“We’ve also started talking with North Korea directly. We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea. I really believe there’s a lot of good will. Well see what happens, as I always say. Because ultimately its the end result that counts.”  ~ President Donald Trump

The formal bilateral meeting began shortly before 4 p.m.  POTUS Trump and PM Abe together with translators and delegations.  The U.S. side: Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Security Adviser John Bolton, US Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty and National Security Council  Asia director Matthew Pottinger.

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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said their one-on-one meeting was productive. On North Korea, “for the first time in the history of the world there will be a summit meeting between the United States and North Korea”, Abe said. Prime Minister Abe said “Trump has applied maximum pressure on the North and credited it for leading to the direct talks.”

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President Donald Trump welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.  The President and PM Abe have a long-standing friendship.

Among the topics for the summit will be ongoing U.S./Japan trade initiatives, and important discussions about security for Japan as talks continue between South Korea (Moon Jae-in) and North Korea (Kim Jong-un).

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There was a possibility widely discussed and debated a year ago, where President Trump’s geopolitical doctrine of using economic leverage for national security would create the “leverage” for a denuclearized North Korea.  And eventually the “economic” value for a unified Korean peninsula.

Seven months ago we wrote:  “Turning rockets into ploughshares is a good strategy.”

Stunningly today, a significant step in that direction is being outlined.

(Via CNBC) North and South Korea are in talks to announce a permanent end to the officially declared military conflict between the two countries, daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed South Korean official.

Ahead of a summit next week between North Korean premier Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, lawmakers from the neighboring states were thought to be negotiating the details of a joint statement that could outline an end to the confrontation.

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Earlier today President Trump attended a business and economic growth roundtable discussion in Miami Florida.  The forum discussion was focused on the administration policy for economic growth.

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President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to meet today in Mar-a-largo to discuss regional issues surrounding upcoming North Korea summit and trade initiatives between the U.S. and Japan.

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The Eagle and the Arrow – An Aesop’s Fable

An Eagle was soaring through the air. Suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt the dart pierce its breast. Slowly it fluttered down to earth. Its lifeblood pouring out. Looking at the Arrow with which it had been shot, the Eagle realized that the deadly shaft had been feathered with one of its own plumes.

Moral: We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.

The United States economy is the Eagle; the shaft is Wall Street; the feather is the U.S. middle-class, and the archer is U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue.

Need proof?  Please, don’t take my word for it, read:

Tom Donohue: Tonight feels like a gathering of old friends. Five years ago, I had the pleasure of being in this beautiful city to help start a hemispheric business dialogue, and I’m pleased to be back in Lima for this year’s CEO Summit of the Americas.

[…] I also want to talk a little about the priorities within our government. Because, as everyone knows, many of the policy decisions coming out of Washington today not only impact the U.S. economy and its businesses and workers, but indeed those across this hemisphere and around the world.

[…] The Chamber has helped lead the fight to protect the status of more than one million people who are at risk of deportation. It makes no sense to send one million talented workers back to their home countries when we don’t have enough labor to get the job done in our own. This includes the young men and women who were brought to our country as children through no fault of their own—known as “the Dreamers”—as well as hundreds of thousands of individuals who are working in the U.S. under temporary protected status.

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In retaliation for $50 billion in U.S. trade tariffs against Chinese imports, China laughably hits back with $3 their own billion tariffs against the U.S.  According to most reporting Beijing has selected U.S. pork and scrap aluminum as targets for a 25% tariff, along with wine and fruit tariffs around 15%.

It should be emphasized the approach by China is rather ridiculous considering the Chinese government purchased the largest U.S. pork manufacturer Smithfield in 2013 for $5 billion; at the time the purchase price was 30% more than the company was worth.  Smithfield, now a Chinese company, represents 25% of all U.S. pork products.

Do you really think China is going to not import it’s own pork products… or subject them to a domestic tax?  Think about it.  It’s ridiculous.  China knows they have ZERO leverage in a trade-dispute with the U.S., they cannot afford to lose access to the U.S. market.

The example of Smithfield foods is exactly what we have outlined in how China cannot sustain itself and needs to control the assets of foreign countries.  Hence, their one-road/one-belt program for securing products and raw materials.  China is a dependent economy, they need to exploit global trade to survive.  China cannot feed itself. This is the inherent flaw within their short-sighted authoritarian government-controlled economic model.

Again, for emphasis, the Chinese government underwrote the purchase of Smithfield foods in 2013.  They paid 30% more than the company was worth because they were securing access to food just like they would any other raw material (uranium, minerals, etc).  China also purchases U.S. politicians to retain their ability in this regard.

Now look at the cartoon from the unofficial Chinese state-run media today:

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The final quantification of the Bureau of Economic Analysis fourth quarter GDP growth rate was released today, reflecting an anticipated increase from the prior two estimations. The last revised estimation of GDP growth (February) was +2.5%, the final revised estimate is +2.9% growth.

A massive increase in consumer spending (+4%) around the October through December 31st time-frame (Q4) was offset by those dollars purchasing a large portion of imported products.  The GDP growth deduction from import purchases was 1.99%. [See table #2, line 50 pdf here]

In short, American consumers spent significantly more than usual in the holiday season; however, many of those purchases were foreign goods.

From the BEA Report – Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 (table 1), according to the “third” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent.

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It was only six months ago when the international media and U.S. left-wing pundits were proclaiming how we were on the cusp of thermonuclear war with North Korea.  As outlined HERE there was almost no-one paying attention to the approach taken by President Donald Trump to creating the “Magnanimous Panda” outcome.

Well, today those same media are reporting on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and committing to a denuclearized Korean peninsular:

SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization during their first summit, the two countries’ media said Wednesday.

The North’s leader made an “unofficial” visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday, accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju and key officials, including de facto No. 2 figure Choe Ryong-hae, according to the North’s state-run radio.

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on Fox Business News for an extensive interview with Maria Bartiromo.  The interview covers a wide spectrum of important topics attached to the U.S. economy and ongoing trade deals.  Two great video segments for the interview will get you up to speed on ongoing initiatives:

♦Segment #1 outlines the upcoming announcement of KORUS, the South Korea and U.S. trade deal.  Additionally, Secretary Ross discusses the steel and aluminum tariffs and how they enmesh in the larger objective of the ongoing trade negotiations with China:

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♦Segment #2 outlines more on the aluminum and steel tariffs; ongoing trade talks with Europe; efforts to renegotiate NAFTA, and the possibility of a deal being reached; Saudi Arabian investment in the U.S. and the Commerce Department plans to bring back a citizenship question in the 2020 Census.

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National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro appeared on CNBC, prior to today’s massive U.S. stock market increase, to discuss ongoing trade initiatives.

U.S.T.R. Robert Lighthizer is currently conducting simultaneous bilateral trade negotiations with South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, China (way-points), Japan, Mexico/Canada (NAFTA) and the European Union.

Trade talks going on with numerous countries that, for many years, have not treated the United States fairly. In the end, all will be happy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2018

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