Wow. Go Wilburine!  U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has slapped a whopping $4.4 billion countervailing duty on Chinese cabinet manufacturers.  The rate of manufacturing subsidy identified within the ‘wood cabinet‘ study shows a massive 229% subsidy rate via discounted land, free lumber, electricity, raw materials, direct grants from government and discounted loans from Chinese banks to enhance export incentives.

The current study and duty only applies to wood cabinets and vanities, but if you ever wondered how come Chinese furniture is so cheap, well, it’s not a stretch to consider those same subsidy rates likely apply to their household furniture and wood products.

(Bloomberg) Add $4.4 billion in imported cabinets to the long list of Chinese goods slapped with U.S. levies in the escalating trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday it will ask the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of the wooden cabinets and vanities from China based on subsidy rates of as much as 229%. Commerce issued a preliminary determination in response to a petition filed earlier this year by the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance, alleging at least $2 billion in harm from the Chinese shipments.

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Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy appears on Fox News to discuss the latest nonsense from former FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok.
Roosterhead brings up a good point that Strzok left out Robert Mueller in his civil lawsuit against the DOJ and FBI.  Hmmm?….

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Democrat Congressman Joaquin Castro, represents a district that encompasses San Antonio, Texas.
Using his twitter account today, Representative Castro posted a list of local donors to the Donald Trump campaign directing his followers to target those ordinary citizens.  [Tweet here]
Pay close attention to this current method of political targeting; and overlay the law of unintended consequences to the current gun control discussion surrounding “redflag” laws.
Ultimately what far-left Joaquin Castro is doing is exactly what will happen when arbitrary rules of defining people for targeting are pushed into law.  History is full of examples where this exact process was used.  None of those examples ended well for those who were defined.
Posting a list on the public square; of ordinary citizens who just hold a different political outlook; and targeting them for confrontation, is just fueling ANTIFA toward violence against those on the list.   This is what cultural progressives mean when they say: “by any means necessary.”
Joaquin Castro’s twin brother, Julian Castro, is one of the Democrat candidates for president, and was previously President Obama’s HUD secretary.  Together Joaquin and Julian personify an ideology that supports political targeting, by any means necessary – including violence, of their political opposition.
Political targeting is exactly what President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder were doing when the DOJ requested the donor contribution lists, “schedule B’s”, from the IRS (Lois Lerner) so they could generate their ‘secret research project‘ targeting list.  These actions are directly, openly, publicly and specifically, the weaponization of government.
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Former FBI Agent Peter Strzok has filed a lawsuit in DC federal court seeking reinstatement and back pay as a result of his firing in 2018.
According to the lawsuit (full pdf below) Strzok is claiming his first amendment right to free speech was violated and his fifth amendment right to due process was violated.
Upon initial review, this lawsuit looks like a stunt; motive undetermined, but perhaps related to the pending release of the IG report on FISA abuse where Strzok was a key participant.
A federal civil lawsuit using the DC circuit and the U.S. Constitution as a primary protective assertion does not follow the path of a serious claim for wrongful firing or termination of employment.
Traditionally, and with a genuine claim, wrongful termination actions would go through a formal complaint and review process within the U.S. Department of Labor.  Hiring a lawyer and filing a federal civil lawsuit claiming disingenuous constitutional rights violations reeks of an ulterior motive for publicity; ie. purposeful political value in alignment with Strzock’s allies in Lawfare.   This is a political stunt… 100%
Peter Strzoks lawyers are: Aitan D. Goelman, from Zuckerman Spaeder LLP;  Richard A. Salzman and Julia T. Quinn from Heller, Huron, Chertkof & Salzman PLLC.
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National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow, appears on CNBC to discuss the U.S-China trade conflict that led to yesterday’s stock market drop. Additionally, Kudlow notes the strong key performance indicators that highlight the strength of the U.S. Main Street economy.

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Larry Kudlow also held a press conference.
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White House trade and manufacturing policy advisor Peter Navarro, appears with Lou Dobbs to discuss the current status of the U.S.-China trade conflict.
Within the interview Navarro discusses the impact of China devaluing their currency as a strategy to avoid U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.  WATCH:

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China needs to buy dollars to backstop their own currency (¥uan). When China trades with the U.S. they hold the return dollars as a peg against their weak currency.  Remove the flow of dollars (lessen exports) and they start to run out of strong pegged currency.
What is happening today is not as much direct devaluation by China; rather they are intentionally allowing their currency to drop in value, in an effort to lower export prices and off-set any tariffs from the U.S.   Simultaneously, Beijing is spending internally, burning cash, to keep their economy from weakening.  Their Yuan burn rate is greater than the influx of higher valued dollars needed to hold their position.
They cannot keep this position indefinitely.
First, here’s a solid interview with former CEO Gerald Storch on how the currency devaluation leads to lower prices for U.S. consumers.  Again, emphasizing the point that U.S. consumers are not paying for the tariffs against China.  Watch:

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Earlier today President Donald Trump delivered remarks from the White House about the shooting incidents in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH.  [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript]  – THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. My fellow Americans, this morning, our nation is overcome with shock, horror, and sorrow. This weekend, more than 80 people were killed or wounded in two evil attacks.
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Originally outlined over two years ago. Reposted by request, because we are watching it play out in real time: Believe me, at the heart of the professional/political opposition the issue is the money; there are trillions at stake.

President Trump’s MAGAnomic trade and foreign policy agenda is jaw-dropping in scale, scope and consequence. There are multiple simultaneous aspects to each policy objective; they have been outlined for a long time, even before the election victory in November ’16.
If you get too far into the weeds the larger picture can be lost. CTH objective is to continue pointing focus toward the larger horizon, and then at specific inflection points to dive into the topic and explain how each moment is connected to the larger strategy.

Today we repost an earlier dive into how MAGAnomic policy interacts with multinational Wall Street, the stock market, the U.S. financial system and perhaps your personal financial value. Again, reference and source material is included at the end of the outline.
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[Unrelated, Chinese financial markets are off-the-charts tonight as the currency is dropping like a rock, Beijing is intervening to stop the bleeding…. and Hong Kong workers are going on strike. Yikes, could be trouble.]

Earlier today while departing from Morristown municipal airport, President Trump and First Lady Melania delivered remarks to the media. [Video and Transcript below]

“Hate has no place in our country”…

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[Transcript] –  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I want to extend our condolences to the people of El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. They’re incredible people and they’ve been through a lot.
I just want to also thank the law enforcement in both places. The job they’ve done is incredible. I also want to congratulate them. I mean, nobody could have done what they’ve done. This could have been — as bad as it was, it could have been so much worse.
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