"Magnanimous Panda" – China's Envoy Worried About "Dangerous Rhetoric"…

For those who have followed the months-long strategy of President Trump toward North Korea and China, the latest words from China fall squarely into place. Unfortunately for those who have not followed the approach, the consequential nuance will be lost.
What is happening publicly is entirely predictable when we accept what is happening privately, against the backdrop of activity that has taken place since February of this year.
Remember the Trumpian objective of creating the “Magnanimous Panda” as you read these latest words from Beijing:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Reacting to remarks by North Korea’s foreign minister on Monday, China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told Reuters the escalating rhetoric between North Korea and the United States was getting too dangerous and the only solution was negotiations.
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters that President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. bombers even if not in its air space.

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Oh My – Text of President Trump Executive Order on Sanctions To North Korea…

Jumping ju-ju bones, now that we’ve read the stunning content of this executive order it is completely obvious why Beijing took action today with their central bank instructions.
President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin have structured this executive order in such a way that the downstream consequences from any economic engagement with the DPRK effectively cuts off that entity from engaging in commerce or economic activity with the United States.

It’s a jaw-dropping, and effective, way to blockade any economic engagement with North Korea. That reality, and accepting that POTUS Trump gave a heads’ up to Xi Jinping, is obviously what precipitated Beijing to get out ahead of the executive order lest any Chinese entity be directly impacted and blocked from trade with the U.S.
[I bullet pointed the sections below]:
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President Trump Responds to DPRK Nuclear Test By Confronting DPRK Economic Enabler, China…

CTH holds a fundamentally different view of China and North Korea than most.  Our position is based on independent research and a lengthy following of patterns between the two which show predictable cause and effect outcomes.
It is our position that while the DPRK is technically an independent nation; in reality, and in quintessential economic terms, North-Korea is more accurately defined as a province of China, and not an independent nation.  What China authorizes Kim Jong-un (North Korea) to do, Kim Jong-un does.  “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-un is better described as a provincial governor, who serves a specific function as a tool against the West.

History will observe the key date for President Trump’s strategic victory over North Korea was achieved on August 5th, 2017.  That’s the original date when Russia and China agreed to the U.N. Security Council’s economic sanctions against North Korea.  That first, historic, Russia and China U.N. Security Council vote against North Korea came as a result of eight months of assembled economic leverage created by President Donald Trump.
As a result of President Trump’s strategy, every time North Korea’s Kim Jong-un takes an action, President Trump hits China’s Xi Jinping with an additional economic action. As Beijing feels the squeeze, they tell Kim Jong-un to act. Every time Kim Jong-un acts, President Trump squeezes Beijing with more economic pressure.  Wash-Rinse-Repeat.
Communist Beijing has boxed themselves into this inescapable cycle.  The reason they keep authorizing Kim Jong-un to take action is simply because China has no alternative leverage to use against President Trump.  China has nothing in their economic arsenal they can use to hit back against President Trump, so Beijing keeps using North Korea in an attempt to create leverage.
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Canadian Labor Leader Supports Trump Position on NAFTA Auto Origination Rules…

Well, this is rich.  A Canadian labor union leader, Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor, has called President Trump “batshit crazy” yet supports the U.S. NAFTA position on Auto origination.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is said to be leveraging a position that NAFTA rules on auto manufacturing require 70% of source origination from inside the U.S., Mexico and Canada.  Canadian union leader Jerry Dias agrees with the position in order to Make Canada Great Again.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wants more than 70 percent of North American content in vehicles built in the United States, Canada and Mexico under a renegotiated NAFTA trade deal, the head of Canada’s largest private sector union said on Friday.
Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor, told reporters he suggested in a recent meeting with Ross that the level be raised to 70 percent from the current 62.5 percent, and that the U.S. commerce secretary suggested a “more aggressive” level.

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China Recommits To U.N. Sanctions Against North Korea…

Things are going swimmingly, strategically, seemingly according to plan.  When the full measure of history allows time to review, observers will note the strategic victory was achieved on August 5th, 2017; that’s the original date when Russia and China agreed to the U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea.  That first, historic, Russia and China U.N. Security Council vote against North Korea came as a result of eight months of assembled economic leverage created by President Donald Trump.
As a result of this ongoing strategy, every time North Korea’s Kim Jong-un takes an action, President Trump hits China’s Xi Jinping with an additional economic squeeze.  As Beijing feels the squeeze, they tell Kim Jong-un to act. Every time Kim Jong-un acts, President Trump squeezes Beijing with more economic pressure.  Wash-Rinse-Repeat.
Communist Beijing has boxed themselves into this inescapable cycle. The only way out of the box is to concede and lay the DPRK defeat at the feet of Kim Jong-un.  The conceding will evidence itself when Beijing inevitably calls for ‘Six Party Talks‘.  Today:


(Via Associated Press) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says his country will “fully and completely” abide by U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions on North Korea.
Wang told reporters Wednesday China would work with other members of the council on how best to react to North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday.
He says, “We will make a necessary response.”

