Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross talks about the importance of trade “reciprocity”.  As Wilburine outlines phase-2 MAGAnomics is only just beginning the reciprocity discussion.

Additionally, Secretary Ross talks about the issues with Chinese steel trans-shipment and the reason for Steel and Aluminum tariffs to be global in order to address China’s use of proxy nation states to continue dumping.   In this interview Ross begins to outline the fine points behind the pending 2018 trade negotiations. It is going to take a lot of repeated effort to awaken the larger U.S. electorate to the issues.

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*ahem* As if on cue…

(tweet link)

DEEP-DIVE FULL BACKSTORY

The Eagle, The Panda and The Red Dragon

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Very cautious optimism because Red Dragon has history of using the Panda Mask to cloud intents as a strategy.   North Korea is a proxy state to their enabler, China.  DPRK Kim Jong-un is little stompy-feet panda to the big panda/red dragon, Chairman Xi Jinping.

The one constant in an ever-changing universe is the gravity of China; it only goes one-way.  China allows and directs what is in China’s best interests.  Period.

Chinese Chairman-for-life Xi Jinping (all he represents) view smiling panda economics as modern intercontinental nuclear weapons.

Chairman Xi and President Trump have been deep inside a geopolitical smiling contest for over a year.  Xi and Trump are playing grandmaster level geopolitical economics.  Their most consequential moves are well beyond the horizon; far away from the gaze of the crowd; the media is oblivious to them.

•Japan (Shinzo Abe) has stated they have “great confidence” in President Trump’s Asian national security approach. •South Korea (President Moon Jae-in) stated they are “confident there will not be war again on the Korean peninsula“; •and they are willing to send a special envoy to North Korea to begin talks. •In addition, China quietly removed the 71-year-old veteran diplomat, Wu Dawei, from the position of negotiator toward the DPRK, and replaced him with 58-year-old Kong Xuanyou. Kong is a long time Chinese diplomat in charge of Asian affairs and he speaks Korean.

All of this was generally under-reported and took place months before President Trump arrived in Asia last year.  The U.S. media was busy pushing racism and Charlottesville narratives.  More importantly this quiet activity took place while President Trump directed US Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer to begin a section 301 trade investigation (Intellectual Property theft) into China.

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President Trump holds a joint press availability with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden.  Anticipated start time 3:30pm EST.

UPDATE: Video Added

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We are nearing the timeline apex for release of the decision/announcement on a U.S. NAFTA exit. Trade adviser Peter Navarro appears on Fox Business to discuss the pending Steel and Aluminum tariff while President Trump tweets concerns about NAFTA renegotiation; which enters Round #7 this week.

The steel tariffs are targeted toward national economic security; the Wall Street financial class are apoplectic because a firm administration stance on Steel and Aluminum tariffs indicates the larger trade perspective on all bilateral trade deals.

New Twitter Thread on the NAFTA Fatal Flaw – HERE

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I always find it amusing that ABC News never publishes the excerpts of interviews (on their YouTube channel) that run counter to their political ideology.   I digress…

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on ABC to talk trade with George Stephanopoulos.  Secretary Ross highlights a key point in the discussion about how post-World-War-II trade tariff policies were intentionally constructed to lift Germany, Japan and economically devastated nations after the war.  This was the origin of the progressive trade association that became the WTO.

[Ross’s segment begins at 38:45 of the video below – prompted, just hit play]

https://youtu.be/MPcrUfw1fwg?t=38m45s

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Oh, how the European hypocrisy is in overdrive on the tariff issue.  According to BBC U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and President Trump had a phone call where the British leader expressed “deep concern” over the Trump administration’s pending tariff’s on Steel and Aluminum.

Theresa May has told Donald Trump of her “deep concern” at his plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US.

Amid an escalating war of words between Washington and the European Union, the Prime Minister told the US President that “multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity in all parties’ interests”, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.  (read more)

Mrs. May must think Americans are unambiguously stupid because it was less than two years ago when the U.K. urgently applied tariffs against Chinese steel in an effort to stave off the losses within their own steel industry:

APRIL 2017,  – BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission has imposed anti-dumping duties on steel products from China to stop them flooding Europe’s struggling steel market.

Hypocrisy much?

President Trump is entirely correct in his prior tweet:

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to talk trade and tariffs amid the apoplectic drum-beating from the Wall Street crowd and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Secretary Ross explains the use of Trade Section 232 for national security. The U.S. capability to produce steel and aluminum is a vital interest to national security. The World Trade Organization (WTO), a collective enterprise of multinational corporations, is angered by the use of section 232 because it works around their ability to file complaints.

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The essential point to drive home is that for the past 30+ years U.S. trade policy has been driven by Wall Street and financial corporate benefactors to the detriment of the U.S. middle class and a manufacturing economy.  It is not necessary to argue the outcome, we can all clearly see it.  The Trump objective is to restore a balanced U.S. economy, stop the exploitative export of American wealth, and stabilize our own middle-class.

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Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro appears on CNN with Jake Tapper to discuss pending steel and aluminum tariffs.   During the interview Navarro rightly outlined the possibility of some product “exemptions” but there no country “exclusions” for new trade tariffs.

What the media refuse to explain (willful blindness), on the country exclusion aspect, is that Chinese steel dumping doesn’t come from China alone.  China uses proxy countries in Asia as shipment depots to avoid tariffs.  Additionally, China use Mexico and Canada in North America as destinations for their steel product to gain tariff-free NAFTA access to the U.S. market.   The only way to avoid their use of proxy shipment hubs is to tax all steel and aluminum globally.

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I think we’ve figured out why President Trump is doing the Steel and Aluminum tariffs ahead of the NAFTA withdrawal.  Perhaps, the wolverine administration is using Steel and Aluminum to draw attention to the NAFTA fatal flaw.

Earlier today Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stated:

“Should restrictions be imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum products, Canada will take responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers,” Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement, calling any trade restrictions“absolutely unacceptable.”  (link)

The key word in that statement from Freeland is “products”. Why? because Canada doesn’t make more than a boutique amount of raw Steel.  (Top 40 List)  The Canadians, like the Mexicans, import the vast majority of their raw steel from China.  Canada then fabricates products from the Chinese steel.  This nuanced point is almost always lost on people who discuss trade.  This point of origination is also the fatal flaw within NAFTA.

In essence Canada is a brokerage for Chinese manufactured material, and NAFTA is the access trade-door exploited by China for entry into the U.S. market.  More on that in a moment.  First watch Justin from Canada explain his country’s position. (prompted, just hit play):

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