During an executive order signing session in the White House today, President Trump announced a major change in tariffs on the auto industry.  [Full Executive Order Here]

The 25% import duty applies on top of any preexisting tariff for cars and light trucks.  The 25% tariff also applies to imported car parts.  The USMCA trade agreement between the U.S. Canada and Mexico still applies.

If the content of a car assembled in Mexico/Canada contains 50 percent component parts from the USA, the 25% tariff only applies to the final value of the imported components. In this example the tariff rate would be 12.5% of the total value.

The tariff applies to all imported cars and light trucks.  Approximately half of all cars sold in the USA are currently American made, the other half are import vehicles from mainly Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Germany.

This is a very big kick in the teeth to Germany.  Previously in a long-term strategy to avoid U.S. tariffs, German automakers invested billions in auto assembly plants in Mexico.  Ex. the BMW parts were shipped from Germany and the cars assembled in Mexico.  Now that investment is worthless as the vehicle will be taxed at a rate of 25% regardless of whether it is assembled in Germany or Mexico.

Ex.2 High end auto Mercedes currently builds SUVs in the USA in order to avoid the previous 25% tariff; however, they still build cars outside the USA and export them into the USA market.  This will likely change quickly, and Mercedes will begin building all cars and SUVs in the USA.

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As the negotiations for a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire agreement are being worked out, here are the statements from each of the participants in the technical team discussion following their meeting in Saudi Arabia.

RUSSIA STATEMENT (SOURCE):1. “In line with the agreement reached by the presidents of Russia and the United States, the Russian and American sides agreed to provide for the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, which includes ensuring safe navigation, eliminating the use of force, and preventing the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea, while adopting appropriate control measures by inspecting such vessels.

2. The United States will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.

Note:

Clauses 1 & 2 will come into force following:

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I doubt anyone in their correct and intellectually honest mind would believe this DC drawing assigning Judge James Boasberg to the recently filed lawsuit against the Trump national security cabinet members on the signal chat, was random.

There are 20 judges in the DC pool eligible to hear the case [CASE DETAILS HERE] and with a 1:20 chance, Judge James Boasberg was assigned.

American Oversight is a left-wing Lawfare outlet who sue President Trump while sipping coffee daily.  This time they are suing the administration to force govt preservation of the Signal app ‘non-classified’ chat messages that have already been published to the public.

The lawsuit issue is made moot by the Atlantic publication of the chat.  But I’m sure Boasberg will find a way to affirm the lawsuit and assign attorney fee damages to the Lawfare plaintiff.

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Against the backdrop of the Trump administration saying nothing contained in the discussion was classified information, the Atlantic Magazine has decided to publish the full content of the Signal app chat group:

READ IT HERE

The full release coming after the coordinated SSCI effort to build upon the story, and ultimately the response from President Donald Trump toward the entire substance of the issue, seemingly indicates the Atlantic Mag realizes the juice for a bigger targeted outcome is just not there.

The content of the chat is a nothingburger, sans it makes VP Vance look better.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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President Trump has given remarks supporting National Security Advisor Mike Waltz during an interview with NBC.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump stood by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was accidentally added to a private, high-level chat on the messaging app Signal where military plans were being discussed.

“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump said Tuesday in a phone interview with NBC News.

When asked what he was told about how Goldberg came to be added to the Signal chat, Trump said, “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there.”

Trump said Goldberg’s presence in the chat had “no impact at all” on the military operation.

The president expressed confidence in his team, saying he was not frustrated by the events leading up to The Atlantic’s story. The situation, Trump said, was “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.” (more)

The rest of the DC setup is transparently clear.  (1) Goldberg held the story until the day before a long-scheduled Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. (2) The SSCI then used the hearing to blast the heads of the Trump administration intelligence silos on the issue of “classified” information in the text messages.

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As expected, the Democrats were ready to pounce when Trump intelligence officials appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).  Almost as if their staff had pre-planned a series of questions to ask Tulsi Gabbard and Director John Ratcliffe.

In this heated exchange, Colorado Democrat Senator Mike Bennet goes fully bananas when questioning CIA Director John Ratcliffe. These are not stable people.  WATCH:

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FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are among the witnesses who testify today before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

The SSCI is the center of the organization silo in Washington DC that permits the Intelligence Community to operate as a fourth branch of government. The hearing today on global and domestic threats was previously scheduled and ‘coincidentally’ now falls on the heels of revelations surrounding a group text chat about Trump administration operations in Yemen.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00am ET, with livestream links below.  The professional political left will be questioning the three cabinet members and will now focus on the national security threat created by Nat Sec Advisor Mike Waltz.  WATCH BELOW:

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

(more…)