When President Trump began confronting China on trade practices, there was always a likely totalitarian Chinese response. The inevitable response when confronting the duplicitous dragon is always an attack; it’s the only way Beijing knows how to respond.

Last week Beijing threatened to take action against any corporation who would be perceived as working against the interests of the state.  This week communist Beijing begins doing exactly that:

(SCMP) China’s antitrust regulator slapped a US$23.6 million fine on Ford Motor Company’s Chinese venture for restricting sales prices in its hometown, taking the second such action against US carmakers in three years as trade tensions deteriorated between the world’s two largest economies.

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Let’s be clear about a few things regarding “carbon taxes”.  First, the system of taxing carbon emissions, also known as “cap-n-trade”, has absolutely nothing to do with climate change.  Second a “carbon tax” is the holy grail for the totalitarian globalist world view.
The concept of a tax on carbon emissions was developed inside the same financial network of multinational monetary interests that control the current global trade system.  Powerful financial interests directly connected to The World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO), together with global banking interests connected to Wall Street and all international stock-trading systems, were the first to put together a “cap-n-trade” proposal after the financial collapse in 2008.

The basis of a carbon tax, which is the foundational element of a cap-n-trade system, is based on the same model(s) used by multinational banks within the global trade markets.
The cap-n-trade system, is a financial scheme; an actual trading system where global leaders (IMF) would determine the equity of energy that should be proportioned to each person around the world.
From that global determination, an average of sorts, any excess use of energy by any individual or entity would lead to a payment, a tax, into a global trade market.  The scale of the money involved -tens of trillions- is why a cap-n-trade system is the ‘holy grail’ to control human behavior.
In reality the system, as proposed, works to redistribute individual wealth in the same manner that exifiltration of wealth works in commodity and durable goods trading.  If the global energy footprint per person is an allowance of, say, $100/month; and you consume $150/month in carbon energy, you would be taxed on the excess $50 at a rate determined by those who control the trade market.  The whole thing is a financial scheme.
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After departing the D-Day commemoration in the U.K, President Trump and First Lady Melania traveled to Shannon, Ireland.   President Trump and Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Leo Varadkar hold a press availability before bilateral talks. (Video and Transcript)

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[Transcript] PRIME MINISTER VARADKAR: So, I just want to welcome all the members of the press who traveled here. And it’s a great pleasure to be able to welcome President Trump to the Uni — to the United States — to Ireland. And certainly not the first time he’s been here, or in County Clare. This is the first he’s been here as President of the United States. Only, I think, the sixth time an American President in office —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think so.
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President Donald Trump gives an extensive interview to Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain.  President Trump discusses the overall visit and the state dinner with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

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…“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.” 

~ Niccolò Machiavelli

CTH has been fully immersed in the battle against the Chamber of Commerce Decepticons for so long we have to be careful of our language.  This battle is the heart of Wall Street’s war against MAGA Main Street.
Republican senators from Mitch McConnell’s ‘decepticon caucus’ are now warning President Trump they will fully engage in an open effort to stop him from confronting the corrupt corporate systems that finance their life of indulgence.  Tariff’s on Mexico are a bridge too far for Tom Donohue and the multinational Wall Street lobbying system.  The republicans who benefit from K-Street lobbyist payments are now on full display.

Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has one major career alliance that has been unbroken and unchanged for well over two decades.  That alliance is with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and specifically with CoC President Tom Donohue.  [SEE HERE and SEE HERE].
However, decepticon senator John Kennedy (U-LA) has personally spoken to Trump and outlines the president will not back down in the face of their threats:

“He’s as serious as four heart attacks and a stroke,” Kennedy told reporters at the Capitol. “A 5% tariff isn’t going to break the bank. A 25% tariff is a different story, but we are a long way from there.” (link)

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After President Trump and Prime Minister May hold bilateral meetings and a working lunch they are anticipated to hold a joint press conference at 8:45am EST / 1:45pm BST.
UPDATE: Video and Transcript Added

[Transcript] PRIME MINISTER MAY: This week, we commemorate the extraordinary courage and sacrifice of those who gave their lives for our liberty on D-Day, 75 years ago. As leaders prepare to gather here from across the world, it is fitting that we begin with a celebration of the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, enduring partners who stood side-by-side on that historic day and every day since.
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Counsel of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett appears on CNBC to discuss his decision to leave the White House; the purposeful importance of President Trump’s tariff threat on Mexican imports; and why overall trade reform is important.

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When Kevin Hassett notes best models without interest rates, and the perplexing discussion centers the appearance of two distinct economies, they are talking ABOUT THIS.  MAGAnomics is what happens in “the space between” Wall St and Main St.
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Acting chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney appears on Fox News to answer Chris Wallace question about whether President Trump is serious about punishing Mexico with tariffs for their lack of action on illegal central American migrants.
Mulvaney skewers Wallace and predicts the tariffs will hit. Additionally Mulvaney sets the record straight on the impact of tariffs on consumers.
Generally, watching a Chris Wallace segment is worthless; however, Mulvaney’s linguistic Ginsu delivery is so good, this one is worth watching:

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All your interests are belong to us…. There was previous discussion of how Beijing would respond if/when their economic interests were challenged. In essence, the prediction was that China would drop the panda mask and revert back to their oppressive totalitarian tendencies.

It is an interesting dynamic because the more the communist state moves to punish and control western business interests, the less likely any western investment flows into China. It’s a simple question: Why would anyone want to engage a business relationship inside a totalitarian system that could move at any moment to control your business?

(South China Post) China will publish a list of “unreliable” foreign entities deemed to have damaged the interests of Chinese firms – a move set to ratchet up tensions in its escalating conflict with Washington, after the US government blacklisted Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.
The Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that it would blacklist foreign businesses or individuals that violated market rules and contractual obligations, or took “discriminatory measures” to hurt Chinese business rights and interests, as well as national security and interests.

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Oh, he’s done it again… President Trump spotlights the truth that everyone prefers to  avoid discussing: “Are the Drug Lords, Cartels & Coyotes really running Mexico?”

Everyone knows the truthful answer to that question is a resounding YES, Mexico is a narco-state controlled by drug cartels and political system of bribes and payoffs therein.
The most recent evidence was in testimony within the El Chapo Guzman trial, where witnesses testified to paying-off government officials, including the former President of Mexico:

Reuters – Accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman once paid a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, a former associate testified on Tuesday that he previously told U.S. authorities. (link)

So again, the premier Gordian-knot cutter known as President Donald Trump, dispatches with obtuse dialogue concerned about delicate sensibilities, and he gets right to the truthful nub of the matter.  What makes Trump’s direct-speak so powerful is the brutal honesty of it.
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