Perhaps it’s just because the election is only a few months away, or perhaps it’s because President Trump’s trade and economic policies toward China were always the right approach for the USA.  Whatever the reasoning, the Biden administration is now proposing to use tariffs against China just like President Trump.

There’s a hidden dimension to the Chinese EV angle that makes this claim a little dubious, I will explain after the topline big story.

Overall, the New York Times is reporting [SEE HERE] that Joe Biden and USTR Katherine Tai are likely to trigger massive tariffs against imported Electric Vehicles (EVs) from China, perhaps as much as 100% due to the low cost of Chinese production.  Additionally, the Biden administration is considering increasing the tariff regime against imports of Chinese steel and aluminum in a bid to protect the American industry.

On the EV issue, this tariff approach is politically duplicitous by Biden against the backdrop of massive investment in Mexico by the three largest Chinese EV automakers. Last December the three Chinese auto manufacturers, MG, BYD, and Chery, announced they were going to spend billions building new EV manufacturing plants in Mexico.  Each Chinese auto manufacturer was going to spend between $1.5 to $2.0 billion.

Those Mexican built Chinese EV’s would pass into the USA market under current USMCA trade rules and regulations, as long as they technically meet the material origination rules.  This can make tariffs against the Chinese imported EVs a moot point, because China will be making them in Mexico (North American trade agreement).

One of the reasons President Trump said the U.S. auto industry would suffer a “bloodbath,” is specifically because the current Chinese auto companies are targeting these EV’s in the $10,000 or less range.  If you want to see what it looks like when cheap Chinese EV’s start to flood a consumer market, visit Russia – the western sanctions have only increased this flow.  I can see it clear as day.

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Having previously written about the issue of three major Chinese EV makers putting massive investment into production facilities, the remarks by President Trump in Ohio warning of a “bloodbath” in the auto industry are exactly accurate. {Background Context Here}

According to media, last December the three Chinese auto manufacturers, MG, BYD, and Chery, announced they were going to spend billions building new EV manufacturing plants in Mexico.  Each Chinese auto manufacturer was going to spend between $1.5 to $2.0 billion. The Chinese don’t make that much of an investment in something unless they are sure the U.S. government is going to force the EV market to exist.  These manufacturing plants would crush the U.S EV market.

Drawing attention to the issue, President Trump said he can stop the pending crisis. However, if he did not win the election the American auto industry would end up with a “bloodbath” of closed plants, lost jobs and diminished labor union workforce. Trump is not wrong.  WATCH: 

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Showcasing the absolute lying fake news that most American media have become, all of the news agencies reported these comments to be about general “violence, retribution and retaliation” by Trump if he lost the election.   Reuters even twisted the comments to say, “Trump predicts the end of U.S. democracy if he loses 2024 election.”

Last December, when the original reports of the big three Chinese automakers were released, the headline was, “Chinese EV giants are planning factories in Mexico, and it’s alarming US officials.”  Yet somehow, drawing attention to that exact same issue three months later is the end of democracy or something.

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Earlier today, President Donald Trump participated in a roundtable discussion with the Teamsters executive board, its president and members at the annual meeting in Washington DC.  President Trump chose to attend the conference as he continues to focus on Main Street blue collar workers who helped fuel the MAGA 2016 victory.

The blue collar MAGA coalition is expected to play a major role in the November election – particularly in Midwestern swing states like Wisconsin and Michigan.  The America First agenda delivered significant gains for U.S. manufacturing workers throughout President Trump’s first term.  At the conclusion of the meeting with Teamsters, President Trump delivered comments to the oppositional media.  [The audio improves at 01:50 of the video] WATCH:

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The disconnect between the working class and the self-proclaimed elites that rule above them is very clear in this self-admission from UAW Boss Shawn Fain.

UAW President Shawn Fain admits he endorsed Joe Biden despite the “great majority” of the UAW members who do not support him.  WATCH: 

Labor union bosses are like politicians.  They are appointed to positions of power by people they despise.  This is one of the reasons why it is important to break the cycle of abuse known as ‘battered conservative syndrome’.

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Michigan is going to be a tough contest, because Wayne County is one of the primary places where Democrat operatives manufacture ballots.  However, that said, President Trump is now leading Joe Biden by 8 points, slightly more than the estimated 5% fraudulent ballots the Democrats can create.

Additionally, according to the latest polling [SEE HERE], Joe Biden only holds a 17% approval rating in Michigan.

MICHIGAN – President Joe Biden’s support is on shaky ground in Michigan, and he trails Republican Donald Trump by 8 percentage points in a head-to-head matchup 10 months before the Nov. 5 election, according to a new statewide poll commissioned by The Detroit News and WDIV-TV (Channel 4).

[…] The survey of 600 likely general election voters in the battleground state found only 17% said Biden, the Democratic incumbent, deserved another term leading the country. That number marked a low for a major public officeholder in modern Michigan political history, said Richard Czuba, founder of Lansing-based Glengariff Group, which conducted the poll.

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This is somewhat of a predictably tragic outcome all things considered. I remember a previous conversation on these pages when GM moved massive investment into China to build their mid-size SUV brand, Encore.

