The leaders of the European Union are nervous about President Trump: (1) ending the war in Ukraine, and then (2) ending the Marshal Plan, thereby taxing their exports to the U.S as Trump demands tariff reciprocity; and lastly (3) forcing them to pay for their previous NATO commitments.

Brussels has set up a defensive office within the EU bureaucracy called “The Trump Task Force.”

BRUSSELS — Top European Union officials have met with the bloc’s ambassadors to talk through what it would mean if Donald Trump wins the U.S. election, 12 EU diplomats told POLITICO.

“They’re worried about trade but mostly [about] Ukraine,” one of the diplomats said, adding that Brussels foresees “abrupt changes on U.S. policy even before the inauguration.” The diplomat, like others quoted in this piece, was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

The conversations revolved around two areas of uncertainty should the Republican candidate reclaim the White House: Whether Washington would continue to support Ukraine and the prospect of higher U.S. tariffs for all incoming goods.

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Go ahead and make some money.  Elevator Speech: “MAGAnomics is essentially ‘inverse BRICS.'”

Everyone who is a pragmatic critical thinker knows that China will: subsidize their targeted sectors and devalue their currency to lower the tariff impact of exports to the USA. Beijing controls the banks, and they did this before.

As a result, the dollar value increases and imports cost less.

The Chinese imports then enter the USA at a lower price consistent with Beijing’s cost estimate as a tariff offset.  Chinese actuaries are really good at this. China takes in a lower price but retains access to the USA market. That’s just how it works.  The importers pay the tariff with a lowered price with a higher valued dollar. Essentially stasis is achieved in a stand-off.

Then…..

EU industrial products to Chinese manufacturing plants start to contract due to China’s aggressive cost cutting initiatives. The EU gets angry about the impact to their economy and looks for alternatives.  The EU then follows the same path as China and devalues their central bank currency; further pressuring the dollar to an upward price.

Exports to the EU are now more expensive, but imports from the EU to the USA are now cheaper. Again, the EU goal is stasis.

Both scenarios create cheaper USA imports despite the Trump tariffs. However, on the EU side President Trump then ends the Marshal plan and executes a program of “tariff reciprocity” against the EU.  More frustration and gritted teeth by Brussels.

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Our analysis of U.S. consumer prices in 2019 showed that prices of imported goods actually declined despite import tariffs. A 2024 report from CPA takes a look at the impact to Chinese exports to the U.S.  [SEE DATA HERE] Bottom line, the tariffs worked to reduce Chinese imports.

2024 CPA – […] Since the Section 301 tariffs were imposed, the share of imports from China has steadily declined from 21.6% in 2017 the year prior to the tariffs to 16.5%, a decline of 5.1%. No other country has lost as much share of total U.S. import penetration over the past five years.

In terms of total import value, Mexico gained the most from the tariffs, adding $110.8 billion. Vietnam gained the second most in import value by $78.4 billion and by far gained the most of total share of U.S. imports. In 2017, Vietnam accounted for about 2% of U.S. imports at $46.5 billion. In 2022, the U.S. imported $127.5 billion in goods from Vietnam, and the share of the total nearly doubled to 3.9%. Other countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia all saw significant increases in their value of imports by the U.S. (read more)

With the 2024 election rapidly coming, it is worth revisiting the actual tariff outcome to American consumers in order to dispel the popular myths about tariffs raising prices here at home.  This might be the cited data you want to bookmark.

It was the Fourth Quarter of 2019…..

Right before the pandemic would hit a few months later, despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, all of them said Trump’s 2017 steel and aluminum tariffs on China, Canada and the EU would create massive inflation – it just wasn’t happening!

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President Trump has proposed that homes in critical areas be granted tax credits for the installation of emergency generators.  It is a smart plan given the nature of crisis events that have unfolded in recent years.

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Factually, it would not be difficult to repurpose much of the “Green New Deal” spending legislation to permit such a credit.  There are millions of Americans who could benefit.  Sounds good in both principle and practice.

Made in America generators!  Watch how fast the private sector industries would start scrambling to make USA built generators.

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Today, President Donald Trump heads back to Michigan for a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.  The keynote address is scheduled to start at 2:00pm EDT, with RSBN providing coverage starting around noon.  Livestream Links Below:

UPDATE: VIDEO ADDED

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On one side you have the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA), which represents 50,000 East and Gulf Coast dockworkers.  On the other side you have the U.S. Maritime Alliance, or USMX, an organization bargaining on behalf of the port owners, container owners and corporations.  In a few hours the ILA is scheduled to strike against USMX.

A late breaking development:

[SOURCE] – [pdf Specifics]

I am not sure how this is going to eventually end but suffice to say at least a one-week strike is built into the current dynamic.  I doubt any last-minute negotiations will stop that from happening, but you never know.

Below is a video reflecting the firm position expressed by ILA President Harold J. Daggett, who represents the interests of the workers.  There are many who may not like the tone or expressed strike intent of Mr Daggett; however, given the nature of modern corporatism as it stands, what workers have been doing hasn’t been working to change the dynamic.

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First, my perspective for new readers.  I generally support private sector labor unions. I did not always support them.  I do not support public sector unions, nor the leadership of most labor unions in general who politicize their activity.  In our modern era, the baseline for organized labor to support the interests of their blue-collar workforce is valid.

Against the backdrop of the larger geopolitical dynamic, I would make the case that, similar to the solidarity movement of the mid 1980’s, organizing the general workforce is going to be the last-resort backstop measure to block ideological western government and corporate intentions.

Populism, nationalism and MAGA specifically, needs a unity alliance with organized private sector labor.

I also believe President Trump sees the looming importance of this relationship as made visible by his support for the Teamsters union during the RNC convention.

Consider what we witnessed and endured with the forced worker vaccination programs of 2021.  I do not like the idea of politicized labor but contemplate how organized labor could have been used to pushback against the diminishment of liberty. There is a potential for value; thus, I evaluate organized apolitical labor as a potential pragmatic ally.

That said, let us discuss the looming strike by The International Longshoreman’s Association, which represents 50,000 East and Gulf Coast dockworkers.

There are a lot of economic impacts that can be created by a dockworker strike; they range from inconvenient to severe depending on the industry and sector therein.  With the U.S. manufacturing base diminished, imported goods now represent the system to deliver essential products into our nation.

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Tonight at 7:00pm ET, President Donald Trump will hold a MAGA rally in Uniondale (Long Island), New York.  This post will be stuck to the top of the page until after the rally.

UPDATE: VIDEO ADDED

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Tucker Carlson, Vivek Ramaswamy and RFK Jr appear in Anaheim, California as part of the Tucker Carlson road show tour.

The three friends discuss current political events, social media, Brazil, Big Tech, the New Russia hoax and the scam represented by Kamala Harris. WATCH:

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