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Friday April 4th – Open Thread

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 †

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President Trump Impromptu Presser Aboard Air Force One – Video

President Trump holds an impromptu press conference aboard Air Force One heading back to Florida from Washington DC.  President Trump answered dozens of questions about current events.

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NSA Director Gen. Timothy Haugh Fired Along with Top Civilian Deputy

As the Deep State Intelligence Apparatus continues its long-standing position in opposition to President Trump, perhaps the Trump administration finally hit back at one of the lead elements.

General Timothy Haugh has been fired from his position as Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) on Friday. Additionally, his deputy Wendy Noble has been removed from the NSA and reassigned. No explanations yet made.

(Washington Post) – The director of the powerful wiretapping and cyber espionage service, the National Security Agency, was fired Thursday, according to two current and one former U.S. officials.

Gen. Timothy Haugh, who also heads U.S. Cyber Command, was let go along with his civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble, according to the officials.

Noble was reassigned to a job within the Pentagon’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. The NSA is part of the department.

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Canadian PM Mark Carney Says Will Match Trump Auto Tariffs at 25%

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spins a tale of Automaker Stellantis temporarily shutting down auto plants in Canada and Mexico as an outcome of President Trump’s tariffs.  Unfortunately, the gaslighting by Carney might work on less intellectual SnowMexicans, but it fails here.

Stellantis, an EU centered auto company who sell Dodge, Ram (made in Mexico) and Dodge, Durango (made in Canada), have been in a deepening crisis for over a year as a result of poor brand management, poor development and weak North American sales.  In short, their cars and trucks are not selling, that’s why the CEO quit in December, and they fired and replaced the North American leadership team.  It has nothing to do with Trump’s auto tariffs against Mexico and Canada.

That said, Mark Carney used the Stellantis plant closing (Windsor) as cover to announce that Canada would match the auto-tariffs with a 25% countervailing duty against all U.S. made cars and trucks. [Prompted]

This approach only raises the ceiling for the U.S. tariffs against Canada.  Quite frankly, I’m not sure why President Trump would continue to play this game with Carney and should (for the sake of simplicity) just cancel all trade with Canada and begin an immediate embargo and border blockade.

Tell the Carney clown to stay at home, shut it all down and let the Canadians live as a sovereign nation under the rule and regulation of the EU while they continue to destroy their energy resources and import foreign workers.  It’s silly to keep entertaining Canada as if they really matter.

If it wasn’t for the national security threat they could represent on our border, Canada would likely get little policy attention from any administration.   The Trudeau/Carney’s of the world are just annoying now.  Sorry Canada, but this Carney guy is even worse than the last Prime Minister.   They won’t even say “USMCA” because it’s Trump or something.  So, Carney says “CUSMA” 😂🤣😂 Childish, silly and so typically leftist. Too funny!

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Vice President JD Vance Outlines Expectations of Tariffs and Global Trade Reset

Vice President JD Vance appears on Fox News this morning to discuss the trade tariffs and the ongoing MAGAnomic trade reset.

The reciprocal tariffs and global trade rebalance are two components of a much larger MAGAnomic policy.  Tax structures to the benefit of the working-class, upward pressure on wages and expanded GDP growth are all elements of increasing the wealth of Main Street and middle-class Americans. WATCH:

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EU President Ursula von der Leyen is Apoplectic, Worries of Asian Product Dumping into EU

The response from the EU is exactly what we would expect to see from the end of the 80-year-old Marshal Plan.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyden has three big concerns with the new trade/tariff reset.  I strongly suggest everyone to read the EU concerns slowly to fully absorb decades of hypocrisy now surfacing:

#1 The EU will not be able to compete for U.S. market share with 20% general tariffs and 25% auto tariffs.

#2 The EU must deploy countermeasures against the risk of losing industrial capacity and manufacturing to the United States.

And #3 The EU must defend itself against China dumping cheap products into the EU now rejected by the USA.

von der Leyen is concerned mostly about the extremely valuable U.S. consumer being leveraged by President Trump, essentially blocking exploitation from EU and Asia. The EU will not tolerate losing access to the most valuable customers in the world, Americans.

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President Trump Ends Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Chinese Goods

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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April 3rd – 2025 Presidential Politics – Trump Administration Day 74

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.

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Thursday April 3rd – Open Thread

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 †

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President Trump Global Trade and Tariff Reset – Resources and Discussion

Here are the basic resources you need to dive into President Trump’s global trade and tariff reset.  Topline opinion at the end of the document summaries.

♦ United States Trade Representative: 397-page detailed analysis of global trade relationships with the United States. The 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) is the 40th report in an annual series that highlights significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports, U.S. foreign direct investment, and U.S. electronic commerce. This document is a companion piece to the President’s 2025 Trade Policy Agenda and 2024 Annual Report, published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on February 28, 2025. SEE REPORT HERE

♦ President Trump Executive Order: Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits. READ EXECUTIVE ORDER HERE:

♦ ANNEX #1 – Outlining the tariff rate per country as assigned.  SEE HERE

[SOURCE]

♦ ANNEX #2: 37-pages outlining the products that are exempted from the globally specified tariffs. The tariffs generally target completed goods, finished durable goods, not necessarily the chemical components or compounds needed if we are to manufacture or build the product in the USA.  Therefore Annex 2 provides the list of all products, chemicals, components and compounds that are exempt from the tariff program.  [SEE EXEMPTIONS HERE]

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