Current Steel and Aluminum tariff exemptions expire June 1st. Secretary Ross scheduled to be in Beijing, China June 2nd, 3rd, 4th. The G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec is on June 8th and 9th. The tenuous Singapore summit was previously scheduled for June 12th.
The MSM is insufferable in their intentional disconnect of the dynamic behind the North Korean denuclearization talks. It was Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping who brought the DPRK to the table; and it was Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping who pushed North Korea away from the table in their manipulative efforts to extract trade concessions. Every other review of the geopolitical gamesmanship is chaff and countermeasures.
U.S. President Trump is holding massive steel and aluminum tariffs as an economic sword of Damocles over the head of Beijing during ongoing trade negotiations. Chairman Xi sought to increase his own leverage by pulling North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un away from bilateral peace and denuclearization talks. However, POTUS Trump responded to the Beijing power-play by announcing a Section 232 trade review over the entire auto-industry; and then bolstered his counter-move by cancelling talks with Kim Jong-un.
Red Dragon didn’t expect President Trump to respond so effectively to the customary schemes notoriously famous in any Chinese negotiation encounter. I really believe Chairman Xi underestimates how adept POTUS Trump is at cutting through the obfuscation and obtuse moves.
President Trump simply doesn’t operate in the land of traditional diplomatic discomfort… he doesn’t have any inclination to play these insufferable games.
Within minutes of President Trump withdrawing from the June 12th summit, Beijing realized all of their trade leverage was just wiped out. Playing deceptive panda isn’t going to work this time.
(Via AP) – North Korea says it is still willing to sit down for talks with the United States “at any time, at any format” after President Donald Trump abruptly canceled his planned summit with Kim Jong Un.
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan issued a statement Friday saying North Korea is “willing to give the U.S. time and opportunities” to reconsider talks.
President Trump has made the decision to withdraw from the scheduled June 12th summit with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un. [Copy of letter below]
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Ultimately the decision to withdraw is an outcome of changes in posture initiated strategically by China and Chairman Xi Jinping. China hoping to leverage a U.S. trade outcome by playing the strings on DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un.
The timing of the meetings between China and DPRK, mirrors the changes in posture by the DPRK and reflects a transparency. Communist Beijing is engaging with the Trump administration in traditional dragon-mode their zero-sum outlook. In response, President Trump drops the Panda approach and confronts the manipulation directly.
Likely President Trump will immediately increase sanction enforcement and reposition again for a pending naval blockade.
Economic security is national security. “Economic growth, national security, those are the Presidents’ two most important priorities” ~ Secretary Mnuchin.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discusses the ongoing trade negotiation with China and the specifics of sector-by-sector agreements in principle. The overall approach by the Trump administration is to balance the trade relationship through opening of Chinese markets to U.S. exports and retain stability within U.S. manufacturing sectors.
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The dragon is in the details…. and that’s where you find slayer-Secretary Wilbur Ross!
After over a year of discussions and structured way-points, China came into last weeks U.S. trade talks with outstretched steel fists. The delegation they sent to the negotiating table were some of the most loyal and die-hard communist leaders within their national economic team.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears on Fox News Sunday for an interview with the insufferable swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace. The primary topic is China and the ongoing trade discussions. However, look at the stone cold stare from Mnuchin at the very end when he points out that Wallace never even brought up the important Iran sanctions. If looks could kill, Wallace would have spontaneously combusted.
The White House has released a “Joint Statement of the United States and China Regarding Trade Consultations“:
“At the direction of President Donald J. Trump and President Xi Jinping, on May 17 and 18, 2018, the United States and China engaged in constructive consultations regarding trade in Washington, D.C. The United States delegation included Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, and United States Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer. The Chinese delegation was led by State Council Vice Premier Liu He, Special Envoy of President Xi.”
“There was a consensus on taking effective measures to substantially reduce the United States trade deficit in goods with China. To meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need for high-quality economic development, China will significantly increase purchases of United States goods and services. This will help support growth and employment in the United States.”
DAY#3 – Everyone has a role to play. While President Trump’s ‘killers’ sharpen dragon-slaying strategy, NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow rubs Big Panda’s belly and discusses the optimistic outlook toward the ongoing trade negotiations with China.
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In Part II of the interview chairman cuddle-bunny discusses the issues of intellectual property rights, patents and copyright protections.
National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow appeared on Fox Business earlier Thursday to talk about the ongoing U.S. China trade negotiations. Those who follow the Dragon -vs- Panda strategies of China saw earlier yesterday how Chairman Xi Jinping was positioning N-Korea as leverage for the current trade negotiations.
The DPRK dragon-play didn’t work because President Trump knows the dragon’s moves, and predicted their approach from the outset. Remember, POTUS Trump began executing a geopolitical economic strategy toward both North Korea and China well over a year ago. [During the first meeting with Chairman Xi Jinping in Mar-a-Lago (Feb, 2017)]
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After over a year of discussions and structured way-points, China came into the current round of U.S. trade talks with outstretched steel fists. The line-up they sent to the negotiating table are some of the most loyal and die-hard communist leadership within their economic team.
It is obvious China is in dragon-mode knowing they are dealing with an entirely different administration than they faced before.
Last week, in an effort to target President Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, sketchy porn-lawyer Michael Avenatti received and released stolen financial records for a group of people who held the name Michael Cohen. At least two of the people who had their records released were the wrong Michael Cohen.
In a New Yorker article today, far-left playtime ‘journalist’ Ronan Farrow writes about his contact with the law-enforcement official who stole the Cohen financial records and gave them to the sketchy porn lawyer.
From the timing it appears the Treasury Department Office of Inspector General is close to catching the criminal leaker. As such, Farrow writes a sympathetic outline attempting to shape a narrative of a “law-enforcement official” as a wounded ‘whistleblower‘.
New Yorker – Last week, several news outlets obtained financial records showing that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, had used a shell company to receive payments from various firms with business before the Trump Administration.
It is interesting to watch the Trump Cabinet debate the Obama Cabinet (U.S. media). In this interview between White House National Security Advisor John Bolton and ABC’s Martha Raddatz the central topic is Iran; the detailed conversation is deep weeds therein.
After Bolton presents the administration position and reasoning for exiting the deeply flawed, unsigned and unenforceable Obama Iran “deal” (not treaty), essentially a JCPOA pathway to the land of broken promises, Ambassador Bolton then reaches the part of the discussion where sanctions against European companies come back into play. This is the best part. WATCH:
Massive U.S. economic leverage, and the strategic application therein, is an aspect that drives the left-wing Iranian apologists bananas. A weaponized $20 trillion U.S. economy is the unavoidable atomic sledgehammer at the foundation of the Trump Doctrine. It is far more powerful than a military weapon and drops all nations to their knees in compliance.
Everything is about the economics. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. Every point of opposition; every forward MAGA policy; every initiative, including freedom; every move toward success; everything is about the economics.
Look at the immediate take-away published by Reuters.
