White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller appears on Fox News to discuss the importance of the tariff policy and reestablishing American industry via the global trade reset.

Miller outlines the U.S market reaction to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and China’s 34% countervailing tariff response on U.S. products.  As Miller notes, the tariff program is simply one part within the rebalancing of trade to protect American industry.  WATCH (prompted):

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The de minimis loophole comes from back in the 1930s. The idea back then was, say you went on a vacation to Paris, you shouldn’t have to file customs paperwork or pay taxes if you decided to ship some little Eiffel Tower statues to your friends back home.

Congress in 2015 then raised the de minimis threshold from $200 to $800. However, the e-commerce world exploded, and Chinese companies began using the de minimis loophole to ship cheap goods (ex. Temu and Shein) into the USA direct to consumers without paying any customs duty.

Yesterday as part of the global trade reset and tariff structure, President Trump revoked authorization for Chinese goods to transfer to the USA using the de minimis rule. The de minimis exemption has been cancelled for all products coming out of China. The rule change only targets China and Chinese shippers. No one else.

[See Executive Order Here]

The minimum duty is $25, and the tariff rate is 30% for all products mailed from China into the USA that previously qualified under the de minimis rule.

Beyond tariffs or sector specific countervailing duties, the removal of China to use the $800 de minimis exemption will destroy their economy.  There is no way for manufacturers in China, marketed into the USA, to be able to survive if they are forced to collect and organize the requirements for U.S. custom and import duties. They will simply dissolve.

FACT SHEET – […] “Following the Secretary of Commerce’s notification that adequate systems are in place to collect tariff revenue, President Trump is ending duty-free de minimis treatment for covered goods from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong starting May 2, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. EDT.

Imported goods sent through means other than the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption will be subject to all applicable duties, which shall be paid in accordance with applicable entry and payment procedures.

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discusses President Trump’s tariff plans, federal deficit negotiations and the efforts to extend the 2017 tax cuts with Annmarie Hordern on “Balance of Power.”

Bessent walks through a strong, focused and deliberate outline while warning other nations not to assemble any retaliatory effort, or else the tariff ceiling currently outlined is likely to go much higher.  WATCH:

SEGMENTS:
00:00- Bessent says of tariffs, “this is the number barring retaliation”
01:20- China tariff rate, potential rate
03:13- Bessent on markets: “A mag seven problem, not a MAGA problem
05:07- Potential timing of reconciliation bill
07:00 – US on Debt ‘Warning Track’ for May or June
07:45 – Bessent on raising revenues through tariffs
09:18 -Bessent discusses US soft data, sentiment
10:25 – Government agenda for the remainder of 2025, Ukraine progress, and Iran

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Despite our already outlining each of these details the New York Times is now confirming, do not overlook the geopolitical consequences that will surface as a result of their publication.

The New York Times published two articles {HERE and HERE} revealing: 1) that U.S. military boots are on the ground in Ukraine. (2) The U.S. military is actively involved in the ongoing targeting of strikes into Russia. (3) The CIA is operating in Ukraine and conducting targeted strikes into the Russian Federation mainland.

New York Times – […] [F]or nearly three years before Mr. Trump’s return to power, the United States and Ukraine were joined in an extraordinary partnership of intelligence, strategy, planning and technology whose evolution and inner workings have been known only to a small circle of American and allied officials.

[…] The idea behind the partnership was that America’s close cooperation with Ukraine would compensate for Russia’s vast advantages in manpower and weaponry. To guide the Ukrainians as they deployed their ever-more-sophisticated arsenal, the Americans created an operation called Task Force Dragon.

The secret center of the partnership was at the U.S. Army garrison in Wiesbaden, Germany. Each morning, U.S. and Ukrainian military officers set targeting priorities — Russian units, pieces of equipment or infrastructure. American and coalition intelligence officers searched satellite imagery, radio emissions and intercepted communications to find Russian positions. Task Force Dragon then gave the Ukrainians the coordinates so they could shoot at them.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin recently (3/27/25) visited the Commander and Crew of the latest Russian nuclear submarine, the Arkhangelsk.

The Arkhangelsk is a Project 885M Yasen-M ship, the latest fourth-generation multipurpose nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying any sea-launched missiles and effectively hitting targets both at sea and on land. The submarine was completed and delivered to the Russian Navy on December 27, 2024. “Its crew has recently completed its basic training and is now ready to carry out its duties at sea.”

President Putin’s full remarks are HERE.

♦ Could you share your assessment of the latest developments and how the special military operation has been unfolding?

Vladimir Putin: “Of course, I can.

To put it briefly, we are gradually moving towards achieving all the objectives we set for ourselves at the start of the operation. Some would have liked these advances to happen at a quicker pace, but we have gathered steady momentum and have been confidently advancing our positions. But I would like to frame this question in a different way.

What I want to say is that we were not the ones who started or launched hostilities. It all started in the wake of the 2014 coup d’etat in Ukraine. Western countries supported it, and this was how hostilities broke out in southeastern Ukraine.

We tried to resolve these issues by peaceful means for eight years. Taking Crimea and its people, as well as the people of Sevastopol under our wing was something we had to do. And we went to great lengths and were unrelenting in our efforts to resolve all matters concerning Donbass and Lugansk by peaceful means.”

