Quantcast

Mohamed El-Erian Outlines Stunning Success of President Trump’s Tariff, Trade and Economic Policy Agenda

Wharton Professor and noted economist Mohamed El-Erian appeared on Fox News to discuss the jaw-dropping success President Trump is having with his global trade reset.

As noted by El-Erian no one, including El-Erian himself, expected President Trump to be able to navigate a global trade and economic reset with such stunning success.  The entire economic policy is being driven by the personal influence of President Trump as he leverages tariffs and policy incentives to the benefit of the USA economy exclusively.

The scale of Trump’s agenda is difficult to overstate, and China is now positioned to feel incredible pressure to align Beijing policy with the requests of President Trump.  “We thought there would be a massive retaliation against the US, there hasn’t been” El-Erian noted.  “We’re collecting $800 Billion of tariff revenue” and “inflation has waned,” he said.  This is a remarkable situation that few economists could accurately predict.  WATCH:

.

This is not a surprise to readers here as we have discussed the Trump trade agenda with clear, non-pretending eyes.  The ASEAN trip by President Trump is a masterclass in leveraging trade relationships and creating isolation for China.  The downstream consequences for Canada continue to build as the Carney administration doubles down on their entrenched and futile opposition.

(more…)

USTR Jamieson Greer Provides Background on U.S-China Trade Discussions – Trump Meeting with Xi Pending

United States Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer is a very solid member of the Trump trade team.  Having learned at the knee of former USTR Robert Lighthizer, you can see the stability of thought in the consistency of approach.

USTR Greer outlines the ongoing discussions between the U.S. and China on the framework of a stable trade relationship.  Against a myriad of geopolitical chess moves on the economic and trade front, Greer and Treasury Secretary Bessent play key roles in executing the Trump Doctrine.

.

In the background of the President Trump and Chairman Xi meeting, we can see the broad contours of President Trump’s strategy toward both the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the China-Canada trade relationship.

If President Trump can formulate a strong, actionable and enforceable free trade agreement with Chairman Xi, it will undercut the ability of Canada to assemble cheap component goods not available in the U.S. manufacturing equation for total cost of goods.  This puts Trump in an even stronger position heading into the 2026 USMCA (CUSMA) dissolution phase.

Additionally, despite the mainstream thoughts to the contrary, putting distance between Russia and China is not averse to the interests of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who would strategically prefer to do business with the ‘West’ over Beijing.  However, China does not want to see their Biden-created tentacle weakened in Russia.

(more…)

Sunday Talks – Secretary Scott Bessent Outlines Details of U.S-China Trade Deal to Be Signed in South Korea

CBS stenographer Margaret Brennan attempts to play the role of geopolitical trade expert in this interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.  She fails miserably.

Secretary Bessent gives a few more details on the upcoming trade agreement that will be signed by President Trump and Chairman Xi at the upcoming meeting in South Korea.   Brennan asks if the export controls on Chinese rare earth minerals “will be lifted.”  Bessent reminds Brennan the export controls have never been imposed.  lol  WATCH (or read):

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is traveling with President Trump. He joins us from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Good evening to you.

TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Margaret, good to speak to you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You have been negotiating directly with the Chinese. You said today a truce may have been reached. The threat on the table was a 155% tariff on China. The President said that would be effective November 1. Is that off the table? What are the terms?

SEC. BESSENT: Margaret, I think we had a very good two day meeting. I would believe that the- so it would be an extra 100% from where we are now, and I believe that that is effectively off the table. I’m not going to get ahead of the two leaders who will be meeting in Korea on Thursday, but I can tell you we had a very good two days. So I would expect that the threat of the 100% has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime.

(more…)

Sunday Talks – Secretary Scott Bessent Makes U.S-China Trade Announcement the Media Were Unprepared to Hear

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made the legacy media rounds Sunday saying that he and his Chinese negotiating counterpart had reached an agreement on export controls for rare earth minerals, that would lead to the United States not imposing 100 percent tariffs on China.

Secretary Bessent said that trade negotiations with China had been very productive. The plan was to create a deal for President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping this week in South Korea. However, NBC’s Kirsten Welker was not prepared for Bessent to make a positive announcement about U.S-China trade negotiations.

Because the script in front of her did not factor in the announcement by Bessent, what you see is Secretary Bessent breaking news about a U.S-China trade agreement, but Welker’s pre-scripted follow up questions didn’t align with that news. Welker ends up asking about tariffs and rare earth minerals, after Bessent says a deal to avoid tariffs and retain rare earth mineral access was developed.

Welker then continues asking about U.S-China trade conflicts until Bessent makes the point of saying something akin to ‘can you not hear me, the trade friction is resolved.’ Welker is then forced to abandon her script and ask about Canada. WATCH:

.

(more…)

President Trump Delivers Remarks at Working Session of ASEAN Leaders

Speaking to leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), President Trump delivered remarks during the working session.

