Well, well, well…. FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo announced this morning that her sources are saying a USMCA vote is possible next week. This DC source reporting would align with our CTH spidey senses from the visible DC trade twitches.
Yesterday Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO) sent a second letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging USMCA ratification. Team Trump and Team AMLO are working together against Team Pelosi & AFL-CIO Richard Trumka.
Essentially AMLO has been saying the labor provisions within the USMCA trade pact are already being put in place by Mexico, and Pelosi should quit trying to hide behind labor concerns to avoid ratification.
Tomorrow, on the eve of Thanksgiving at the request of the Trump administration, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican Foreign Minister Jesus Seade and Canadian Deputy Minister Chrystia Freeland are holding a meeting to discuss the AFL-CIO/Pelosi issues within the USMCA labor provisions.
FM Chrystia Freeland is irrelevant to the meeting; she’s a potted-plant rubber stamp for whatever scheme Pelosi is cooking. It is House Speaker Pelosi who is using her pressure over labor unions to hide behind AFL-CIO Richard Trumka and claim U.S. labor unions have issues with the USMCA labor provisions. It ain’t about labor; it is all political cover.
However, it is interesting that USTR Lighthizer, a man with the patience of Job, called Jesus Seade and Freeland to DC:
WASHINGTON – The three trade ministers from the United States, Canada and Mexico are set to meet in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the deal to replace NAFTA, seven people familiar with the plans told POLITICO.
The meeting involving U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Deputy Canadian Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Undersecretary for North America Jesús Seade comes as the Trump administration is nearing a compromise with House Democrats to make changes to the USMCA.
White House trade and manufacturing policy advisor Peter Navarro appears on Fox News to discuss two key economic and trade issues: (1) the current status of U.S-China trade discussions “round one”; and (2) the status of USMCA ratification (Pelosi’s delay).
Nothing in the China trade discussion is solid, until everything in the China trade discussion is settled; this is one of the key aspects to President Trump’s directive to USTR Robert Lighthizer. No deal is a more favorable outcome than the construct of a trade deal that cannot be enforced.
On the USMCA ratification, again it all falls upon the politics of Pelosi. The agreement would pass tomorrow if it were put up to a vote; there is no controversy. Speaker Pelosi is holding back the ratification vote for pure political purposes.
Last month the Mexican government backed-down from a drug cartel in Culiacan, releasing the two sons of drug lord El Chappo after the cartel overwhelmed the Mexican military during an attempted arrest. The cartel defeated the Mexican military.
Today, three American mothers and six children (4 boys, 2 girls) were brutally murdered in northern Mexico by drug cartels prompting President Trump to offer military assistance to Mexican President Lopez-Obrador in the ongoing struggle against cartel violence.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Gunmen killed nine women and children in the bloodiest attack on Americans in Mexico for years, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to offer to help the neighboring country wipe out drug cartels believed to be behind the ambush.
Trying to find the details within the U.K-EU Brexit deal is more difficult than finding evidence of a Yeti. The negotiating team secrecy is inherent to the way the elites within the European systems work. Essentially the “betters” rule the proles by hiding the details and relying upon the electorate to “trust” the outlined framework of their elected superiors.
Hiding details is a feature within the European system and the way the government looks at their role.
That said, tomorrow British members of parliament will begin debating the deal for the UK to exit the EU. The deal was modified by Boris Johnson. A backgrounder:
A big FUBAR happened in Culiacan Mexico yesterday as Mexican police and narcotics officers captured Ovidio Guzman, aka “Chapito”, the heir of drug kingpin El Chappo and current head of the Sinaloa cartel.
We watched via social media yesterday as a war broke out in Culiacan between the police/military and the cartel. After authorities captured Chapito, hundreds of Sinaloa cartel members came down from the mountains and cut off the city. The cartel began executing and capturing anyone who was assisting the arrest. The city shut down.
To save themselves, the surrounded Mexican officials released Chapito back to the cartels and now the world has more evidence that Mexican President Lopez-Obrador has no control over the peace and security of Mexico. The cartels are in charge.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican officials on Friday admitted they had bungled the arrest of kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son, who they let go during shootouts with drug gangs in the streets of a major city, but the president insisted his security strategy was working.
Office for Trade and Manufacturing Policy’s Peter Navarro discusses the China trade negotiations, the UAW General Motors strike, U.S. tariffs in European goods, and USMCA.
On the U.S-China ‘Phase-1’ construct the key issue is going to be the enforcement mechanism to ensure any agreement has strength. On U.S. placing tariffs on the EU due to the Airbus ruling Navarro reminds everyone the WTO ruling does not permit the EU to place tariffs on U.S. productions. On USMCA everyone avoids telling the truth; that is Nancy Pelosi is waiting to see what happens in the Canadian election in three days. If Trudeau wins re-election, the USMCA will likely be scrapped (tabled) by Pelosi.
In the bigger picture… Within the trade team, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is positioned with primary responsibility toward the EU and India. Ross clear-cuts through the politics, explains Trump’s objectives amid the trade proposals, and paves a path for U.S. Trade Rep Bob Lighthizer to engage his counterparts.
India has always been a key strategic nation within the global trade-realignment taking place by the Trump administration. Under all of the banter, the “Indo-Pacific” strategy is structurally the decoupling of the U.S. from China. As a part of the strategy President Trump has positioned the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as benefactors in manufacturing & trade as an outcome of the U.S. decoupling from China.
However, India has genuine concerns about the global dynamic. Specifically, India is worried about allowing the multinationals to have influence over their economy and social structure. In this regard India is not wrong; their concerns are not unfounded.
We can all see, heck we’ve lived through, massive multinational corporations quickly gaining too much influence; including -eventually- corporate influence over the politics of a nation. That inherently leads to corruption.
When Americans see it in other nations we call it “bribery and corruption”, but when it happens in Washington, DC, we call it “lobbying”; the process is exactly the same.
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National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow discusses the forecast for ratification of the USMCA against the backdrop of Pelosi’s announced focus on impeachment.
Additionally, Kudlow discusses the status of Chinese trade negotiations and the recently affirmed trade deal with Japan.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives is proceeding with efforts regarding the Trump administration’s trade deal with Mexico and Canada, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday, saying House Democrats had discussed the pact a day earlier.President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the media today while touring border wall construction in Otay Mesa, California. As a builder himself, the president outlined some of the more particular details of the construction project including the difference between compressive strength and tensile strength of 5,000/lb concrete. There is apparently some additional aspects to the wall that are kept secret (they’re wired for sound).
The President was briefed on the project by Douglas Harrison (Acting San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent, United States Customs & Border Protection); Kathleen Scudder (San Diego Sector Deputy Chief Patrol Agent, United States Customs & Border Protection); Scott Garrett (San Diego Sector Division Chief, United States Customs & Border Protection); James O’Loughlin (Border Wall Program Lead, Emergency Action Programs, Department of Defense), and various local officials.
[Video Below, Transcript Will Follow]