Former White House China trade negotiator Clete Willems makes a rare appearance to discuss President Trump’s ongoing trade position with China; and the lessons they are learning from Trump’s severity with Mexico.
Fox News talking-hair Leland Vitter, a prime example of the axiom: “a little knowledge is dangerous”, tries his best to promote the preferred Murdoch points; however, Vitter finds himself struggling against the weight of the examples highlighted by Mr. Willems. Quite funny actually:

.
Worth noting: President Trump spoke with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO) yesterday (See Tweets Below).
(more…)

Appearing on Fox News Sunday acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan discusses the approach by President Trump to impose import tariffs on Mexico if the administration of President Lopez-Obrador does not fulfill their pledge.
Along with outlining the Mexican agreement, McAleenan notes President Trump is absolutely willing to impose the tariffs on Mexico if there is no substantive and immediate improvement to stem the flow of Central American migrants.

(more…)

Interesting, albeit not surprising, report from the New York Times after they are debriefed by a group of U.S. tech industry executives about a compliance meeting in China.
The Beijing regime of Chairman Xi Jinping summoned leaders from the top of U.S. tech industry companies and informed them of consequences for complying with U.S. laws that relate to black-listed Chinese industry; ie. Hauwei.  It will be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out.
Beijing is counting on the far-left anti-American ideology within Silicon Valley to create a communist economic alliance on U.S. soil that will work against the interests of the American people.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Chinese government this past week summoned major tech companies including Microsoft and Dell from the United States and Samsung of South Korea, to warn that they could face dire consequences if they cooperate with the Trump administration’s ban on sales of key American technology to Chinese companies, according to people familiar with the meetings.

(more…)

UPDATE: U.S-Mexico Joint Statement Added at bottom:
President Trump tweets that a signed deal has been reached between the U.S. and Mexico to stop the unlawful Central American migration that has created a crisis at the border:

According to the president details will come from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who, along with VP Mike Pence and Secretary Wilbur Ross, was central to the U.S. negotiating team.
The Mexican government of Lopez-Obrador was desperate to reach an agreement as U.S. companies had already begun rapid supply chain preparation to avoid the tariffs scheduled to begin on Monday. Think about the scale of international investment into Mexico, done with the sole purpose of gaining access to the U.S. market.
(more…)

The majority of financial media punditry claim Orangeman Tariffs’ bad.  Truly, it’s the stupidest and most disingenuous oft-spoken claim with ZERO foundation in reality.
Chinese tariffs have been in place since July 2017, no measurable inflation on Chinese goods. Steel and Aluminum tariffs in place since 2017; again, no measurable inflation on core product or finished consumer goods.   Auto tariffs on China – now absorbed by GM.  Soft-wood tariffs (countervailing duties) against Canadian dumping – same result.

The supply chain results completely refute U.S. CoC Tom Donohue’s doomsayer-promised economic proclamations.  If tariffs are so destructive, why was/is everyone ‘except the U.S’ using them to protect their industry segments and economies?
The truth is, the financial class and professional multinational lobbyists don’t want people to realize the modern trade system was designed to reduce American wealth.  It’s a feature not a flaw.
The collapse of U.S. manufacturing did not happen accidentally.  The rust-belt was not created accidentally.  NAFTA was not designed accidentally.  The back-door to the U.S. market was not created accidentally. Middle-class jobs were not lost accidentally.  Wages did not stagnate accidentally….  All of these results were brought about by specific design.
(more…)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides the May jobs report.  Top line job gains were moderate at 75,000 and the unemployment rate holds steady at 3.6%.  However wage growth of 3.1%, and a monthly shift of 299,000 jobs from part-time to full-time reflects tight labor market in specific Main Street (blue and white collar) jobs.
The overall gain of 75,000 for May is low considering the economic growth. However, a review of the underlying data tells a story of a tightened labor pool; specifically inside the Main Street, middle-class, blue and white collar labor market.  [Table B-1]

Overall wage growth of 3.1% is very strong, and driven primarily by increased wages in “non-supervisory” payroll; ie. the actual workers (non mgmt). May was the 10th straight month with annual wage gains of at least 3 percent. Wages for non-supervisory workers continue to rise at a faster rate of 3.4 percent.
With inflation remaining low (1.4%); and assuming inflation is unchanged in May; the 3.4% non-supervisory wage growth, at current wage rates, is equivalent to nearly $900 per year in real wage growth for a blue-collar worker at 40 hours per week. [Table B-8]
We see the second large indicator of a tight Main Street labor market in the shift from part-time to full-time employment:
(more…)

President Trump sat down for an extensive interview with Laura Ingraham to discuss the D-Day commemorative event and a variety of current event topics including: Tariffs on Mexico, Nancy Pelosi and impeachment threats, China trade confrontation and the relationship between President Trump and H.M. Queen Elizabeth.

.
President Trump and First Lady Melania return from Ireland today. Schedule below.
(more…)

During brief press remarks following a USMCA speech in Pennsylvania, Vice President Mike Pence outlined the current status of “talks” between the U.S. and Mexican officials.
The vice-president affirms several times that President Trump is “firm in his position” to see Mexico step-up and do more to stop the mass migration of illegal aliens from Central America.  If you think about it, against the context of the USMCA, the Trump position to confront Mexico is absolutely the right approach.
Mexico wants the USMCA trade agreement, and they want to be united with the U.S. and Canada on trade and collaborative economic benefits.  However, simultaneously Mexico has repeatedly said it will not join the “Safe Third Country” agreement held by the United States and Canada, where asylum seekers must apply for refuge in whichever country they first arrive in, as each is considered safe.

.
[It’s worth noting that Pence is likely under a lot of pressure from Tom Donohue and his friends within the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Pence deserves credit for standing up to his traditional tribe.]
(more…)

In an effort to avoid the tariffs scheduled to begin next Monday; and not admitting they have no ability to influence the U.S-Mexico border region controlled by drug cartels; the conniving Mexican government is pledging to send troops to their southern border.
However, President Trump isn’t in the mood for more empty promises.  In essence, the U.S. position led by Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is: do it, and let’s see… in the meantime, tariffs will commence until Mexican priorities are improved.

WASHINGTON – Faced with Trump’s threat to impose escalating tariffs on Mexican goods beginning Monday, Mexican officials have pledged to deploy up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the country’s border region with Guatemala, a show of force they say will make immediate reductions in the number of Central Americans heading north toward the U.S. border.
The Mexican official and the U.S. official said the countries are negotiating a sweeping plan to overhaul asylum rules across the region, a move that would require Central Americans to seek refuge in the first foreign country they set foot upon after fleeing their homeland.

(more…)

When President Trump began confronting China on trade practices, there was always a likely totalitarian Chinese response. The inevitable response when confronting the duplicitous dragon is always an attack; it’s the only way Beijing knows how to respond.

Last week Beijing threatened to take action against any corporation who would be perceived as working against the interests of the state.  This week communist Beijing begins doing exactly that:

(SCMP) China’s antitrust regulator slapped a US$23.6 million fine on Ford Motor Company’s Chinese venture for restricting sales prices in its hometown, taking the second such action against US carmakers in three years as trade tensions deteriorated between the world’s two largest economies.

(more…)