The protests, turned riots, are named ‘Yellow Vest’ after the high-vis jackets that are required in all French automobiles.  The protestors wear the vests amid their fury over rising fuel prices;  However, the protests have now evolved into a direct confrontation to the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.

According to media reports over 5,000 police were deployed as angry protestors began breaking stuff, smashing store windows and battling with government riot squads.

Despite the show of force by police the crowd overwhelmed their positions and set up barricades to block any effort by the French government to break up their protests.  Check points along the Champs Eleysees and Arc de Triomphe were taken over by the scale of the crowd.   However, it’s not just Paris – disruptive protests are happening throughout France.

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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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The issue is basic to the construct of the USMCA (NAFTA replacement).
BMW made a multi-billion-dollar investment in Mexico in anticipation of exploiting the NAFTA loophole.  President Trump has closed the loophole.  The new USMCA agreement requires 75% of automobile parts made in North America; and 45% must come from plants with minimum labor costs ($16/hr), or face tariffs upon export to the U.S.
As a result BMW is now considering opening those higher-wage component supply operations in the U.S.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) is considering a second U.S. manufacturing plant that could produce engines and transmissions, Chief Executive Harald Krueger said on Tuesday, shortly after a report that U.S. President Donald Trump would impose tariffs on imported cars from next week
[…] BMW is considering changes to U.S. operations as sales in the region grow, Krueger said. BMW has a U.S. vehicle assembly plant, in South Carolina, is planning to open a Mexico factory next year, and is considering changes to its current scheme of importing engines and transmissions.

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British Members of Parliament will vote on Theresa May’s sketchy Brexit deal on Tuesday 11th of December. The U.K. House of Commons is set to debate the pact for five days. More than 100 members of parliament have indicated they could vote against the deal.
Nigel Farage appears on Fox News to discuss the deal that Theresa May has constructed.

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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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An article published originally in the U.K. Telegraph, and republished via Yahoo News outlines growing fear within the U.K. government and British intelligence officers surrounding President Trump discovering how far they were involved within “Spygate”.
The facts are not uncommon to anyone who has done research into the events of 2015 and 2016; however, the interesting aspect surrounds the current level of anxiety which indicates something is soon to become very public.
The central concern of the British officials surrounds President Trump declassifying evidence that will outline a coordinated effort by a weaponized U.S. intelligence apparatus to use their foreign counterparts for two aspects:  (1) to spy on the Trump campaign in 2016; and (2) to help carryout an entrapment scheme that would become the baseline for the FBI’s counterintelligence operation which evolved into Mueller’s Russian election interference investigation (aka. the “insurance policy”).
According to the Telegraph outline the current U.K. Prime Minister is intentionally being kept out of the communication loop because British intelligence are fearful President Trump might ask about her knowledge.  Keeping Theresa May blind to the U.K operations against Trump provides plausible deniability if questioned.  Additionally, all British embassy staff in the U.S. have been told to say absolutely nothing if questioned.
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Victor Davis Hanson appears for an interview with Mark Levin to discuss his support for President Trump and current political challenges. The affluence of America driving the influence of Marxism by demanding equality of outcome.

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If you want a prelude to how the democrat/globalist/left-wing political machine is gearing up to disrupt any U.S. economic success, here it is.   With the opportunity to discuss important and consequential economic initiative with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Yahoo Chief Narrative Engineer, Andy Serwer, runs through a litany of political talking points.

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There has been some banter about the possibility of Wilbur Ross being replaced next year, possibly by Mick Mulvaney.  While all such media speculation should be taken with a grain of salt, this interview highlights the foreseeable landscape of confrontation.
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Some call it ‘Globalism vs Nationalism’, at other times it is best described as “Wall Street -vs- Main Street”; however, the overarching bigger picture is a battle over economics and the financial power structures that oppose President Trump.
CTH has often said ‘everything is about the economics’, because it is. Ask the ‘why’ question five times to any issue and you will find the root issue is money.  Power, greed and control, it is all about the money and the economics.
Opposition to President Trump’s singularly unique and transformational reset of the U.S. economic system boils down to a battle against the ‘Big Club’.

Every political confrontation is a move within this dynamic. The structural battle is not based on party affiliation, it is based on control and ownership of economics.  This confrontation represents the biggest challenge; a brief example:
Hundreds of millions were spent on the 2018 election by owners within the ‘Big Club’; at a surface level those expenditures are discussed by punditry thus: “we were outspent” (insert Kevin McCarthy and/or Ronnda McDaniel here). But if you have followed the challenge more closely, over the course of years/decades, you have a more substantive understanding of the dynamic.
Billionaires on one side of the UniParty spend hundreds-of-millions in opposition to the MAGA agenda. That agenda, that economic agenda, is the existential threat to the Big Club’s grip on power.
Here’s the critical aspect: When it comes to the economics, there are no big spending billionaires on the nationalist side of the equation.  The interests of Wall Street Democrats and Wall Street Republicans are based on globalism; Wall Street not Main Street.
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