Interesting how two different articles (Reuters HERE) and (CBC HERE) hit on the same issue; a call between Prime Minister Justin from Canada and U.S. President Trump.  According to both reports Justin from Canada reached out prior to the listing of the counter tariffs to the U.S. Steel and Aluminum duties.

BEDMINSTER, N.J./OTTAWA (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late on Friday to discuss trade and other economic issues, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Saturday.
During the call, Trudeau told Trump that Canada had no choice but to announce reciprocal countermeasures to the steel and aluminum tariffs, according to a separate statement issued by Canada late on Friday. The two leaders agreed to stay in close touch on a way forward, the statement added.

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With new spark plugs, Kuddles was thrilled to discuss the latest economic key performance indicators.  National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow talks about the health and growth of the U.S. economy with Maria Bartiromo.

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Today Canada released an updated list of retaliatory tariffs designed as countermeasures to the U.S. Steel and Aluminum tariffs [SEE HERE] which will begin Sunday, July 1st.
Additionally, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, and Employment and Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, announced they would initiate an emergency program to use Canadian taxes compensate workers, expand unemployment benefits, and subsidize impacted industry.  Yes, in a transparent display of political ideology (throwing capitalism directly out the window), Canada doubles-down on centralized government subsidies to offset market impacts.   Brilliant ‘eh!

Chrystia Freeland made the announcement on the floor of a Hamilton steel factory Friday. In a rare backdrop, Ms. Freeland actually entered a factory with machines and things, to deliver the carefully choreographed political message (video below – watch the last minute to understand).
Team U.S.A. have applied tariffs to Canadian softwood lumber, Steel and Aluminum as Canada refuses to negotiate new terms for NAFTA where North American products are prioritized.  Canada demands the ability to continue importing Asian, mostly Chinese, products for their assembly-based market.
With the latest counter-move by Justin and Chrystia from Canada, it is increasingly likely President Trump will levy a 20% tariff on imported Canadian automobiles.  Last month (May) the Canadian economy dropped over 31,000 Full-Time jobs.
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President Trump often holds local media Q&A’s when discussing specific local aspects to larger trade and economic initiatives.  In this quick interview with Charles Benson President Trump discusses the Foxconn deal (more on that will follow), and the larger issue surrounding a global trade reset objective (important video below).
As steps are taken within the America-First economic initiatives, many people are overlooking President Trump’s ultimate goal of a complete global reset in trade.  The Trump administration wants all trade tariffs and trade barriers removed so that all nations can compete on an even field.
In order to achieve that goal, POTUS Trump is applying the process of reciprocity; assigning an identical U.S. trade standard as the country being confronted.
The international community cannot negotiate (in good faith), from an adversarial position, against an identical trade policy they apply toward the U.S.
However, until today no President has ever called out the global trade hypocrisy; let alone challenged it directly.   President Trump will not back down from this approach. The international trade community is just now realizing that fact.
Within the process of negotiation to achieve this reset, President Trump begins to apply the principles of reciprocal trade tariffs.  This is the first phase; this is where we are now.
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National Economic Council Chairman Larry “Kuddles” Kudlow is back after suffering a mild heart attack. [Yikes, “mild“, is there such a thing?]
Appearing on TV with Stuart Varney Chairman Kudlow explains how the administration hopes to use the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) to enhance U.S. trade policy.  Mr. Varney cannot comprehend Trump-speed in achieving a global trade reset:

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While media wasn’t paying attention, President Trump brilliantly played congress to gain strategic trade leverage.  Knowing political opposition would unite, POTUS Trump took a forgiving position toward Chinese company ZTE; Trump-haters and NeverTrumpers quickly aligned to push through hammer legislation designed to hurt China and by extension Trump’s position.  However, Trump actually wanted the tool.  POTUS now weaponizes FIRRMA as trade leverage against all 301 targets.   Brilliant.
USTR Robert Lighthizer Final 301 Report on China Trade Infractions HERE
Part 2 of Kudlow interview below:
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Good news within a strenuously spun Reuters article. Don’t get lost looking at the granules; apparently all of the prior Canadian strategy against President Trump has failed.
For well over a year Justin from Canada and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland were confident they could leverage the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, purchased DC politicians and ideological allies against President Trump in NAFTA negotiations. The result? Fail, fail and more fail.