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The dynamic is obvious to any intellectually honest observer, which is to say U.S. and Western media disqualify themselves and continue pushing preferred EU narratives.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the latest U.S. proposal for a minerals deal that would create a partnership to repay the United States for ongoing financial support.  According to Zelenskyy, the deal to share in oil, gas and mineral revenue would amount to debt that would disqualify them from EU membership due to unstable financials.

However, it is important for U.S. readers to remember the U.S. aid package already underway pays for the entire operation of the Ukraine federal spending liabilities, including pensions, government worker paychecks and everything normally within a govt budget.  U.S. taxpayers are not only subsidizing the war with munitions, but we are also subsidizing the government operation and citizens of Ukraine.  Within that spending there is MASSIVE corruption ongoing.

When Zelensky rejects (1) the terms of a “minerals deal,” (2) rejects U.N peacekeepers, (3) rejects the predicate for peace that Russia will retain part of Eastern Ukraine geography, and (4) rejects the offered security guarantees, he is also rejecting the idea that American taxpayers should be repaid for all their support.

Almost all of these rejections appear based on Zelensky’s belief the U.K, France and European allies can replace any support lost by President Trump changing his approach toward Ukraine.  Zelensky, who has not been elected, is developing a reputation for being so difficult, so demanding, so spoiled and temperamental that neither Vladimir Putin nor President Trump wants to deal with him.

Against this backdrop, the ceasefire deal is tenuous at best.  Russia, who previously said they did not expect Zelensky to stand by any ceasefire proposal, continues to launch airstrikes against Ukraine as Zelensky continues to prove Vladimir Putin correct by rejecting U.S. proposed terms for a ceasefire – while claiming Russia is not abiding.

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There is a lot of speculation about the potential for President Trump to remove National Security Advisor Mike Waltz following the SignalGate fiasco.  However, I doubt it will come soon.

Yes, CTH predicted in January that Waltz would be the first to get fired; but that prediction was due to the easily identified conflict between Waltz’s ideological mindset and his responsibility to execute a President Trump national security policy that is seemingly counter to Waltz’s worldview.

President Trump is unlikely to dismiss Waltz until some time has passed and his removal doesn’t look like a win for the media narrative operation.  Currently the SignalGate issue is diminishing. However, watch what assignments Waltz is given – that’s where we will likely see a shift in responsibility.

I suspect Mike Waltz will no longer have a critical role in the Ukraine-v-Russia conflict that President Trump is trying to bring to an end.  If Waltz has lost effectiveness or the trust of President Trump, his role as National Security Advisor will be visibly lessened.   The influence of JD Vance, Marco Rubio and to a smaller extent Steve Witkoff will be more prominent.

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President Donald Trump talks about placing tariffs on Canadian goods.  Ontario Premier Doug Ford talks about “inflicting as much pain as possible on the American people.”  See the difference?   Tell me again how the term “snowmexicans” is insulting.  I digress.

A few thoughts.  First, apparently Doug Ford doesn’t quite understand that tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto imports are not part of the “reciprocity” tariff regime.  They are an entirely different category classified under national security directives to ensure American industrial capacity.

Second, as Canada moves into the “freedom fries” phase, voices like Doug Ford might want to consider the end of this continuum that finds the word “embargo” in the lingo. Perhaps President Trump would consider elevating the conversation to “reciprocity” in the banking sector.  Again, I digress.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces the Canadian government intention to “inflict as much pain as possible against the American people.”  WATCH:

Canadians just don’t get it.  Meanwhile, as it was within most of the originating negotiations of the USMCA, Mexico smartly stays quiet as stompy feet Canada draws the attention from President Donald Trump.

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Dept of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem goes straight into the heart of the operation where deported criminal gang members are being housed by an agreement with the government of El Salvador.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sends a chilling warning to illegal criminal immigrants entering the United States. On Wednesday, Noem visited the high-security prison in El Salvador that recently received hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members.

Noem was given a tour of the prison by Salvadoran Minister of Justice Héctor Gustavo Villatoro during her visit. The Homeland Security Secretary then met with El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele and is expected to visit Colombia and Mexico next.

“First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed, and you will be prosecuted. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people,” she said.

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National Security Advisor Mike Waltz appears on Fox News with Laura Ingraham to discuss the exploding controversy around a left-wing journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, being included on a Signal chat with members of President Trump’s cabinet.

According to Mike Waltz the name of a contact was mis-attributed to the telephone number of Jeffrey Goldberg.  Waltz thought someone else (¹he will not say who) was in the chat group, but it was actually Goldberg.  Waltz says his team and Elon Musk’s technical team are working through an investigative process to discover how that happened.

As I repeated earlier, the most likely origination of the mis-attribution is the intelligence community, specifically the CIA.  The entire fiasco originates as an operation targeting the Trump administration.  Mike Waltz says he is not a conspiracy theorist, but indicates he too thinks something like this is quite possible. WATCH:

Let me summarize for those new to these performances: (1) The CIA tech team organized the Signal App operation (directory manipulation). That’s how Goldberg got in. (2) Jeffrey Goldberg held the story until the day before the scheduled SSCI hearing. (3) The SSCI uses the hearing to attack the Trump officials at the top of the critical silos.

Why? The CIA group doesn’t like the Trump Ukraine and Trump Russia policy.

[¹We may discover that somehow the name Marco Rubio was attributed to the phone number of Jeffrey Goldberg.  Rubio was reportedly on the chat, but didn’t say anything.]

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