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Jihad in Canada – Edmonton Terrorist Attack Leaves Five People Injured…

Not the Amish… 
EDMONTON, Canada (Reuters) – Canadian police on Sunday arrested a man whom authorities said they believe acted alone to carry out violent “attacks of terror” in the western city of Edmonton, injuring a police officer and four pedestrians with two vehicles and a knife.
A graphic surveillance video shows a Chevy Malibu hitting a police officer standing in front of a football stadium at about 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, sending him flying into the air. The driver gets out of the car and appears to stab the officer multiple times before fleeing.
A flag of the Islamic State militant group was found inside the Malibu, after the suspect ran off, said Rod Knecht, police chief of Edmonton, Alberta’s provincial capital.
The suspect, who authorities have not identified, was arrested several hours later following a car chase across a busy downtown street during which he intentionally sought to hit pedestrians, police said.
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Oh My, "Killers" – Wilbur Ross Smacks Canadian Airline Company Bombardier With 220% Countervailing Duty…

Whoo-doggies, Wilburine ain’t messing around with this dispute.
U.S. aerospace manufacture Boeing filed an unfair trade complaint against Canadian aerospace company Bombardier stating the Canadian government was subsidizing the manufacturing of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft.  Canada does subsidize their airline manufacturing, everyone knows this is true – even Canadians admit it.

Boeing was seeking an 80% import tariff on purchase contracts from U.S. airline carriers.  Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross looked into the trade dispute and agreed with the position of Boeing.  However, the Commerce Dept. did not stop at 80%. Wilburine estimated, then initiated, a whopping 219.63% countervailing duty assessment against Bombardier.
U.S. Commerce Department Announcement:

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft from Canada, finding that exporters of this merchandise received countervailable subsidies of 219.63 percent.
The Commerce Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft based on these preliminary rates.
“The U.S. values its relationships with Canada, but even our closest allies must play by the rules,” said Secretary Ross. “The subsidization of goods by foreign governments is something that the Trump Administration takes very seriously, and we will continue to evaluate and verify the accuracy of this preliminary determination.”

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NAFTA Round Three Begins in Canada – Secretary Wilbur Ross Discusses NAFTA, North Korea and China…

Round three of NAFTA begins this weekend in Canada.  According to a leaked possible itinerary obtained by Reuters the auto-sector “rules of origin” will be discussed on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The auto sector rules of origin have been exploited by China to send auto manufacturing parts into Mexico, including massive electronic components, where they are assembled and shipped into the U.S. under NAFTA.  This trade maneuver is an exploitation, a back-door per se’, of the NAFTA agreement by China which Secretary Ross and USTR Robert Lighthizer are committed to stopping.
Secretary Wilbur Ross explains in this recent CNBC interview. WATCH:


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First Lady Melania Trump Represents U.S.A. at Invictus Games in Canada…

(Via Reuters) TORONTO  – U.S. first lady Melania Trump, on her first solo international trip on Saturday, to Toronto, met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and invited Britain’s Prince Harry to visit the White House.
Mrs. Trump, 47, who is leading the U.S. delegation attending the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games for wounded soldiers in Canada’s biggest city, also wished the U.S. team luck in a brief speech:


“On behalf of my husband and our entire country, I want to thank you and your families for all you have sacrificed to keep us safe,” Trump said at a reception for the U.S. team.
“I also want to wish you good luck but I know you won’t need it,” she added. “Take that fighting spirit that I know you have and bring home the gold.”
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NAFTA Joint Statement Concluding Round Two – Mexico City…

UPDATE: The second round of NAFTA renegotiation concluded today in Mexico City, Mexico. A joint statement was released:
Washington, DC – On September 5, 2017, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo concluded the second round of the renegotiation and modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Mexico City, Mexico. This concluded five days of meetings by a team of subject matter experts covering various negotiation topics.
Building on the progress made in the First Round of the renegotiation and modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, today successfully concluded the Second Round of negotiations, which took place in Mexico City from September 1 – 5.
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NAFTA Update: Outlook for Agreement Virtually Disappears – Canada's Chrystia Freeland Demands Control of U.S. Legislation…