Continuing the U.S. decline of the brand, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that approximately half of all Buick dealership in the U.S. have opted to take a buyout from GM, as opposed to spending millions in retooling, restructuring and retraining their staff to accommodate the EV influx.

Most of the EV’s shoved onto the dealer lots sit idle without customers to purchase them.

Wall Street Journal – General Motors (GM) has bought out about half of its 2,000 Buick dealers nationwide, based on their decision to not sell electric vehicles, according to a company spokesman Wednesday.

Dealers who are taking the buyout would give up the Buick franchise and no longer sell the brand, he said. The dealer can continue to sell other GM models, such as Chevrolet or GMC, that often account for a higher percentage of sales.

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New analysis of the long-term impact from Section 301 tariffs triggered by President Trump against China, shows just how consequential economic nationalism can become.

Our own analysis of U.S. consumer prices in 2019 showed that prices of imported goods actually declined despite the tariffs. A recent report from CPA takes a look at the impact to Chinese exports to the U.S.  [SEE DATA HERE] Bottom line, the tariffs worked to reduce Chinese imports.

CPA – […] Since the Section 301 tariffs were imposed, the share of imports from China has steadily declined from 21.6% in 2017 the year prior to the tariffs to 16.5%, a decline of 5.1%. No other country has lost as much share of total U.S. import penetration over the past five years.

In terms of total import value, Mexico gained the most from the tariffs, adding $110.8 billion. Vietnam gained the second most in import value by $78.4 billion and by far gained the most of total share of U.S. imports. In 2017, Vietnam accounted for about 2% of U.S. imports at $46.5 billion. In 2022, the U.S. imported $127.5 billion in goods from Vietnam, and the share of the total nearly doubled to 3.9%. Other countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia all saw significant increases in their value of imports by the U.S. (read more)

With the leading opponent to President Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, not supporting tariffs on behalf of the multinationals and Club for Growth donors who stand behind him, it’s worth revisiting the actual outcome to American consumers to dispel the popular myths about tariffs raising prices here at home.

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Earlier GM cut 5,000 salaried workers and several hundred hourly jobs. Ford previously announced it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.  Now, today, Chrysler parent company Stellantis announces 3,500 auto sector job cuts.

Stellantis owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands. Apparently, there is something in the U.S. economy that’s happening despite the great pretending….

Biden in Michigan, speaking to auto-workers, 2020

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) – Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV (STLAM.MI) wants to cut approximately 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs and is offering voluntary exit packages, according to a United Auto Workers union letter made public Tuesday.

The automaker is looking to reduce its hourly workforce offering incentive packages that include $50,000 payments for workers hired before 2007, UAW Local 1264 said in a letter dated Monday posted on its Facebook page.

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Requested to stick at top of site for few hours. /SD

This is it. This is pure MAGA. President Trump is announcing the big one… “Economic Agenda 47“

This is the economic policy blade to drive a stake through the vampire heart of corporatism, globalism and the exploitation of the U.S. economy by multinational corporate interests. This “universal baseline tariff” approach, is the policy that slays the dragons of the World Economic Forum, destroys the Beijing dragon and simultaneously ends the EU Marshal Plan advantage. This is a big deal.

President Trump makes the economic policy announcement today, and it is an incredible structure of trade and economic proposals that would be resoundingly effective at restoring every financial mechanism within the United States as a sovereign country.  The proposal is economic nationalism in policy form.

First, here’s the announcement {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:

[Transcript] – “Joe Biden claims to support American manufacturing—but in reality, he is pushing the same pro-China globalist agenda that ripped the industrial heart out of our country. It ripped us apart. Biden and the globalists support RAISING taxes on American production. They support MORE crippling regulations killing American jobs. They support skyrocketing domestic energy costs. And they support massive anti-American multinational agreements that send our wealth and factories overseas.

Very simply, the Biden agenda taxes AMERICA to build up CHINA.

China is the big beneficiary. We cannot let that happen. And just a couple of years ago, it wasn’t happening. China paid to the United States hundreds of billions of dollars and no other president got ten cents. Legitimately, ten cents from China.

My agenda will tax CHINA to build up AMERICA.

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President Trump transmitted a message to congress, warning them not to cut Social Security and Medicare {Direct Rumble Link}.  Many politicians and pundits will look at Trump’s position from the perspective of it being good to campaign for older voters, but that’s not the core of his reasoning.

In 2016 CTH was the first place to evaluate the totality of President Trump’s economic policies; specifically, as those policies related to the entitlement programs around Social Security and Medicare.  We outlined the approach Trump was putting forth and the way he was approaching the issue.   In the years that followed, he was right.  He was creating a U.S. economy that could sustain all of the elements the traditional political class were calling “unsustainable.”

Before getting to the details, here’s his video message and policy as delivered yesterday. WATCH:

Fortunately, we do not have to guess if President Trump is correct. We have his actual economic policy results to look at and see how the expansion of the economy was creating the type of growth that would sustain Social Security and Medicare.  This was/is MAGAnomics at work.

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