NBC is promoting an upcoming interview with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau surrounding the recently imposed steel and aluminum tariffs and the Canadian response.

Justin from Canada continues pushing the ridiculously obtuse narrative that tariffs to protect the U.S. steel and aluminum industry represent President Trump saying Canadians are a national security threat to the U.S.

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It’s too bad NBC’s Chuck Todd didn’t interrupt Justin from Canada after the “aluminum smelter” comment and ask: ‘well, now that you mention it, what ever happened to that smelter near the airbase you mention’?

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Grab your winnamins and hide the Ju-Ju bones. I thought this was going to be an issue when Prime Minister Trudeau publicly told reporters the content of a private conversation between Vice-President Mike Pence and himself.  With incredibly bad diplomatic form, Justin from Canada has not only cemented the Steel and Aluminum tariffs as permanent – but Trudeau has likely destroyed any hope of the U.S. remaining in NAFTA.

The White House has delivered a statement to the media, with a request to ensure authorship is directly and personally cited from President Donald J Trump:

The United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade. Those days are over. Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United States will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all. (link)

For those unfamiliar; this is about as close to an ultimatum as President Donald Trump generally delivers to his adversaries.   Look back on his history and you’ll note rarely does Donald J Trump deliver ‘either this / or that’ approaches; it’s just not his style…. He doesn’t bluff.  However, when Trump has decided to walk away from a deal, any deal, he delivers the “either/or” right before walking to the door.  The final terms hang in the air providing the opposition with a few fleeting moments to reflect prior to exit.

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Focusing a lot of today’s information on the economic front and the implementation of the U.S. America-First trade discussion because this is the very heart of the Trump MAGA initiatives.  Everyone who voted for President Trump should be grinning ear-to-ear today at how steadfast POTUS has been – against all economic adversaries foreign and domestic.

White House Trade Council Director Peter Navarro discusses the implementation of countervailing U.S. duties; the transshipment issues, NAFTA and the intended trade reset therein. “Economic Security is National Security“!

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Amid ongoing trade stalemates with NAFTA and the EU, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has announced the U.S. Commerce Department will no longer provide exemptions for the European Union, Canada or Mexico.

As anticipated, during a telephone briefing with reporters Secretary Ross announced at midnight tonight the 25% steel, and 10% aluminum, tariffs on imported goods will begin.

Via Reuters: U.S Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters on a telephone briefing that a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico would go into effect at midnight (0400 GMT on Friday).

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The Wall Street Journal is publishing a report the European Union is likely to lose their exemption on Friday June 1st, from the U.S. Steel (25%) and Aluminum (10%) tariffs. Despite their article outline almost everything is still speculation at this point; however, our own review of the trade position indicates the administration is very prepared to begin delivering the metal tariffs on all nations, including NAFTA partners, without reservation.

President Trump positioning the auto-industry 232 review, May 23rd, was one of the key ‘leverage signals‘ something was about to change.

Despite massively one-sided EU imposed tariffs against U.S. products, the EU is demanding to be permanently exempted from any U.S. reciprocal tariff measures or they will block the import of U.S. products. The hypocrisy is typically European.

Adding fuel to the speculation the tariff exemptions will be allowed to expire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stated earlier today, at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) summit – a multinational trade conference, that any/all trade discussions are entirely possible regardless of whether the U.S. begins the tariff against steel and aluminum imports.

WSJ – […]  Mr. Trump has threatened to punish EU car exports if the bloc retaliates, and Mr. Ross is pursuing a study of car and auto-part imports similar to the one he completed on steel and aluminum.

Officials in some EU member states are already angry at Washington over Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Still, others, including some German officials, want to seek a solution that prevents economic damage.

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Canada is vowing to retaliate against the U.S. if President Trump subjects NAFTA partners to the same tariffs as other trade nations and eliminates the NAFTA loophole. {Go Deep}

The NAFTA Loophole allows Canada and Mexico to broker independent trade deals with Asian and European companies; then use their Mexican and Canadian access to the U.S. market as a backdoor around U.S. Tariffs.

This loophole has been exceptionally rewarding for both Canada and Mexico and for more than a decade they have structured their economies around loophole retention. U.S. corporations, seeing advantages from cheap Asian parts in Mexico and Canada, have moved some manufacturing there to take advantage.  In an effort to reset the trade imbalance created by the loophole President Trump is threatening to close it.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will “respond appropriately” to any U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday, less than two days before the punitive measures are due to kick in.

“The government is absolutely prepared to – and will defend – Canadian industries and Canadian jobs. We will respond appropriately,” Freeland told reporters when asked about possible U.S. action.

