U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears on FOX Business to discuss the U.S-China ‘phase-one’ trade agreement, the benefits, enforcement mechanisms and retention of tariffs and particular sanctions until compliance can be reviewed.
Phase-1 establishes the baselines; resets the ability of U.S. companies to enter China; establishes rules for market entry; and sets the parameters for enforcement.  Any future phase is contingent upon evaluation of phase-one enforcement mechanisms.

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Project Veritas spent some time in Iowa with the revolutionary communists at the heart of Bernie Sanders campaign. In a video expose’ (see here) the Veritas group showcase Bernie Sanders campaign workers who are prominent Antifa activists. The calls to violence are quite disturbing but familiar for those who followed the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, RevCom, or the Democrat Socialists of America; all factions of the same far-left ideology.

(Des Moines, IA) A Bernie Sanders Presidential Campaign Field Organizer, Kyle Jurek, was secretly recorded bragging about his extreme left-wing fringe views, calling for violence and death to those who oppose Sanders’ radical policies. Kyle Jurek, who works out of the Sanders campaign Iowa office, has been paid at least $9,775 since starting in his official campaign role. Project Veritas Action Fund’s undercover journalists secretly recorded Jurek’s statements for months; recording footage on multiple occasions where he lashes out against Sanders’ Democratic opposition, President Trump’s supporters, and others.

The recordings give insight into the mentality of many Sanders staffers and what they truly believe. In the video, Jurek details his expectations for the 2020 Presidential election and emphatically states that cities will “burn” if President Trump wins re-election. (read more)

Protests against the regime of Ayatollah Khamenei erupted today in Tehran following the government admission of shooting down Ukraine Airline Flight 752. In scenes that look familiar to the 2010 ‘green movement’, thousands of Iranian protestors, many young women, have gathered to express their opposition to the dictatorial government.
Stunningly, it has been reported that the U.K. Ambassador in Tehran was arrested for filming the protests.

(Via Daily Mail) Iranians have gathered in the streets of Tehran to demand the resignation of Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei after the regime admitted it had mistakenly shot down a civilian passenger plane.
Angry crowds gathered on Saturday night in at least four locations in Tehran, chanting ‘death to liars’ and calling for the country’s supreme leader to step down over the tragic military blunder, video from the scene shows.

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The results of a massive turnout vote in Taiwan reflect the country wishes to remain free from the overbearing influence of communist China.

(Hong Kong Free Press) […] Taiwan’s incumbent leader Tsai Ing-wen has won Saturday’s presidential election, defeating her Beijing-friendly rival Han Kuo-yu by a wide margin.
[…] With 8.1 million votes as of 10:30pm, Tsai won the highest number of votes of any presidential candidate in Taiwan’s history of democratic elections. Han, on the other hand, received just over 5.5 million votes, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

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Earlier today, via Tweet, President Trump announced the ‘phase-one’ agreement between the U.S. and China will be signed January 15, 2020.

As U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer previously stated this very challenging agreement will be the first-ever attempted trade deal between a state-run economy and a free-market economy.   It will take time to see if communist China will actually follow-through on the terms and conditions.
Ambassador Lighthizer noted the principle challenge is generating an enforceable set of standards -within a written agreement- between a totally controlled communist economic system (China) and a free-market system (USA). No other nation has ever tried, and there is no preexisting trade agreement to facilitate a mapping. What Lighthizer was/is constructing will be what all nations will start to use going forward. This is historic stuff.
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Perhaps the status of the economy in China is even worse than many have suspected.  An interesting public statement from their State Council today highlights a promise by China to support jobs during their current economic downturn.

Against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s protests toward Beijing oppression, a rebellion of the people against the command authority is the single-most feared action by those in charge of government.  If the economy is in worse position than previously thought, this latest statement might explain some of Beijings’ recent trade and economic concessions.

(Reuters) – China will step up support for employment to cope with rising pressure on job security due to internal and external challenges, the cabinet said on Tuesday, as the world’s second-largest economy slows.
Simultaneous downturns in the services and manufacturing industries pose a major problem for authorities seeking to keep a lid on unemployment and prevent social unrest as economic growth decelerates to near three-decade lows.

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An interesting tweet from President Trump today with a clearly coded message to North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un.  Within the message President Trump notes an ongoing dialogue with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping about Kim’s status.

The hostage negotiations happening against the backdrop of a negotiated ransom, the U.S-China “phase-one” trade agreement:

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will make good on a pledge to purchase more than $40 billion per year of U.S. agricultural products under the recently agreed Phase 1 trade deal between the two countries, China’s top agriculture consultancy said on Friday.

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USTR Robert Lighthizer made a rare appearance in the media to discuss the “big picture”, and some specifics, around the U.S-China phase-one agreement.
Ambassador Lighthizer notes the principle challenge is generating an enforceable set of standards -within a written agreement- between a totally controlled communist economic system (China) and a free-market system (USA).  No other nation has ever tried, and there is no preexisting trade agreement to facilitate a mapping.  What Lighthizer is constructing will be what all nations will start to use going forward.  This is historic stuff.
Arguably, next to President Trump, USTR Lighthizer is one of the most consequential members of the administration. What he is constructing, with the guidance of President Trump, is going to influence generations of Americans.

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[Transcript] MARGARET BRENNAN: This week, the U.S. and China agreed on the first phase of a trade deal that would roll back some American tariffs. It’s expected to be signed in early January. We’re joined now by the U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, the top negotiator in those talks with Chinese officials. Good to have you here.
U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT LIGHTHIZER: Thank you for having me, MARGARET.
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U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has released a two-page summary fact sheet [pdf link here] outlining the “Phase-One” agreement in principal.  From research into the material the principal agreement appears to be an 86-page document covering nine chapters.  The fact sheet covers the top lines of seven chapters:

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It is exactly as we thought it would be.  There are multiple interests, nuances in details, a completely overlooked big picture, and the financial pundits are flummoxed.
CTH has followed the granular details over several years. In advance of a “phase one” announcement we noted a necessary paradigm shift needed to understand most of the dynamics at play [SEE HERE]. It is all going according to a very visible plan.  President Trump tweets:

China has agreed to a $40 billion agricultural purchase from the U.S.  In exchange for that purchase President Trump will be maintaining the full 25 percent tariffs on approximately $250 billion of Chinese imports and reducing to 7.5 percent the tariffs on approximately $120 billion of Chinese imports (round two).  [Those were 15% prior to reduction]
The net difference (dropping 15% to 7.5%) is around $9 billion in tariff relief.  Additionally, the U.S. is “suspending” the December 15th tariffs pending compliance verification with the non-tariff issues and China pledges.
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