During an interview with Fox Business Maria Bartiromo White House Trade and Manufacturing Advisor Peter Navarro outliness how the USPS, the postal system, has been heavily subsidizing “incoming mail of a number of countries to the tune of hundreds of million dollars a year.”  Navarro notes he is meeting with foreign ambassadors and representatives of the State Department at the Blair House in Washington, D.C., to work on changes to the current mail system.
Additionally, Navarro explained that he will be traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 23 for a third “Extraordinary Congress” and there will be two issues/options on the ballot: (1) allows all countries in the postal union to self-declare rates, ending a terminal dues system that costs countries to subsidize incoming mail. (2) A “multispeed approach,” allowing the U.S. to self-declare rates immediately.

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The European Central Bank (ECB) announced Thursday an indefinite supply of fresh asset purchases and deeper cuts to interest rates, into negative territory, as it tries to prop up the ailing euro zone economy.  These are EU financial counter-measures to the geopolitical trade realignment triggered by U.S. President Trump.
The EU is driving down the value of their currency in an effort to help prop-up the French and German economies that are dependent on exports.  In essence, the financial and economic positions of the EU and China are connected.  The more pressure the U.S. (Trump administration) puts on China, the less China can purchase from the EU.
With that as the backdrop, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin holds an impromptu press conference outside the White House on China trade, Huawei and the bond market.

 

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A series of very strong internal economic evaluations today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) show the Main Street economy is perfectly positioned with maximum benefit to the U.S. middle-class.
First, despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, saying Trump tariffs on China would create massive inflation…. It Ain’t Happening!  Overall year-over-year inflation is hovering around 1.7 percent [Table-A BLS]; that’s a low inflation rate.  Rate has firmed up now with less month-over-month fluctuation, and the rate remains consistent.   [See Below]

A couple of important points.  First, unleashing the energy sector to drive down overall costs to consumers and industry outputs was a key part of President Trump’s America-First MAGAnomic initiative.  Lower energy prices help the worker economy, middle class and average American more than any other sector… Except ‘food at home’.
Which brings us to the second important point.  Notice how food prices have very low year-over-year inflation, 0.5 percent.  That is a combination of two key issues: low energy costs, and the fracturing of Big Ag hold on the farm production and the export dynamic:
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Fox News host Neil Cavuto is well known for broadcasting an hour long infomercial for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street daily.  White House manufacturing and trade advisor Peter Navarro interrupts Cavuto’s multinational talking points to explain a Pro-U.S. trade initiative that will help level the playing field.  Things go downhill….

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Amid new reports of U.S. companies initiating a rapid exodus from China, President Trump has announced the delay of the next round of tariff increases on Chinese goods from October 1st to October 15th.

U.S. Company Survey – More than a quarter of the respondents – or 26.5% – said that in the past year, they have redirected investments originally planned for China to other regions. That’s an increase of 6.9 percentage points from last year, the AmCham report said, noting that technology, hardware, software and services industries had the highest level of changes in investment destination (read more)

President Trump apparently senses the diminishing position of Chairman Xi.  The status quo, U.S. disinvestment, has put Beijing into a weakening position.  As the president noted today during remarks from the oval office, Xi’s belt-and-road (aka ‘bribe and loan’) supply chain program is collapsing.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin hold a press conference to discuss terror related issues and national security. The Press Conference relates to This Executive Order.
UPDATE: Video and Transcript Added

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[Transcript] – SECRETARY MNUCHIN: Hello, everybody. So, Secretary Pompeo and I are here today to talk about the President’s new executive order. And after that, we’d be happy to take a few questions.
So, today, the President signed a new executive order which underscores his decisive leadership in fighting global terrorism. This administration has intensified our counterterrorism sanctions effort. We’ve designated more than 230 individuals and entities in 2018, the most designation of any year in the last 15 years.
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The Beijing/Wall Street lobbyist Robert Zoellick has taken an attack posture on behalf of his U.S. corporate clients and their investments in China.
White House director of trade policy Peter Navarro appears on FOX Business’ Lou Dobbs to rebuke Zoellick and Beijing claims about Trump’s trade policy:

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears for an interview with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to return privatization to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the state of the U.S. economy, U.S. trade talks with China, USMCA and government spending.
Ms. Bartiromo is very concerned about retaining the wealth position for her friends on Wall Street and the Asian investment needs of U.S. multinational corporations.

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If this simple procedure is true, wow… It would mean all of last week’s parliamentary teeth gnashing by the usurping Never-Brexit MP’s was essentially irrelevant.
According to a Reuters report, Prime Minister Boris Johnson simply needs to attach a letter to the Brexit delay legislation saying the U.K. government officially does not request any extension beyond October 31st.  Then ignore it.  That was easy.

(Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has prepared plans to legally stop any Brexit extension, the Daily Telegraph bit.ly/2ZP87Yc reported late on Sunday.
Johnson’s advisers held a meeting on Sunday to counter the strategy to prevent the British parliament’s attempts at enforcing a three-month Brexit extension if no new deal is agreed, the newspaper reported.

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The South China Morning Post has an interesting article highlighting that July’s export results from China were likely skewed as U.S. companies proactively made purchases to take advantage of Beijing’s currency devaluation in combination with filling inventory ahead of the U.S. holiday needs.

Additionally, August export results from China show an actual drop in exports, falling 16 percent year-over-year from decreased U.S. orders:

Shipments fell by 1 per cent in the month after growing 3.3 per cent in July in dollar terms, and below the 2.1 per cent growth expected by analysts in a Bloomberg poll. Imports in the month dropped by 5.6 per cent, leaving a trade surplus of US$34.84 billion, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

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