You can watch Jake Tapper’s brow grow increasingly furrowed in real time as White House Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, smiles through the narratives and talks clearly about what is happening with President Trump’s tariff agenda.

This is a REALLY good interview.  Kevin “quokka” Hassett just keeps outlining clear examples of what regional tariffs are happening and why there are distinctions.  The interviewer Jake Tapper keeps trying to throw confusion at Hassett, who smiles and explains the reason why Tapper’s framework is silly. WATCH:

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appears on ABC This Week, to explain and clarify the purpose of the recently announced tariff exceptions.

According to the explanation, there are two “sector specific” tariffs in Semiconductors and Pharmaceuticals that will be announced in the next few months.  The recently announced “exemptions” are products that will be included in the sector specific tariffs that are also identified as “non-negotiable” tariffs.

Semiconductor items, automobiles, steel and aluminum as well as pharmaceutical products will fall under categories or ‘sectors’ of products that will be non-negotiable in all trade agreements for the tariff levy applied.  Any nation who enters negotiations for new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) will not be permitted to negotiate trade on semiconductor products, automobiles, steel, aluminum and medications.  WATCH:

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Within the Executive Order modifying the April 2nd global reciprocal tariffs [SEE HERE] section #4, we note a massive increase in the duty fees for mailed products from China formerly shipped under ‘de minimis’ rules.

REMINDER: The de minimis loophole comes from back in the 1930s. The idea back then was, say you went on a vacation to Paris, you shouldn’t have to file customs paperwork or pay taxes if you decided to ship some little Eiffel Tower statues to your friends back home.

Congress in 2015 then raised the de minimis threshold from $200 to $800. However, the e-commerce world exploded, and Chinese companies began using the de minimis loophole to ship cheap goods (ex. Temu and Shein) into the USA direct to consumers without paying any customs duty.

On April 2nd, as part of the global trade reset and tariff structure, President Trump revoked authorization for Chinese goods to transfer to the USA using the de minimis rule. The de minimis exemption was cancelled for all products coming out of China. The rule change only targeted China and Chinese shippers. No one else. [XO HERE]

Yesterday, as part of the modification to Executive Order #14257, President Trump has increased the baseline tariff for product mailed from China [de minimis tariff] from 30 90 percent to 120%.

Mailed products from China now face a 120% tariff.  Additionally, minimum tariff amounts increased from $75 to $100 effective May 1st, and from $150 to $2oo effective June 1st.  [See Section #4]

Example: If you order a $20 shirt from China effective June 1st, you will pay $220.  $20 for the shirt, and $200 minimum tariff.

There is no way Chinese E-Commerce can survive this level of tariff/duty fees.

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Appearing 4/8/25 on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined some of the specifics within the negotiation strategy of President Trump as it pertains to the ongoing global trade reset.

Bessent notes at the request of President Trump, all administration officials were to pull back from commentary following the “liberation day” tariff announcement.  The objective was to give all nations’ time to absorb the impact while reducing the reverberation noise.

After a few days, President Trump then began to assess the inbound communication from various country leaders and their request for renegotiation.  The priority schedule permits the honest trade allies to come first in the que to the office of U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer, as approved by President Trump.

Japan and South Korean delegations and trade representatives will be the first trade teams engaged; not coincidently both of those ASEAN nations have pre-positioned manufacturing investment in the USA, the truest measure of a trade partnership.  The outcome of these first agreements will form the baseline for every nation thereafter.

Both Japan and South Korea have North American manufacturing systems in place; however, it is likely more investment in U.S jobs and products being created in mainland USA will remain a top priority.  Additionally, for these nations the largest element of their “reciprocity” will come from a commitment to reduce the trade deficit with better terms and bigger contracts for U.S. product imports.

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President Trump is swinging the BIG UGLY hammer against the panda and the Beijing dragon behind it.

President Trump (Via Truth Social) –  “Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set.

Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”  [LINK]

It must also be noted, this global reset and tariff system is visibly the fracture point between the Tech Bros and MAGA economic nationalists.  Elon Musk and Bill Ackman are now directly in opposition to President Trump and the global trade reset.

You know that ‘cleaving’ I was talking about? The issue of the Tech Bros -vs- MAGA?  Well, tariffs are the trigger.