Running out of options, Canada now attempts to save their NAFTA construct by turning to the executives within the auto industry:

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s trade minister last week met senior officials from General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in Detroit, as Ottawa takes its lobbying effort directly to the Big Three carmakers to avert potential U.S. auto tariffs.
The Liberal government is relying on industry partners to press Canada’s cause in the White House and elsewhere, using their influence to protect Canadian interests, sources with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.

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Whoopsie – During a debriefing session between Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Canadian politicians and business leaders, the chief NAFTA negotiator for Canada Steve Verheul accidentally told the group, while cameras were rolling, there were no actual NAFTA negotiations taking place.

When a seemingly shocked participant then asked a follow-up question about how could Steve Verheul reconcile that admission against earlier statements about an upcoming  Memo of Understanding (MOU), Ms. Freeland quickly shut down the discussion -in french- until the cameras left the meeting.  [Watch Video Segment Here]

Council Question: “Do you still meet your counterparts? Do you still have committees that are working?  What is the status of the negotiations?
Steve Verheul: “We don’t have any active negotiations. I haven’t talked to them in a little while.”
Council Question: “Since, …since?”
Steve Verheul: “Two or three weeks. Um, I’ll have the odd conversation, but no real engagement, no real negotiation session.”
Council Question: “And when we hear that you were close to a kind of MOU [Memo of Understanding] what was the basis of that?”
Chrystia Freeland: awkward interruption in French. (watch below)

What became evident within the exchange is the Canadian government trying to hide the lack of NAFTA progress from concerned citizens inside Canada.  In essence, the Canadian government is lying to their citizens about the possibility of a NAFTA agreement.
The Canadian economy contracting.  Last month the Canadian economy dropped 31,000 full-time jobs.  Amid an economy one-tenth the size of the U.S, that would be a comparative single-month job loss of 310,000 in the United States.
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Seek first to understand.  During an assembly of Canadian left-spectrum pundits the U.S. and Canada relationship is the topic; the backdrop is the economic consequences, trade and NAFTA.   In this group the high-minded Canadians express their views, their wounded sensibilities, and yet simultaneously highlight an important strategic flaw.
Within their political frame-of-reference, they cannot fathom the tenuous nature of their dependency.  They think they are more important than they are. Their inability to accept the weakness of their economic position is based on their feelings. Pride is very dangerous in negotiations amid apex predators. If you are prideful you provide a strategic advantage for the opposition.  In negotiations, President Trump doesn’t care about ‘feelings’ or opinions toward his approach.
The Canadian economic position is ‘not to lose‘, the Trump position is to win.  There is a huge strategic difference within those two perspectives.

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President Trump is hosting a roundtable MAGAnomic meeting in Las Vegas with business leaders and professionals.  The discussion centers around ongoing benefits from the tax reform initiative; the administration policy toward trade rebalancing; and the ongoing America-First investment and business development plans.
UPDATE: Video Added

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We’ve been sharing this intensely predictable issue since late 2017. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or “AMLO”, is going to be the next President of Mexico.  The self-described “soft Marxist”, a Mexican Hugo Chavez, has been so far ahead of all other candidates – the outcome of the July 1st Mexican election is a foregone conclusion.
Interestingly, people are only now starting to take notice because AMLO is openly telling his fellow countrymen they must flood the U.S. border.

(From the Daily Caller) […] “And soon, very soon — after the victory of our movement — we will defend all the migrants in the American continent and all the migrants in the world,” Obrador said, adding that immigrants “must leave their towns and find a life in the United States.”  He then declared it as “a human right we will defend.”

Most political observers read this and think it sounds crazy. They make comparisons to a U.S. presidential candidate telling Americans to flee to Canada (Daily Wire example). That type of perspective shows a disconnect.  The paradigm, and frame of reference, is entirely wrong.
What AMLO is saying is not a surprise, nor is it an ideological proclamation; there is an actual strategic policy behind these statements.  This has been AMLO’s strategy for years, and no-one was paying attention.   Andrés Manuel López Obrador has long proposed a key economic plan for Mexico to become wealthy. However, his idea has only recently gained broad mainstream Mexican understanding.
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