.

(more…)

President Trump Impromptu Presser Aboard Airforce One Traveling to Asia – Audio

Here’s the audio of President Trump discussing his trip to Asia to attend the ASEAN and APEC summits in Malaysia and South Korea respectively.

President Trump is anticipated to meet with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping in South Korea and there is a rumor that Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un might meet somewhere. President Trump even made mention that if media put out the word, he would be willing to meet with Chairman Kim at the DMZ while he is in South Korea.  Audio Below:

.

(more…)

President Trump Delivers Remarks to Press Departing for ASEAN Summit in Malaysia

There has been a slight bit of ambiguity in President Trump’s schedule as he heads to Asia for the first time in his second term.  The President will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia first.  The focus of President Trump and the ASEAN nations will be economics and regional stability.  Then President Trump will then head to Japan.

Washington and Tokyo reached a trade agreement earlier this year, which included the promise of $550 billion of investments in U.S. projects. Interestingly, Japan is in a moment of political transition, as Sanae Takaichi was elected to be the country’s first female prime minister. Takaichi is a protégé of Shinzo Abe, a former prime minister and dear friend of President Trump.  The meeting between Takaichi and Trump will likely hold a lot of very positive energy for both leaders; there is great respect.

President Trump will then head to South Korea, which is hosting this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. President Trump has said he’ll sit down with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping while he’s there for a much-anticipated meeting.  Additionally, President Trump will be discussing tariffs on South Korean autos and directly addressing stalled trade negotiations.  There is also a possibility for President Trump to visit North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and reconnect after several years of separation.  There is a lot of potential for this overall visit to Asia.

.

(more…)

There It Is – White House NEC Director Kevin Hassett Notes Something VERY Important

White House Chair of the National Economic Council (NEC), Kevin Hassett, walked out to the press pool to discuss the latest excellent inflation figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today {BLS REPORT HERE}.  However, the insufferable press pool wanted to talk about other things.

I’ll get to the BLS data below – with a gold nugget just for you, don’t share it.  But first, NEC Director Hassett also let something slip in his responsive comments that most will miss.

When asked about Trump’s decision to terminate all trade negotiations with Canada, Hasset noted the discussions were frustrating, and “The Canadians were very difficult to negotiate with.” Then comes the key point (03:28), “The fact that we are now negotiating with Mexico, separately, reveals that it’s not just one add, there’s frustration that has built up.”

What Hassett just confirmed again, as if we needed more evidence, is that the trilateral trade agreement -the USMCA- is not going to exist once Trump opens it up for renegotiation.  The USA team is already working on a separate bilateral trade agreement between the USA and Mexico, proactively.  The USMCA is dead – we just have not made it official yet.  WATCH (prompted):

.

On the inflation data, the September inflation rate was 0.3 percent, much lower than all economists and pundits predicted.  The tariffs are having no impact on the rise of consumer prices.  In fact, the sectors with the most imported goods are the sectors with the lowest inflation.

(more…)

President Trump Terminates “All Trade Negotiations” With Canada

President Trump makes a statement from his Truth Social account that all trade negotiations with Canada are immediately terminated following the Canadian government purchasing ads to lie to the American people about tariffs.

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts. TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” President DJT

At first review this might seem like an angered response to a fabrication by the Canadian government of Prime Minister Mark Carney. However, there is much more to this background story as CTH readers are well aware.

First, rather than make any substantive policy changes, Canada is organizing a new trade relationship with China as an offset to the trade conflict with President Trump. {GO DEEP} This will make Canada a dumping ground for cheap Chinese goods, which then becomes a problem for the U.S.

(more…)

Keep an Eye on This – Canada Working Diligently on New Era Trade Partnership with China, ASEAN Summit Looming

Having provided deliberate advice and counsel quietly on these matters, it is important to continue watching the developments as they unfold.  There are trillions at stake.

President Trump’s global trade and economic reset is well underway. It is not an overstatement to say the western world economic structures within trade, banking and finance are in opposition to his efforts.  Alas, as we have outlined extensively, part of the larger phase of this reset will come in the likely dissolution of the U.S. Mexico, Canada trade agreement (USMCA).

Canada is taking actions to replace their U.S. trade relationship by aligning more with the EU and China.  This is a very dangerous approach for the Canadian people, because in the short-term there may be benefits; however, in the longer term the downsides are quite severe. Remember, Xi Jinping wanted Mark Carney to win the parliamentary election.

[SOURCE] – Canadian Foreign Minister’s visit to China promotes the warming of relations and new opportunities for educational cooperation! This is the most high-level contact between the two countries since 2018.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand paid an official visit to Beijing and held important talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The visit not only commemorates the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Canada and China, but also marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership between the two countries. During the meeting, the two sides discussed issues such as trade, energy, environment and public health, laying the foundation for the “normalization” of Canada-China relations.

(more…)