Tech Bros do not know borders. Their industry and business sector are borderless. Tariffs are bold economic lines around a border.

• Musk vs Navarro
• Ackman vs Lutnick
• Sacks vs Hassett

Tariffs are where the interests of the Tech Bros financially diverge from MAGA. The globalists and multinational corps who know this, specifically the EU team, will exploit this fracture point. They will target U.S. Tech industry in their tariff avoidance strategy to create division.  This is what EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is talking about when she says “countermeasures”.  Watch for it.

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White House senior policy advisor for Manufacturing and Trade, Peter Navarro, appears on CNBC television for an almost 20-minute long debate of Wall Street vs Main Street.

Navarro represents MAGAnomic nationalism, the rest of the CNBC panel represent the interests of Wall Street and their friends and neighbors who manage hedge funds and connected financial instruments.  Navarro held his own.  WATCH:

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The de minimis loophole comes from back in the 1930s. The idea back then was, say you went on a vacation to Paris, you shouldn’t have to file customs paperwork or pay taxes if you decided to ship some little Eiffel Tower statues to your friends back home.

Congress in 2015 then raised the de minimis threshold from $200 to $800. However, the e-commerce world exploded, and Chinese companies began using the de minimis loophole to ship cheap goods (ex. Temu and Shein) into the USA direct to consumers without paying any customs duty.

Yesterday as part of the global trade reset and tariff structure, President Trump revoked authorization for Chinese goods to transfer to the USA using the de minimis rule. The de minimis exemption has been cancelled for all products coming out of China. The rule change only targets China and Chinese shippers. No one else.

[See Executive Order Here]

The minimum duty is $25, and the tariff rate is 30% for all products mailed from China into the USA that previously qualified under the de minimis rule.

Beyond tariffs or sector specific countervailing duties, the removal of China to use the $800 de minimis exemption will destroy their economy.  There is no way for manufacturers in China, marketed into the USA, to be able to survive if they are forced to collect and organize the requirements for U.S. custom and import duties. They will simply dissolve.

FACT SHEET – […] “Following the Secretary of Commerce’s notification that adequate systems are in place to collect tariff revenue, President Trump is ending duty-free de minimis treatment for covered goods from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong starting May 2, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. EDT.

Imported goods sent through means other than the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption will be subject to all applicable duties, which shall be paid in accordance with applicable entry and payment procedures.

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lol… Don’t you just love it when exactly what you knew would happen, starts to happen – SEE PREDICTION HERE.

This is, quite simply, a super-blast of Trumpian fuel that will overwhelm the DC outrage machine’s capacity to keep up.  Exhausted media heads will explode as the machine’s narrative engineers struggle -against all odds- to keep the system operating…. “Stop the Hammering“.. lol

WASHINGTON DC – The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday night that it is temporarily suspending accepting packages sent from China and Hong Kong until further notice.

The suspension is effective immediately, the USPS said. Letters and flats are not included in the suspension, it said.

The postal service did not provide a reason for the suspension or say how long it expects it to last.

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As he outlines the controversial trip by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, Tucker Carlson asks many questions that people are thinking. {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:

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The conflict of interest is simply off-the-proverbial charts here.   Tom Donilon is a deep DC swamp operator and has been for his entire career.  Donilon is connected to every tentacle of the Obama and Biden administrations.  Donilon is also the Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute.

We have written about the conflicts {Go Deep Here} and {Go Deep Here}, but this move by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is stunningly fraught with serious conflicts of interest.

Tom Donilon’s literal job description at Blackrock is to “leverage the firm’s expertise and generate proprietary research to provide insights on the global economy, markets, geopolitics and long-term asset allocation,” and the State Dept has just appointed him as Co-Chair of the U.S. foreign policy advisory board.

Specifically, the Biden administration has just put Blackrock Investment Institute Chairman Tom Donilon in charge of U.S-China policy.

How in the proverbial hell can this be permitted?  That’s way beyond a rhetorical question.   The Dept of State has selected a team of Wall Street control agents to guide global U.S. policy.

(STATE DEPT) – Today, Secretary Blinken announced his selections for the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board.

Since its establishment in 2011, the Board has provided independent advice on the conduct of U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy, consistent with each Secretary of State and administration’s evolving priorities for it.

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