also held off on much-anticipated trade action against China after Beijing backed U.N. Security Council sanctions passed on Saturday, although it is unclear how long President Donald Trump will delay this given domestic pressures to make good on campaign promises to crack down on unfair trade practices.
Washington has made clear it is reluctant, for the moment, to take steps that would antagonize China when its cooperation is needed to tighten the screws on its ally and neighbor North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.
U.S. officials and U.N. diplomats say the threat of unilateral U.S. “secondary sanctions” against Chinese firms with North Korean ties and trade pressure from Washington helped persuade China to drop opposition to the new U.N. sanctions.
“It played an important role to get China on board,” one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The 15 Security Council members voted unanimously on Saturday to impose the toughest U.N. sanctions yet on North Korea after it tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in July. The measures are designed to choke off a third of North Korea’s $3 billion annual export revenue.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-diplomacy-idUSKBN1AO2KP?il=0
