$64 billion of the current annual trade deficit with Mexico stems from the auto sector alone.
For over a decade auto manufacturers have moved to Mexico in order to import parts from Asia, assemble and install them, and then ship the completed cars into the U.S. through NAFTA without duties (tariffs).
The U.S. auto ancillary business groups (parts suppliers) have been pushed out of competition in the auto sector by this corporate profit strategy.  Thousands of U.S. jobs have been lost in both the plant assembly and the ‘auto-parts’ manufacturing sector.
CTH has called attention to this bastardized supply chain for years.  Foreign auto-parts, made by foreign workers, assembled into U.S. owned manufacturing, and sold as U.S. automobiles. The weird supply chain and assembly process is essentially a multinational corporate scheme (in the auto sector) which exploits one of the loopholes in the 25-year-old NAFTA agreement.
If the assembly plant was on U.S. soil the foreign (mostly Asian) parts would be taxed as imported parts.  However, so long as the assembly is in Mexico (or Canada), the origin of the parts is currently irrelevant, and the finished automobile crosses the border into the U.S. avoiding the taxes using NAFTA.
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Stunningly even Chancellor Merkel herself admits her immigration intransigence is the leading reason for her inability to form a coalition government.  Yet she is so committed to the ideology of ‘open borders‘ she will tender no compromise.
In an effort to leverage political blackmail against her opposition Merkel prefers the route of another election rather than trying to govern from the minority position.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would prefer a new election to ruling with a minority after talks on forming a three-way coalition failed overnight, but Germany’s president told parties they owed it to voters to try to form a government.

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First Lady Melania Trump and Barron Trump receive the official White House Christmas Tree for 2017; a beautiful 19-and-a-half-foot Balsam fir from Wisconsin that White House officials picked out in September.
Jim and Diane Chapman, owners of a Wisconsin Christmas tree farm, won an annual contest by the National Christmas Tree Association and got to present the tree.
After the first lady and son Barron gave their symbolic approval, the tree will be taken to the Blue Room, where it will become the holiday showpiece -complete with a nativity scene- for a first-family who have vowed to put Christmas back in the center of the winter holidays.  WATCH:

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While the obvious WaPo motive here is to enhance the poignancy of their attack against Roy Moore by offering one of their own as collateral damage,…  I can think of few things less disturbing in life than 75-year-old Charlie Rose interviewing prospective interns and employees naked. Good grief.
…”The young women who were hired by the show were sometimes known as “Charlie’s Angels,” two former employees said. Rose frequently gave unsolicited shoulder rubs to several of them, behavior referred to among employees as “the crusty paw,” a former employee said.”…
Eight women have come forward, with dozens more confirmed, detailing specific sexual harassment and horrible predatory behavior by CBS figurehead Charlie Rose who is also well known for his PBS broadcast.

(Via Washington Post) Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas.
The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters.

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Earlier today, prior to a closed meeting between Secretary of State Tillerson and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, President Trump delivered remarks to the full cabinet within the White House Cabinet Room.
During remarks (transcript below) President Trump announced that North Korea will be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, re-instituting a legal designation previously dropped by the Bush administration.

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[Transcript] 11:40 A.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. We just returned from a historic 12-day trip to Asia. Everywhere we went, the American delegation was greeted with tremendous hospitality and tremendous respect. People are respecting our country again, believe me.
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivers the press briefing for Monday November 20th.  Anticipated start time 2:30pm EST
UPDATE: Video Added – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson joins the briefing along with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders to outline the ongoing policy regarding North Korea.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Interesting juxtaposition when you contrast the ‘impossible mandate‘ election results in Germany, against the ‘incredible mandate’ election results in Japan for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.  It’s as if there’s something, well, almost divinely nationalist guiding it.
Things are challenging for Angela Merkel in Germany, and amid the reality we see just how entrenched the globalists are in their ideological demands for ‘open borders‘.
The issue of unfettered immigration has collapsed any hope for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be able to form a government. Merkel’s Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party had hoped to form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrat (SPD) party and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) party.  However, the primary issues surrounding immigration, spending and climate change are so deeply divided no coalition is possible.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s efforts to form a three-way coalition government that would secure herself a fourth term hit a major setback after a would-be coalition partner unexpectedly pulled out of talks, thrusting Germany into a political crisis.
Merkel, whose conservatives were weakened after an election they won with a reduced number of seats, said on Monday shortly after the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) withdrew from the negotiations that she would inform the German president that she could not form a coalition.

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While the U.S. media loves to talk about President Trump’s approval rating when it’s bad news, what they fail to discuss is how President Trump has consistently higher approval ratings than: •President Macron, France; •Prime Minister May, Great Britain; or •Chancellor Merkel of Germany.
According to Zogby Analytics:

♦ President Trump approval 42 percent
♦ Chancellor Merkel approval 40 percent
♦ President Macron approval 28 percent
♦ Prime Minister May approval 28 percent

That means President Trump has the highest approval rating compared to the leaders of largest economic countries in Europe.  However, this shouldn’t come as a surprise because it was evident in Germany’s recent election that Merkel -in victory- had less support in Germany than President Trump holds in the U.S.  Go figure…
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