In June and July last year it became obvious President Trump was going to initiate a full-frontal geopolitical confrontation with China based on their ambitions for economic conquest.  We labeled the confrontation: Eagle -vs- Red Dragon.
Specifically around: intellectual property theft; massive U.S. trade imbalances; imposed tariffs, and ridiculous non-tariff barriers put in place by China, we anticipated the conflict would eventually force Beijing to drop the Panda mask and expose their economic intentions.  Additionally there was clarity within President Trump’s approach for any observer who was willing to accept the history of Mr. Trump’s views on the larger issues. In short, POTUS Trump will not back down.
In March of 2018 U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer completed a section 301 review of China’s trade practices.  [SEE HERE] Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 authorizes the President to take all appropriate action, including retaliation, to obtain the removal of any act, policy, or practice of a foreign government that violates an international trade agreement or is unjustified, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.  However, as talks with China progressed, President Trump shelved the 301 action to see where negotiations would end-up.
Due to the severity of communist ideology, and the intransigence of China to make any modification to their global economic plans, Chairman Xi Jinping made the strategic decision to elevate the confrontation in full Red Dragon mode.  The May and June, 2018, negotiations between the U.S. and China provided no progress.  The 301 review of China is now pulled back off the shelf, and President Trump assembles his trade-war strategy:
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The ADP national employment report is a monthly measure of the change in total U.S. nonfarm private employment derived from actual, anonymous payroll data of companies served by ADP. The report measures approximately 24 million U.S. workers along with employment trends in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics.

For July 2018, ADP has calculated payroll increases of 219,000 new jobs including 23,000 more manufacturing jobs created as an outcome of a resurgence in manufacturing and goods-producing industries. In the last 19 months, the U.S. has added 836,000 manufacturing jobs.  [For contrast: in the 19 month period preceding President Trump’s MAGA-Magic-manufacturing growth, only 26,000 manufacturing jobs were created.]

(Via CNBC) Private payrolls in the U.S. increased by more than expected last month as companies get a boost from lower corporate taxes, ADP and Moody’s Analytics said Wednesday.
Jobs in the U.S. increased by 219,000 in July, while economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 185,000. July’s job gains were the best since February, when 241,000 jobs were added. Jobs growth for the previous month was also revised up to 181,000 from 177,000.

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Several days ago I noticed a well-connected Canadian business analyst, Manny Montenegrino, had a considerable assembly of facts, examples, data-points and details to support his proposition that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was intentionally collapsing his own economy.
After going through the evidence, weighing it against our own research, and looking closely at the political network of like-minded followers associating with PM Trudeau (mostly avowed Marxists), Montenegrino’s theory appears very solid:

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Apparently our CTH suspicions were correct; this is interesting.  Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is scheduled to leave Canada on Tuesday for a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Singapore…. Meanwhile U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and a high-level Mexican team -consisting of both incoming AMLO and exiting Nieto delegations- will be meeting again to determine the details of a bilateral trade deal.

Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo is from the outgoing Pena Nieto administration and was part of the crew supporting the Canadian position; ie. the plan to continue exploiting the NAFTA loophole.  However, Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) has selected Jesus Seade as his lead person for trade negotiations and appears more willing to engage in a bilateral trade deal with the U.S.
AMLO’s Jesus Seade, Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Ambassador Robert Lighthizer are meeting again this Thursday to put the outline of a deal together; while Canada is sidelined from the discussion.
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association in Canada, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Americans and the Mexicans came to some resolution on that piece (autos) and then the Americans flip it back to Canada and say ‘Take it or leave it’.”  That is exactly what CTH anticipated was going to happen.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will be holding a joint press conference immediately following their bilateral meeting at the White House. Anticipated start time 2:00pm EST:
UPDATE: Video Added

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Maria Bartiromo has an exclusive interview with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the state of the economy and the ongoing administration policies therein.  VP Pence discusses the ongoing trade negotiations and the possibility of an agreement in principle between the U.S. and Mexico; a specific assignment for U.S.T.R. Robert Lighthizer.

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Interestingly Reuters uses the narrative from an anonymous Canadian “official” to frame an article about how global car manufacturers are coming together next week in Geneva to coordinate their strategy against the United States and President Trump.
Just let that part sink in for a moment…

Behind that context we can clearly see: 1) the economic importance of the Auto industry to the countries that are assembling; 2) their multinational corporate interest in retaining unlimited access to the U.S. market; and 3) the absolute need of all assembling corporations to find a way to keep their investments in NAFTA’s fatal flaw viable.
Who is gathering?  Canada, Mexico, the EU (ie. Germany), Japan and South Korea.
Where are they going?  To visit Geneva, Switzerland.  Why Geneva? Because that way China can attend (see Volvo/Sweden) without being on the official roster.  ::nudge, nudge:: ::wink, wink::  ::say-no-more Panda boy, say-no-more::  Additionally, Cecelia Malmström (EU Trade Minister), is the person Canada is relying upon to cover their anti-Trump position:

MEXICO CITY/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico and South Korea will meet in Geneva next week to discuss how to respond to threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on U.S. imports of autos and car parts, officials familiar with the talks said.

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The head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett shares his perspective on the 4.1 percent GDP growth, and the ongoing MAGAnomic America-First initiatives.   Hassett rightly points out that finished good domestic inventories dropped as an outcome of consumer purchasing outpacing manufacturing.  As more manufacturing comes on-line, the production capacity expansion leads to more GDP growth.
Remember, one of the unique attributes of the U.S. economy, thanks to the foresight of industrial titans who built it, is our internal consumption.  We are not only the worlds’ largest economy, we are the biggest self-sustaining economy in the history of the world; a massively consequential strategic advantage. Our leverage comes from nations needing access to our market; the U.S. does not necessarily need access to theirs. Therefore POTUS Trump can dictate the terms.

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Against the backdrop of MAGAnomic success, many people (some young some old) are beginning to engage in questions of decades-old economic assumptions.  Consider me thrilled at the possibility of a generational economic awakening.
Toward that end, here’s another repost from 2016 to gain understanding of the fundamentals behind President Trump’s MAGAnomic policies.  God Bless Main Street!
NOVEMBER 2016 – As we all begin to filter the impact of a historic Donald Trump victory, perhaps it is important to remind ourselves what should be the primary filter for perspective..

…the economics.

For the first time in many decades the chief executive of the United States will walk into office concerned about the long-term financial stability of the United States.  For the first time ever, a titan of American Main Street is going to be in the oval office. Do not downplay the significance of this aspect. Money makes the world go ’round.
Every single global leader and politician is reviewing the U.S. election through their own domestic financial prisms. Rule #1 – Everything is about the money. Rule #2 – Everything is about the money. Rule #3 – when pondering any information broadcast by corporate media about a global Trump effect, refer back to the prior two rules.
Donald Trump is 100% pure MAIN STREET, never doubt that. Trump’s macro economic DNA outlook is compromised of American business interests at a micro-cellular level. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell et al will be dispatched immediately if he attempts to bring his big Wall Street/K-Street lobbying friends into the Trump economic equation.
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Earlier today President Trump, Vice-President Pence and NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow delivered remarks on the economy from the South Lawn of the White House:

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[Transcript] South Lawn – 9:43 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Moments ago, the numbers for America’s economic growth — or GDP — were just released. And I am thrilled to announce that, in the second quarter of this year, the United States economy grew at the amazing rate of 4.1 percent. We’re on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years. And I will say this right now, and I’ll say it strongly: As the trade deals come in one by one, we’re going to go a lot higher than these numbers. And these are great numbers.
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