Biden cancels visit to Australia

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The White House said on Tuesday that Biden would return to the United States to attend meetings with congressional leaders as soon as Sunday after the G7 summit in Japan ended. He wants to ensure that Congress takes timely action to avert a default.

Biden spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday to let him know he is postponing his trip to Australia, the White House said. In addition, Biden invited him for an official state visit at a later date. The White House has also contacted the office of Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape to update him on the changes.

The background to this is that the US government is in danger of bankruptcy within days unless the Biden administration agrees with the Republicans in the US Congress on raising the debt ceiling. The feud has been dragging on for months. However, after a high-level meeting at the White House on Tuesday, there were signs of a rapprochement.

In the US, parliament sets a debt ceiling at irregular intervals and determines how much money the state can borrow. The debt ceiling is currently around USD 31.4 trillion (about EUR 28.6 trillion). This debt ceiling has now been reached and the US Treasury has to draw on the capital reserves – because the US is now no longer allowed to take on new debt to pay its bills. Biden and his Democrats need the Republicans in Congress to raise the debt ceiling. However, they oppose an increase without significant cuts in certain government spending.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that a possible government bankruptcy could occur as early as June 1. A default by the world’s largest economy could lead to a global financial crisis and a serious economic downturn. The US would no longer be able to pay most bills – millions of people could lose their jobs as a result. When a newly elected Republican majority in Congress delayed raising the debt ceiling in 2011, the US credit rating was downgraded for the only time in history.

Biden has attempted to resolve the dispute in several rounds of negotiations over the past few weeks – so far without success. Both he and Yellen warned of “disaster” if the government actually defaulted.

In addition to the US, the G7 countries also include Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Japan and Canada, as well as representatives of the European Union. The heads of state and government of the G7 group will meet in Hiroshima from Friday to Sunday (May 19-21) for this year’s summit. In addition to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and the problems of the global economy, the summit should also be about China’s role.

After that, Biden actually planned visits to the island nation of Papua New Guinea and Australia. On May 24 in Sydney, he wanted to participate in the meeting of the so-called Quad Alliance together with the heads of government of Japan, India and Australia.

(SDA)

Source: Blick