President Trump and the U.S. economic team have held a policy perspective that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is no longer a useful functioning body to mediate global trade issues.  At the center of that view are two issues:

First that WTO rules and regulations do not support American economic interests; and secondly, that WTO processes still provide China with favorable benefits as an “emerging nation” despite their scale. As a result the Trump administration has been positioning for a withdrawal from a dysfuctional WTO.

In an effort to keep the WTO intact, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has nominated a pro-Brexit/pro-America trade minister, Liam Fox, to become the next Director General.

(Via Fox News) – The British government on Wednesday announced that it was nominating former International Trade Secretary Liam Fox to head the World Trade Organization – selecting a strongly pro-Washington candidate at a time when the U.S. is debating quitting the trade body.

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U.S. President Donald Trump and visiting Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are expected to deliver a joint statement at 6:30pm ET and take questions.

VIDEO and Transcript ADDED

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Please. Thank you very much. Thank you. This evening, we are honored to welcome President López Obrador, the entire Mexican delegation, and many distinguished guests to a White House working dinner. We’ve been working all day, and we’ll be working for a little while longer. But it’s an honor to have you in the White House. Tonight’s gathering follows a productive day of meetings and concludes an exceptional visit, in which we made tremendous strides on behalf of our countries.

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First, for those who have fought for decades against the baseline flaws within the NAFTA trade agreement, today is a very memorable day. Today the USMCA officially goes into effect and the trade brokerage system exploited by Mexico and Canada is officially ended.

NAFTA is DEAD! …This has been one hell of a decades-long battle.

Effective today the manufacturing of North American products must originate in North America. No longer will Canada and Mexico be allowed to “assemble” component goods from Asia and transport them as finished North American goods into the U.S. market.

The immediate impacts from this trade-loophole closure will be felt over the next several months and years.  Yes, things are rapidly about to change… and when you understand the details you also understand why the Democrats need to exploit a fictitious COVID fear to stop the explosion of U.S. economic growth that will follow.

Statement from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer:

“Today marks the beginning of a new and better chapter for trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada – just as President Trump promised he would deliver for the American people.

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President Trump holds an interview with Fox Business News’ Blake Burman. The president hits on a variety of current headlines including ongoing COVID-19 mitigation, a potential fourth round of stimulus, the nonsensical Russia conspiracy nonsense and the 2020 election campaign.

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During an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross notes that companies with headquarters in Hong Kong are likely to rethink those offices with China now taking control under Beijing’s sweeping new security law.

This is a significant statement and underpins the U.S. strategy that is dismantling the Chinese influence on global trade and manufacturing.  As Secretary Ross noted: “I believe that there’s a good chance that all companies who have Hong Kong as their headquarters for Asia will begin rethink whether the new rules – the new relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China – whether those rules let Hong Kong be as favorable a place to have headquarters as it used to be.”  WATCH (listen closely):

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There is a deliberate and blunt focus in the statements by Ross that will have a significant impact.  Globally the world needs to accept the future of Hong Kong as a communist state, and disavow the notion of any semblance of an autonomous region.  Secretary Ross just threw a bucket of cold water in the face of those who refuse to accept the reality as it exists.

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Lou Dobbs had an interview with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tonight discussing why the FCC designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats.

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~ Why We Must Re-Elect President Trump ~

Today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) formally designated Chinese’s Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp as posing as posing national security threats to the United States. This designation and declaration blocks U.S. firms from tapping an $8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from either company.

(Source pdf)

This is an important step toward eliminating Huawei 5G data risks within U.S. telecommunication networks.  Additionally, the designation will have the forward impact of restricting U.S. allies from linking networks if they use Huawei/ZTE components.

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In a statement earlier today, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has announced the U.S. is revoking the special trade status of Hong Kong in response to escalating encroachment by China in violation of the prior agreement for autonomy.

It is a challenging status to modify because the administration does not want to reduce the ability of Hong Kong to operate as an autonomous economic region.  However, at the same time Beijing is taking control of all systems within Hong Kong and as such policies must be adjusted.  It would be an exercise in futility to expect China to retreat.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on Fox News with Stuart Varney to discuss a change in federal hiring policy.  However, within the interview Ross notes some key economic data that has a very solid predictor value for economic growth.

Both the spending rates and the savings rates for Americans are at all time highs.  The COVID-19 lockdown has limited purchase options, leading to less initial spending; however, consumers have a lot of recent cash reserve as shown in their rate of savings.

Ross is right, within this dynamic, as soon as economic limits are removed, the spending will boost the economy very quickly.

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Jumpin’ ju-ju bones… New home sales jumped a whopping 16.6% in May, blowing past the estimates of a 2.9% rise.  The May increase in sales is nearly 13 percent higher than the same month one year ago.

Home sales are a key indicator of economic health because purchases of homes requires (1) income, a stable job; and (2) an optimistic financial outlook from the buyer.

Sales of new single-family homes jumped 16.6% in May from April, to a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 676,000, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The median economist estimate was for 640,000, according to Bloomberg data.

In addition to a larger-than-expected monthly surge, May sales were nearly 13% higher than a year ago. As the US economy reopens, people are flocking back to the housing market in droves — the rosy sales are a rebound from three months of declines ending in April. (LINK)

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