This is one of those reports that seems small and appears way over there on the periphery. However, if MAGAnomics and trade are important to you, this story is very much worth paying attention to.
As CTH shared last week the White House reached out to EU auto executives to request a meeting.  There is a VERY STRONG likelihood the message within this meeting will surround potential tariffs, and questions from team Trump about the intents of EU (mostly German) automakers against the backdrop of the USMCA.
The potential for auto-tariffs terrifies the EU (specifically Germany), because most of their profits from within the industry come from access to the U.S. market.   Few major markets in the world can afford the scale of automobile purchases as a wealthy U.S.A. does.  The profit margins are much smaller in all other countries.  Without the U.S. market, these auto companies would be in deep financial trouble.  Enter Trump’s leverage:
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A small but interesting development in the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico highlights a backstory CTH suspected several months ago {Go Deep}. August 25th:

As USTR Robert Lighthizer was working with the trade officials representing outgoing Mexican President Peña Nieto, White House adviser/emissary Jared Kushner was quietly working behind the scenes with AMLO trade adviser Jesus Seade and outlining the possibilities if they partnered with strategic economic objectives in mind.
As a result of Kusher’s dogged efforts to bring an entirely new dual-nationalist ‘focus’ within the trade construct, removing the historic globalist baseline, the outcome of the trade deal is excellent for both the U.S. and Mexico.  So today:

MEXICO – […] Kushner will receive the prize “for his contributions to achieve the negotiation of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” according to a statement by Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretariat.
Peña Nieto will present Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, with the award on Thursday at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, according to the Reforma newspaper.

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President Trump’s ‘America First’  tweets are seen as dangerous to the progressive left because they are loaded with brutal, and often purposeful, honesty.  Today is another clear example.
General Motors would not exist today if it wasn’t for the taxpayer-funded bailouts of their financial position in 2008/2009.  GM is uniquely indebted to the U.S. taxpayer. After receiving those bailouts GM moved production of their newer sectors of autos to Mexico and China; providing no benefit to the American workers who funded their bailout.

GM is one deliberate presidential tweet-string away from seeing a massive consumer backlash that could would wipe out their business.  President Trump doesn’t bluff.
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Canadian media are reporting that General Motors plans to shut down operation in Oshawa, Canada.   This is quite possibly an outcome that portends the sign of things to come…

CANADA – Numerous sources have told CTV Toronto that General Motors is planning to close all operations in Oshawa, Ont., affecting thousands of high-paying jobs.
The announcement is expected to be made on Monday, in the city of about 159,000 people located roughly 60 kilometres east of Toronto.  Sources said they believe the Oshawa closures are part of a global restructuring. (read more)

GM holds considerable risk exposure within the current state of international trade and economics as it relates to the auto industry.  As a result of the ongoing U.S-China trade confrontation, GM holds risk as a result of heavy investment in China.  Add to that exposure the very significant financial impacts about to start for heavy manufacturing operations inside countries aligned with the Paris Climate Treaty, and the risk increases.
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The latest signs of economic nationalism -vs- economic globalism surfaced today in France as thousands protest.

Significant riots broke out today amid backlash to the economic policies of French President Emmanuel Macron.  Fueled by resentment over a new gasoline tax, thousand of Parisians took to the streets to protest. [See Daily Mail Article Here]

(Via Reuters) […] The unrest is a dilemma for Macron who casts himself as a champion against climate change but has been derided as out of touch with common folk and is fighting a slump in popularity.
While the movement, which has no leader, began as a backlash against higher fuel prices, it has tapped into broader frustration at the sense of a squeeze on household spending power under Macron’s 18-month-old government.

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The most consequential long-term challenge being confronted by President Trump surrounds the influence of communist China, and their state-controlled economic conquest strategy.
To quantify the scale of the issues, in 2017 President Trump commissioned a Section 301 review by the United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.  In March 2018, Lighthizer delivered his report.  That initial report became the baseline for the tariffs levied against Beijing.  Yesterday, Lighthizer released an update of that ongoing review.  The report is below:
[scribd id=393902698 key=key-kjNtouzB6djFEcPBapQB mode=scroll]
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Remember, the Chinese red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately. Cunning is part of ‘The Art of War’.
President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask.
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The latest updates from Paradise, California, according to Butte County Sheriff and Cal Fire:

• Two more bodies located Friday.  Death toll now: 81
• Number of Missing Persons rises again to: 870  [list here]
• Number of homes lost is now: 12,637
• Number of commercial buildings lost is now: 483

Important video information below:
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A guilt ridden departing governor Jerry Brown concedes that President Donald Trump is absolutely correct in the California mismanagement of the forestry.  With the death of untold numbers of people –yet to be discovered– Jerry Brown knew immediate changes were needed to logging regulations to thin the California forests.  Trump was right!

CALIFORNIA August 2018 – Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing broad new changes to California’s logging rules that would allow landowners to cut larger trees and build temporary roads without obtaining a permit as a way to thin more forests across the state.
The proposal — which has the support of the timber industry but is being opposed by more than a dozen environmental groups — would represent one of the largest changes to the state’s timber harvesting rules in the past 45 years.

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The horrific updates from the Butte County, CA, wildfire known as the “Camp Fire” are just brutal.  8 more bodies located yesterday; death toll now 71; number of missing residents around 1,000.  Missing Persons List HERE

President Trump is en route to the devastated area right now.  Outgoing governor Jerry Brown and incoming governor Gavin Newsome are welcoming the visit.  One of the more likely reasons for the embrace by Brown and Newsome is the strong likelihood of a massive death toll, and a direct correlation to their state policies.
More than a thousand residents are missing, and when you look at the intensity of the fire, and the likelihood of many bodies being turned to ash, it becomes more understandable why it is difficult to locate their remains.
The lack of media accurately framing the scale and scope of this devastating tragedy appears to be a purposeful act of willful blindness.  The possibility of several hundred dead California residents, specifically as an outcome of democrat political state policy, should be a major cause for alarm and immediate reaction.  [Thus the media downplay.]
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Unimaginable sadness.  According to the latest official briefing, seven more bodies were located today in the Califorinia region impacted by the horrific ‘Camp Fire’.  This brings the total death toll to 63 with hundreds still missing…

CALIFORNIA – Authorities have reported seven more fatalities from a blaze in Northern California, bringing the total number of fatalities so far to 63 in the deadliest wildfire in state history.
The announcement came Thursday as authorities continued to search the devastated town of Paradise for human remains.

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