It is not coincidental that three events are occurring simultaneously:  (1) U.S.T.R. Lighthizer is conducting public hearings on Section 301 impacts; (2) a Chinese trade delegation is in the U.S. to re-initiate talks; and (3) U.S. President Trump conducts a roundtable meeting with congressional leadership over the Foreign Investment Risk Review and Modernization Act.

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[Transcript] 11:35 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for being here this morning, and thank you to Secretary Mnuchin for joining us. And congratulations. You’re doing a great job. We appreciate it very much, Steve.
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Cristhian Rivera is the illegal alien who killed 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa.  Today it is revealed that Rivera used fraudulent and stolen identification to apply for work, a VERY common way for illegal aliens to gain employment in the U.S.
The farm where he worked ran the social security number through the authentication process, after completing the I-9 form; however, they did not use E-Verify which is connected to the Department of Homeland Security.

IOWA – […] Cristhian Bahena Rivera,  the 24-year-old immigrant accused of abducting and killing Tibbetts, allegedly used a different name and provided false identification when he applied for employment at the farm just outside of Brooklyn, his employer said Wednesday.

Rivera worked at Yarrabee Farms in rural Poweshiek County for four years, Lang said. Yarrabee Farms is owned by multiple generations of the Lang family, including Craig Lang, former Farm Bureau President and prominent Iowa Republican.

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When discussing or reviewing trade deals, particularly NAFTA, it is important to remember two baselines: (1) The trade reset is President Trump’s personal legacy initiative; it’s personal – ignore media banter – it’s personal; like, the most important thing he ever thinks about. Always. 24/7. (2) President Trump has no multinational corporations or financial interests with leverage/influence over his decision-making.

There are trillions at stake.

We begin:

“We are already looking at all the issues. We might close this, not in a matter of hours, but these days. We still have next week,” Jesus Seade, designated chief negotiator of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, told reporters.

Here’s where it becomes important to note that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has twice asked Jesus Seade to remain AFTER hours when all other trade officials have concluded discussions. Closed-door conversations between Lighthizer and Seade; and no-one else. [Refer back to the two Trump baselines again]
Next, before reviewing the comments and presentations of the media regarding the U.S. Mexico NAFTA status; again reference the team approach, and the division of responsibility. Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is meeting with the twitchy Chinese delegation – again, their arrival is not a matter of scheduling happenstance; it is directly related to the ongoing 301 hearings that began two-days-ago, Monday.
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Under the auspices of making moves to block election interference from outside interests the government of Justin from Canada is moving to block internet content critical of Trudeau and his policies.
Simultaneously and ironically, the same Canadian government is spending millions lobbying U.S. politicians in Washington DC to retain their one-sided NAFTA trade benefits.  Funny that, eh?

CANADA […] Among other things, the government wants to do more to ensure foreign actors or money aren’t involved in elections, require more transparency for political messaging on social media and prevent political parties from setting up ostensible advocacy groups to support them and help skirt spending limits.

[…] Among the options:

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Sad Panda increasingly frustrated as disruptor Trump heaps vociferous praise on Chairman Xi, while simultaneously out maneuvering Beijing’s geopolitical economic strategy.
China expert Michael Pillsbury discusses the current environment around the Beijing leadership with Fox host Tucker Carlson.  This is really important. WATCH:

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What Pillsbury outlines is exactly what CTH predicted last year when we shared how the Red Dragon would be caught entirely off-guard.  They’ve never seen this approach before.
NOTE: The upcoming Chinese trade delegation is not showing up at the end of this month as a matter of scheduling happenstance.  What no-one in the financial/trade/economic media is connecting is the timing of their visit with USTR Lighthizers’ Section 301 Tariff hearings –SEE HERE.  August 20th through August 27th, you can guarantee the Chinese delegations will be all over those hearings; including dispatching their paid lobbyists to provide input on their behalf.
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Freight hauling trucks are like the lymphatic system within a healthy economy.  As the economy writ large needs to move stuff around, it’s the truckers who git-r-done; and no time in U.S. economic history has there been such a demand for haulers.
In a stunning Wall Street Journal Report they note Analyst group ACT Research says manufacturers are on track for 450,000 orders for heavy-duty trucks this year, easily breaking a 14-year-old record. In July alone, North American fleets ordered more than 52,000 trucks, the largest order in history.   Whoot, Whoot !!

(Via WSJ) An unprecedented run of orders for big rigs has pushed the backlog at truck factories to nine months, according to industry analysts, the largest since early 2006, when truckers stocked up to get vehicles in place before tougher environmental restrictions would take effect. Typically the backlog is about five months for the truck industry’s manufacturers, analysts said.

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Economic analysis can get weedy…. so a simple way to look at productivity is to think about baking bread in your kitchen.
If you were going to bake 4 loaves of bread it might take you 2 hrs start to finish. However, if you were going to bake 8 loaves of bread it would not take you twice as long because most of the tasks can be accomplished with simple increases in batch size, and only minor increases in labor time.  Your productivity measured in the last four loaves is higher.
Economic Productivity is measured much the same way, within what’s called a production probability equation.  Additionally, if two hours of your time are worth $40, each of four loaves of bread costs $10; but if you make 8 loaves in the same amount of time the labor cost is only $5/per loaf.
From 2007 through 2017 the average rate of productivity increase was 1.3%.  However, in the second quarter of 2018 productivity jumped to 2.9%.  That means total business output increased significantly as more product was demanded from within the business operation.  Throughout the economy people just wanted more stuff.
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The future’s so bright…

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When we elected a successful businessman as President of the United States and leader of the executive branch, we elected a person who fundamentally changed the framework of accountability and transparency in government. President Donald J Trump holds an average of two to three full cabinet meetings each month where the cabinet members give direct updates on execution of policy priorities.
No President in modern history has put that much accountability into the position of each cabinet member. No President has ever coordinated strategic objectives with such a high level of expectation and scrutiny. No President has folded transparency into the cabinet with full media access over White House cabinet meetings. This is a new executive branch standard.
NEC Director Larry Kudlow break-out discussion on the economy at 03:45. WATCH:

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OK, admission…  Today is the day CTH recognizes NEC Director Kudlow has joined the official ranks of team Wolverine.  An impassioned Larry Kudlow is determined to see the financial media report on the jaw-dropping success of President Trump’s Main Street economic policies.
Key message on trade with China at 03:10.  WATCH:

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