This is the best video to adequately review the full nuance and scale of consequence within the oval office meeting between the Chinese trade delegation and the U.S. team.  As previously noted, President Trump delivered brutally honest remarks about expectations to both teams that likely, strategically and purposefully, caught Chinese Vice Premier Liu completely off guard.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, AG Secretary Sonny Perdue, NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow, U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Brandstad, Trade Adviser Peter Navarro with China’s Vice Premier Liu He, and multiple Chinese vice ministers/senior officials were all in the Oval Office for a discussion of current trade status…. and the outcome was epic.
ENJOY:

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Jumping Ju-Ju Bones….  I’ll get a video and transcript downloaded soon, but boy howdy… Thirty years of President Trump -vs- China trade just roared to the surface in the Oval Office.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, AG Secretary Sonny Perdue, NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow, U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Brandstad, Trade Adviser Peter Navarro with China’s Vice Premier Liu He, and multiple Chinese vice ministers/senior officials were all in the Oval Office for a discussion of current trade status…. and the outcome was epic.
Secretary Mnuchin announces the Chinese delegation will be staying in DC for an additional two-days of negotiations.   Heck, he’s got em.  The Chinese team can’t leave, not without a preliminary deal, because Trump is going to Vietnam next week and the phase-two tariffs kick in March 1st.
While Vice Premier Liu is seated directly in front of him POTUS Trump answers a reporter question about Chinese technology and cyber-security.  Trump notes that he wants open and fair tech competition, but if China represents a security threat… well, that changes the dynamic.  Liu is seated right in front of President Trump….  EPIC !
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With about a week left before the second phase of U.S. tariffs is scheduled to hit Chinese imports both the U.S. and China trade delegations met today in an ongoing effort to hammer out details about enforcement mechanisms.   The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife…

Beijing’s Red Dragon team is focused on putting together a six step Memorandum of Understanding, the Panda MOU, they hope will convince President Trump to delay any tariff action.  This cunning procedural approach is China’s historic tactic when confronted about the reality within their trade behavior and economic duplicity.   However, USTR Robert Lighthizer is well aware and unwilling to follow the path of historic failure.
These talks are intense; it is difficult to appropriately frame how consequential these negotiation sessions are. Because the trillion dollar stakes are so high; and because China is unfamiliar negotiating with a government delegation they have not purchased; this is the type of hard-line negotiation that could never be attempted by any other administration other than President Donald Trump.  It is rather epic when you stand back and consider the larger landscape.
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Asia expert Gordon Chang discusses the U.S.-China trade negotiations with Lou Dobbs and why President Trump should consider raising tariffs on Chinese imports on March 1st.
Massive pressure is being applied by Chinese purchased interests including Wall Street, the multinational corporate lobbying groups; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and all of the global financial elite, to oppose President Trump’s confrontation with Beijing.

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President Trump Yesterday:
Q How confident are you that it will be finished by March 1? Or are you considering extending that deadline?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, they are very complex talks. They’re going very well. We’re asking for everything that anybody has ever even suggested. These are not just, you know, “let’s sell corn or let’s do this.” It’s going to be selling corn but a lot of it — a lot more than anyone thought possible. And I think the talks are going very well — with China, you’re referring to?
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Every element of global economic trade is controlled and exploited by massive institutions, multinational banks and multinational corporations. Institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), control trillions of dollars in economic activity. Underneath that economic activity there are people who hold the reigns of power over the outcomes. These individuals and groups are the stakeholders in direct opposition to principles of America-First national economics.
The modern financial constructs of these entities have been established over the course of the past three decades. When you understand how they manipulate the economic system of individual nations you begin to understand why they are so fundamentally opposed to President Trump.
In the Western World, separate from communist control perspectives (ie. China), “Global markets” are a modern myth; nothing more than a talking point meant to keep people satiated with sound bites they might find familiar; but the truth is ‘global markets‘ have been destroyed over the past three decades by multinational corporations who control the products formerly contained within global markets.
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There’s a lot of news this week reflecting a great deal of oppositional alignment against the presidency of Donald Trump. CTH can get down in the weeds of each specific issue to discuss the motives and intents (we will, and do), but the big picture MUST remain at the forefront of understanding. If we lose track of the big picture, the weeds are overwhelming.

…“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”
~ Niccolò Machiavelli

♦POTUS Trump is disrupting the global order of things in order to protect and preserve the shrinking interests of the U.S. middle-class.  He is fighting, almost single-handed, at the threshold of the abyss. Our interests, our position, is zero-sum; if POTUS Trump fails, there will never be another available route to confront the Big Club.
President Trump’s aggregate opposition seeks to repel and retain the status-quo. They were on the cusp of full economic control over the U.S. just before candidate Trump snatched away their victory.  There are trillions at stake. They won’t make that mistake again.
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United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin concluded the second round of trade negotiations in China with a meeting with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Liu He.
Both teams are working on a way-point memo of understanding (MOU). Talks will continue. Both sides extending diplomatic courtesies and presenting an optimistic face.

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[White House]  This week, at the direction of President Donald J. Trump, officials from the United States traveled to Beijing to continue negotiations on the trade relationship between the United States and China. On the United States side, the talks were led by Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States Trade Representative, and the Honorable Steven T. Mnuchin, the Secretary of the Treasury.
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Two Canadian political and economic observers, Ezra Levant of The Rebel.media and lawyer and consultant Manny Montenegrino, discuss how the USMCA grants special consideration to Mexico that Canada doesn’t receive.

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Historians will note the trilateral negotiations, including the U.S. and Canada, broke down in a series of events between October 2017 and January 2018; culminating with USTR Robert Lighthizer and President Trump deciding to focus on a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Mexico that Canada was later forced to join.
The intransigent demands by Canada, which would have forced the U.S. to accept any Canada-China trade deal, was the fracture point.  [SEE HERE] This strategic mistake by Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland created the downstream consequences now beginning to surface.
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ACTION ALERT: The Decepticon caucus inside the senate, under the control of U.S. Wall Street’s primary CoC Lobbyist and Big Club President Tom Donohue, are assembling to launch a full frontal assault against President Trump’s trade policies. Seriously watch out for Senators Pat Toomey, Rob Portman and Ron Johnson:

Toomey said reining in Trump’s tariff powers also has strong backing from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and dozens of other trade associations. “There’s clearly a lot of momentum, but only time will tell whether it’s enough to get over the goal line.” (link)

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appeared on Fox Business today to discuss President Trump’s State of the Union address and the Trump administration’s economic policies.

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The Chairman of the White House CEA Kevin Hassett appears on CNBC to discuss the strong January jobs report and economic indicators that were released last week.
Hassett is valuable, very valuable, because he is one of the few bean-counters who reviews current analysis through the prism of what is factually happening around him; as opposed to economic theory.  Because he accepts what I call ‘fluid-currentism‘ Hassett is one of the few analysts who (early on) started recognizing that under MAGAnomics (Main Street centric policy) inflation was no longer connected to the FED engagement.
To say acceptance of this ‘new dimension‘ puts Hassett on the cusp of leading economic review would be an understatement. Additionally, it makes his commentary exceptionally more valuable [listen to the segment at 02:50].  Hassett is pragmatic, positive, open to accepting all fact-based evidence, on point, and more importantly, accurate.

…”The booming economy is giving us the social justice that people want”… ~ Kevin Hassett

Unfortunately, most financial pundits are prone to talking down the strength of the U.S. economy. It’s maddening. They spend all day mining for coal nuggets while currently surrounded by diamonds.
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