South Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-in is the Asian version of Barack Obama, and much like North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un essentially irrelevant in this geopolitical confrontation.  Take a seat, or make a sandwich…. it matters not.

Behind the fanciful Korean ‘denuclearization talks‘ and lofty ‘peace initiatives‘ a far more consequential geopolitical economic battle is taking place between the worlds largest two economies.  U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping are engaged.

The Sandwich Maker Summit –  (Reuters) – “South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a surprise meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday in an effort to ensure that a high-stakes summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump takes place successfully, South Korean officials said.

[…]  Their two hours of talks at the Panmunjom border village came a month after they held the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade at the same venue. At that meeting, they declared they would work toward a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

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Credit to Fox Business for finally admitting the role Xi Jinping played in leveraging North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to become more adversarial to the U.S.- North Korean denuclearization talks and summit in Singapore.  Perhaps this is the first reality shift for Western media to discuss, with greater accuracy and honesty, the extent of influence held by China over the activity of North Korea.  The DPRK is a proxy province of China.

The first U.S. trade delegation visit to China happened May 2-5.  Then there was an unexpected second trip by Chairman Kim to Beijing (May 8-9). Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping instructing Chairman Kim to change his approach publicly in order to provide China with leverage in the next U.S./China trade summit which took place shortly thereafter on May 15-18.  China is leveraging North Korea for a better trade outcome.

As noted by President Donald Trump during his Oval Office remarks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the specifically scheming and cunning influence by Chairman Xi, what we customarily call ‘Red-Dragon-China‘, was -and is- accepted by President Trump as evidence of Beijing’s manipulative intent.

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Current Steel and Aluminum tariff exemptions expire June 1st.  Secretary Ross scheduled to be in Beijing, China June 2nd, 3rd, 4th.  The G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec is on June 8th and 9th.  The tenuous Singapore summit was previously scheduled for June 12th.

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday on multiple issues.  Much of the debriefing to the Senate revolved around Secretary Pompeo’s contacts and coordination with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un.

The testimony is interesting for those who are following the DPRK issues.  During many of the exchanges Secretary Pompeo clarifies his certainty that Kim Jong-un fully understood the U.S. position surrounding denuclearization; and for several weeks was progressing toward the June 12 summit with clarity of outcome between the U.S. and North Korea.

Then something happened…

[Watch the Briefing HERE] Secretary Pompeo’s briefing when overlaid with the timing of the first U.S. trade delegation to China (May 2-5); and then the second trip by Chairman Kim to Beijing (May 8); highlights the connectivity of Chairman Xi Jinping instructing Chairman Kim to change his approach publicly in order to provide China with leverage in the U.S./China trade summit which took place shortly thereafter (May 15-18).

As noted by President Donald Trump during his Oval Office remarks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the specifically scheming and cunning influence by Chairman Xi, what we customarily call ‘Red-Dragon-China‘, was -and is- accepted by President Trump as evidence of Beijing’s manipulative intent.

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The MSM is insufferable in their intentional disconnect of the dynamic behind the North Korean denuclearization talks.  It was Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping who brought the DPRK to the table; and it was Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping who pushed North Korea away from the table in their manipulative efforts to extract trade concessions. Every other review of the geopolitical gamesmanship is chaff and countermeasures.

U.S. President Trump is holding massive steel and aluminum tariffs as an economic sword of Damocles over the head of Beijing during ongoing trade negotiations.  Chairman Xi sought to increase his own leverage by pulling North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un away from bilateral peace and denuclearization talks.  However, POTUS Trump responded to the Beijing power-play by announcing a Section 232 trade review over the entire auto-industry; and then bolstered his counter-move by cancelling talks with Kim Jong-un.

Red Dragon didn’t expect President Trump to respond so effectively to the customary schemes notoriously famous in any Chinese negotiation encounter. I really believe Chairman Xi underestimates how adept POTUS Trump is at cutting through the obfuscation and obtuse moves.

President Trump simply doesn’t operate in the land of traditional diplomatic discomfort… he doesn’t have any inclination to play these insufferable games.