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is scheduled to speak publicly alongside Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland Tuesday to conclude the second round of talks toward a new North American Free Trade Agreement.
However, you can put a fork in any optimism for a successful NAFTA outcome as Canada now takes liberal virtue-signaling to exponential levels of moonbattery and demands control of the U.S. legislative process.
One source familiar with the discussions said Canada’s Chrystia Freeland is demanding the U.S. pass “a federal law stopping state governments from enacting right-to-work legislation“.  Obviously Team U.S.A., understanding the entire construct of a U.S. Constitutional Republic and the underlying constitution therein, would not, could not and has not agreed to such a ridiculous Canadian request.
What this indicates is how far left the Canadian NAFTA negotiation team are willing to go in advancement of social justice issues that have no bearing on actual trade.  They are politically virtue-signaling to their own internal domestic audiences rather than actually engage in discussion of trade parameters.
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Canadian Labor Leader Supports Trump Position on NAFTA Auto Origination Rules…

Well, this is rich.  A Canadian labor union leader, Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor, has called President Trump “batshit crazy” yet supports the U.S. NAFTA position on Auto origination.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is said to be leveraging a position that NAFTA rules on auto manufacturing require 70% of source origination from inside the U.S., Mexico and Canada.  Canadian union leader Jerry Dias agrees with the position in order to Make Canada Great Again.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wants more than 70 percent of North American content in vehicles built in the United States, Canada and Mexico under a renegotiated NAFTA trade deal, the head of Canada’s largest private sector union said on Friday.
Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor, told reporters he suggested in a recent meeting with Ross that the level be raised to 70 percent from the current 62.5 percent, and that the U.S. commerce secretary suggested a “more aggressive” level.

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Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Now Fears NAFTA Collapse…

Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo has a different perspective today than prior to the beginning of NAFTA renegotiation.
Before NAFTA round #1 began Minister Guajardo stated angrily if the U.S. did not concede to the demands of Mexico his government would flood the U.S. with drugs and illegal aliens.
However, in the face of actually seeing NAFTA discussions possibly leading to collapse, Mr. Guajardo has a change in tone.  The minister is looking at alternatives, bi-lateral trade deal options are analyzed, and the reality of the Mexican economic position is settling in.
What happens next? Mexican officials are dispatched to Washington DC to enlist the lobbying efforts of K-Street and their allies in the U.S. CoC.  “Halp“:

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico sees a serious risk the United States will withdraw from NAFTA and is preparing a plan for that eventuality, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday, calling talks to renegotiate the deal a “roller coaster.”
[…]  “This is not going to be easy,” Guajardo said at a meeting with senators in Mexico City. “The start of the talks is like a roller coaster.”

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Trade Stuff: Trump Refuses Chinese Steel Compromise – Mexico Sees NAFTA Collapsing, Turns to China…

There is an saying people use to criticize President Trump based on the people around him:

“People are policy, and policy is people”…

The basic argument is that Mr. Trump can be swayed or distracted from his mission by his staff and those he hires.
This is a common catch-phrase brought about by historic and conventional wisdom.  However, when applied to President Trump, it’s also just plain wrong.
No similar cliche is appropriate for Donald Trump, nothing deters or influences him from his larger decades-long ‘America-First’ economic strategy. Nothing.
Donald Trump is the policy. There’s no assembly of advisers on economic issues that can ever sway his instinct.
Example:

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump last month rejected a Chinese proposal to cut steel overcapacity, despite the endorsement of some of his top advisers, the Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Beijing proposed cutting steel overcapacity by 150 million tonnes by 2022 in a deal twice rejected by Trump, who instead urged advisers to find ways to impose tariffs on imports from China, the paper said, citing the sources.

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President Trump Continues Strategic Trump Doctrine – Economic Leverage To Produce National Security Objectives…

It must be pointed out; it is up to us to do so.  The corporate media are hopelessly deficient in their coverage and explanations of how strategic objectives for national security are being delivered through a Trump Doctrine via economic leverage.  The results are stunningly effective, yet few have noticed, and even fewer seem willing to articulate.

The latest example of the geopolitical Trump Doctrine in action comes via Venezuela, and in the wake of a fraudulent Maduro election – the Trump administration’s economic and financial policy delivering sanctions against the rogue Maduro regime:

(Via LA Times) The Trump administration on Friday slapped sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela, barring banks from any new financial deals with the government or state-run oil giant PDVSA.
The sanctions Trump signed by executive order are bound to dramatically escalate tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. and exacerbate the country’s economic crisis.

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