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Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Now Fears NAFTA Collapse…

Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo has a different perspective today than prior to the beginning of NAFTA renegotiation.
Before NAFTA round #1 began Minister Guajardo stated angrily if the U.S. did not concede to the demands of Mexico his government would flood the U.S. with drugs and illegal aliens.
However, in the face of actually seeing NAFTA discussions possibly leading to collapse, Mr. Guajardo has a change in tone.  The minister is looking at alternatives, bi-lateral trade deal options are analyzed, and the reality of the Mexican economic position is settling in.
What happens next? Mexican officials are dispatched to Washington DC to enlist the lobbying efforts of K-Street and their allies in the U.S. CoC.  “Halp“:

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico sees a serious risk the United States will withdraw from NAFTA and is preparing a plan for that eventuality, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday, calling talks to renegotiate the deal a “roller coaster.”
[…]  “This is not going to be easy,” Guajardo said at a meeting with senators in Mexico City. “The start of the talks is like a roller coaster.”

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Trump Administration Responds To North Korea Missile Provocations…

China, via Beijing’s communist old guard, has played right into the hands of the Trump administration by overreacting to the economic pressure of President Trump.  Beijing authorized an atomic elbow via another provocative North Korean missile test. However, their response now empowers the Trump administration to point out the terrible DPRK behavior and simultaneously take a higher diplomatic road.
President Trump, Secretary Tillerson and Secretary Mattis’s “Fire and Fury” approach was essentially a dynamic Win/Win.  By utilizing diplomacy (Tillerson/Haley) while constructing the appearance of military possibility (Mattis/McMaster), while simultaneously President Trump put the BIG geopolitical economic squeeze on China, team U.S.A. created a multidimensional box – and Beijing walked directly into the trap.

Unintentionally, China has now created a diplomatic ‘high-road’ path in response to the DPRK for the Trump administration.  China, seeking to retain position behind the curtain of the DPRK, will not be able to oppose, publicly or in the U.N., any U.S. and allied position now or they run the risk of the entire world seeing their controls over Kim Jong-un.  Notice the strategy in the well coordinated approach today:

President Trump Speaks To PM Shinzo Abe – President Donald J. Trump spoke yesterday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan to address North Korea’s launch of a missile that overflew Japanese territory. The two leaders agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, as well as to countries around the world. President Trump and Prime Minister Abe committed to increasing pressure on North Korea, and doing their utmost to convince the international community to do the same. (LINK)

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Trade Stuff: Trump Refuses Chinese Steel Compromise – Mexico Sees NAFTA Collapsing, Turns to China…

There is an saying people use to criticize President Trump based on the people around him:

“People are policy, and policy is people”…

The basic argument is that Mr. Trump can be swayed or distracted from his mission by his staff and those he hires.
This is a common catch-phrase brought about by historic and conventional wisdom.  However, when applied to President Trump, it’s also just plain wrong.
No similar cliche is appropriate for Donald Trump, nothing deters or influences him from his larger decades-long ‘America-First’ economic strategy. Nothing.
Donald Trump is the policy. There’s no assembly of advisers on economic issues that can ever sway his instinct.
Example:

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump last month rejected a Chinese proposal to cut steel overcapacity, despite the endorsement of some of his top advisers, the Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Beijing proposed cutting steel overcapacity by 150 million tonnes by 2022 in a deal twice rejected by Trump, who instead urged advisers to find ways to impose tariffs on imports from China, the paper said, citing the sources.

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Sunday Talks: Secretary Rex Tillerson -vs- Chris Wallace

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appears on Fox News Sunday with guardian and gate-keeper of the swamp Chris Wallace.


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[Transcript] QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Fox News Sunday.
SECRETARY TILLERSON: Pleased to be here, Chris.
QUESTION: Before we get to foreign affairs, I want to ask you as a native son of Texas and as the former chairman of and CEO of ExxonMobil your thoughts about Hurricane Harvey and especially the impact it’s having in the oil and gas sector there on the Gulf coast.
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