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The 30-day extension on exemptions for Steel and Aluminum tariffs is scheduled to expire June 1st.  President Trump is positioning the U.S. Trade Team for a substantial reset. According to reports, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystina Freeland held a terse meeting today over the tariffs and Canada’s unwillingness to close the NAFTA ‘fatal flaw‘ (loophole).

Both Canada and Mexico have structured key parts of their trade agreements to take advantage of their unique access to the U.S. market.  Mexico and Canada generate billions in economic activity through exploiting the NAFTA loophole.  China, Asia (writ large), and the EU enter into trade agreements with Mexico and Canada as back-doors into the U.S. market.  So long as corporations can avoid U.S. tariffs by going through Canada and Mexico they will continue to exploit this approach.

If the U.S. applies the same tariffs to Canada and Mexico we apply to all trade nations, then the benefit of using Canada and Mexico -by those trade nations- is lost. Corporations will no longer have any advantage, and many are likely to just deal directly with the U.S.  However, this would mean hundreds of billions in lost economic activity for Mexico and Canada.  It is the NAFTA fatal flaw.

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The MSM is insufferable in their intentional disconnect of the dynamic behind the North Korean denuclearization talks.  It was Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping who brought the DPRK to the table; and it was Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping who pushed North Korea away from the table in their manipulative efforts to extract trade concessions. Every other review of the geopolitical gamesmanship is chaff and countermeasures.

U.S. President Trump is holding massive steel and aluminum tariffs as an economic sword of Damocles over the head of Beijing during ongoing trade negotiations.  Chairman Xi sought to increase his own leverage by pulling North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un away from bilateral peace and denuclearization talks.  However, POTUS Trump responded to the Beijing power-play by announcing a Section 232 trade review over the entire auto-industry; and then bolstered his counter-move by cancelling talks with Kim Jong-un.

Red Dragon didn’t expect President Trump to respond so effectively to the customary schemes notoriously famous in any Chinese negotiation encounter. I really believe Chairman Xi underestimates how adept POTUS Trump is at cutting through the obfuscation and obtuse moves.

President Trump simply doesn’t operate in the land of traditional diplomatic discomfort… he doesn’t have any inclination to play these insufferable games.

Within minutes of President Trump withdrawing from the June 12th summit, Beijing realized all of their trade leverage was just wiped out.  Playing deceptive panda isn’t going to work this time.

(Via AP) – North Korea says it is still willing to sit down for talks with the United States “at any time, at any format” after President Donald Trump abruptly canceled his planned summit with Kim Jong Un.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan issued a statement Friday saying North Korea is “willing to give the U.S. time and opportunities” to reconsider talks.

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Big picture move by President Trump today that has massive, and generally misinterpreted, ramifications for any trade deal with China, EU and most importantly NAFTA.

China is using U.S. nuclear negotiations with North Korea as leverage for more beneficial trade outcomes; the communist regime is in full manipulative dragon-mode. President Trump can see through the economic play and is dropping the Panda outreach.  Eagle-one now hits back at Chairman Xi for deploying such dangerous tactics.

If you have been following trade nuance, the Automobile Sector is one of the biggest points of contention within varying trade negotiations. In the NAFTA discussion the auto-sector, via rules of origin, runs at the heart of NAFTA’s fatal flaw.

The fatal flaw is the use of Asian, mostly Chinese, auto components within auto manufacturing. Mexico and Canada arguing to allow more Chinese auto parts in North American manufacturing; and President Trump demanding more North American parts for North American auto manufacturing.

Many U.S. Auto manufacturers have moved to Mexico to exploit the NAFTA loophole (fatal flaw). Vehicles assembled in Mexico use cheaper Chinese parts and are shipped into the U.S. without any tariff under NAFTA rules.

It didn’t take long before EU auto-manufacturers, mostly German, to begin taking the same approach. Albeit to a lesser extent, German auto companies also invested in building vehicles in Mexico/Canada for tariff-free transfer into the U.S. This works out great for Canada and Mexico auto-workers, but not for the U.S.

In essence, the auto-sector is representative of much of the manufacturing exploitation by multinational corporations beyond vehicle production. China has supported this approach because they produce the components for multiple sectors (furniture, appliances etc).

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears on Fox News Sunday for an interview with the insufferable swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace.  The primary topic is China and the ongoing trade discussions.  However, look at the stone cold stare from Mnuchin at the very end when he points out that Wallace never even brought up the important Iran sanctions.  If looks could kill, Wallace would have spontaneously combusted.

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