Within minutes of President Trump withdrawing from the June 12th summit, Beijing realized all of their trade leverage was just wiped out.  Playing deceptive panda isn’t going to work this time.

(Via AP) – North Korea says it is still willing to sit down for talks with the United States “at any time, at any format” after President Donald Trump abruptly canceled his planned summit with Kim Jong Un.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan issued a statement Friday saying North Korea is “willing to give the U.S. time and opportunities” to reconsider talks.

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President Trump has made the decision to withdraw from the scheduled June 12th summit with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un.  [Copy of letter below]

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Ultimately the decision to withdraw is an outcome of changes in posture initiated strategically by China and Chairman Xi Jinping.  China hoping to leverage a U.S. trade outcome by playing the strings on DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un.

The timing of the meetings between China and DPRK, mirrors the changes in posture by the DPRK and reflects a transparency.  Communist Beijing is engaging with the Trump administration in traditional dragon-mode their zero-sum outlook.  In response, President Trump drops the Panda approach and confronts the manipulation directly.

Likely President Trump will immediately increase sanction enforcement and reposition again for a pending naval blockade.

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Big picture move by President Trump today that has massive, and generally misinterpreted, ramifications for any trade deal with China, EU and most importantly NAFTA.

China is using U.S. nuclear negotiations with North Korea as leverage for more beneficial trade outcomes; the communist regime is in full manipulative dragon-mode. President Trump can see through the economic play and is dropping the Panda outreach.  Eagle-one now hits back at Chairman Xi for deploying such dangerous tactics.

If you have been following trade nuance, the Automobile Sector is one of the biggest points of contention within varying trade negotiations. In the NAFTA discussion the auto-sector, via rules of origin, runs at the heart of NAFTA’s fatal flaw.

The fatal flaw is the use of Asian, mostly Chinese, auto components within auto manufacturing. Mexico and Canada arguing to allow more Chinese auto parts in North American manufacturing; and President Trump demanding more North American parts for North American auto manufacturing.

Many U.S. Auto manufacturers have moved to Mexico to exploit the NAFTA loophole (fatal flaw). Vehicles assembled in Mexico use cheaper Chinese parts and are shipped into the U.S. without any tariff under NAFTA rules.

It didn’t take long before EU auto-manufacturers, mostly German, to begin taking the same approach. Albeit to a lesser extent, German auto companies also invested in building vehicles in Mexico/Canada for tariff-free transfer into the U.S. This works out great for Canada and Mexico auto-workers, but not for the U.S.

In essence, the auto-sector is representative of much of the manufacturing exploitation by multinational corporations beyond vehicle production. China has supported this approach because they produce the components for multiple sectors (furniture, appliances etc).

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An important meeting today in the Oval Office between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.   Obviously the primary discussion was over the issues of North Korea nuclear program, and the possible denuclearization summit between President Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un.

Due to the importance of the topics discussed the traditional Oval Office greeting was extended, and both President Trump and President Moon Jae-in used the opportunity for an impromptu press conference.

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After a second meeting with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping, the voices behind Chairman Kim Jong-un changed their tone in media presentations and and became more hostile toward the goal of a denuclearization summit.  This example showcase Beijing exerting control over the DPRK to gain strategic trade and economic benefits.

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Economic security is national security. “Economic growth, national security, those are the Presidents’ two most important priorities” ~ Secretary Mnuchin.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discusses the ongoing trade negotiation with China and the specifics of sector-by-sector agreements in principle. The overall approach by the Trump administration is to balance the trade relationship through opening of Chinese markets to U.S. exports and retain stability within U.S. manufacturing sectors.

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The dragon is in the details…. and that’s where you find slayer-Secretary Wilbur Ross!

After over a year of discussions and structured way-points, China came into last weeks U.S. trade talks with outstretched steel fists. The delegation they sent to the negotiating table were some of the most loyal and die-hard communist leaders within their national economic team.

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears on Fox News Sunday for an interview with the insufferable swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace.  The primary topic is China and the ongoing trade discussions.  However, look at the stone cold stare from Mnuchin at the very end when he points out that Wallace never even brought up the important Iran sanctions.  If looks could kill, Wallace would have spontaneously combusted.

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