It was ABSOLUTELY NOT coincidental that China sent a low level trade delegation to the U.S. at exactly the same time U.S.T.R. Lighthizer is conducting open hearings on Section 301 national security trade issues; which are specifically targeted toward China.
For the second time POTUS is using strategic deployment of sunlight on the relationship between Beijing and North Korea. President Trump is highlighting what has been hidden for decades.  China has structured the use of North Korean nuclear ambitions as the sword of Damocles over their economic adversaries in the West. China’s Chairman Xi Jinping controls the government officials that surround North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un:

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These tweets, along with the earlier tweet. are serious business.  They are being fired directly into the heart of Beijing.  They are the mother of all truth bombs, and they take away the ability of Chairman Xi to deploy the hidden threat and DPRK control.
“Subtle” like a brick through a window. [More backstory available here.]  President Trump is removing the Panda mask to reveal the authentic nature of Chairman Xi Jinping.  Simultaneously Trump is trying to rescue Kim Jong-un from the clutches of the Red dragon behind the panda mask.
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When discussing or reviewing trade deals, particularly NAFTA, it is important to remember two baselines: (1) The trade reset is President Trump’s personal legacy initiative; it’s personal – ignore media banter – it’s personal; like, the most important thing he ever thinks about. Always. 24/7. (2) President Trump has no multinational corporations or financial interests with leverage/influence over his decision-making.

There are trillions at stake.

We begin:

“We are already looking at all the issues. We might close this, not in a matter of hours, but these days. We still have next week,” Jesus Seade, designated chief negotiator of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, told reporters.

Here’s where it becomes important to note that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has twice asked Jesus Seade to remain AFTER hours when all other trade officials have concluded discussions. Closed-door conversations between Lighthizer and Seade; and no-one else. [Refer back to the two Trump baselines again]
Next, before reviewing the comments and presentations of the media regarding the U.S. Mexico NAFTA status; again reference the team approach, and the division of responsibility. Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is meeting with the twitchy Chinese delegation – again, their arrival is not a matter of scheduling happenstance; it is directly related to the ongoing 301 hearings that began two-days-ago, Monday.
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Sad Panda increasingly frustrated as disruptor Trump heaps vociferous praise on Chairman Xi, while simultaneously out maneuvering Beijing’s geopolitical economic strategy.
China expert Michael Pillsbury discusses the current environment around the Beijing leadership with Fox host Tucker Carlson.  This is really important. WATCH:

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What Pillsbury outlines is exactly what CTH predicted last year when we shared how the Red Dragon would be caught entirely off-guard.  They’ve never seen this approach before.
NOTE: The upcoming Chinese trade delegation is not showing up at the end of this month as a matter of scheduling happenstance.  What no-one in the financial/trade/economic media is connecting is the timing of their visit with USTR Lighthizers’ Section 301 Tariff hearings –SEE HERE.  August 20th through August 27th, you can guarantee the Chinese delegations will be all over those hearings; including dispatching their paid lobbyists to provide input on their behalf.
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When we elected a successful businessman as President of the United States and leader of the executive branch, we elected a person who fundamentally changed the framework of accountability and transparency in government. President Donald J Trump holds an average of two to three full cabinet meetings each month where the cabinet members give direct updates on execution of policy priorities.
No President in modern history has put that much accountability into the position of each cabinet member. No President has ever coordinated strategic objectives with such a high level of expectation and scrutiny. No President has folded transparency into the cabinet with full media access over White House cabinet meetings. This is a new executive branch standard.
NEC Director Larry Kudlow break-out discussion on the economy at 03:45. WATCH:

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OK, admission…  Today is the day CTH recognizes NEC Director Kudlow has joined the official ranks of team Wolverine.  An impassioned Larry Kudlow is determined to see the financial media report on the jaw-dropping success of President Trump’s Main Street economic policies.
Key message on trade with China at 03:10.  WATCH:

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National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appears on Fox News to discuss the incredible strength of the economy and how the media is refusing to cover the story.
Chairman Kudlow goes through a series of economic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to stress how this specific set of MAGAnomic Main Street policies is delivering real, tangible, financial benefits to the middle-class and average Americans.

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Remember that 2016 conversation about retail inflation, Q2 wage growth, durable goods spending and non-durable goods expenditures…  Well, in a growing economy; a bigly expanding economy; with wages actually increasing as an authentic outcome of expanded hiring and jobs, jobs, jobs… in conjunction with lowered tax rates…. you get more money in your pocket.
This natural Main Street dynamic leads to increased consumer spending, specifically in the retail sectors influenced by who?… Oh, yeah, those middle-class economic beneficiaries of all the above.
The expert financial pundits are shocked, shocked I tell you… shocked; when, all of a sudden, the convergence of MAGAnomic Main Street policies delivers results.  DUH!

The Commerce Department – Economic and Statistics Administration – released the figures from July 2018 retail sales today (full pdf available here), showing an incredibly strong .5% increase in spending in July, bringing a 6.4% increase year-over-year;  and the results have dropped the jaws of the “experts”:

“Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales nudging up 0.1 percent in July.” (link)
“Retail spending in the United States increased a half-percent during the month of July — well beyond what experts predicted.” (link)
“U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in July as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and clothing, suggesting the economy remained strong” (link)

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Originally outlined a year ago. Reposted by request. At the heart of the professional/political opposition the issue is money; there are trillions at stake.

President Trump’s MAGAnomic trade and foreign policy agenda is jaw-dropping in scale, scope and consequence. There are multiple simultaneous aspects to each policy objective; however, many have been visible for a long time – some even before the election victory in November ’16.
If we get too far in the weeds the larger picture is lost. CTH objective is to continue pointing focus toward the larger horizon, and then at specific inflection points to dive into the topic and explain how each moment is connected to the larger strategy.

Today we repost an earlier dive into how MAGAnomic policy interacts with multinational Wall Street, the stock market, the U.S. financial system and perhaps your personal financial value. Again, reference and source material is included at the end of the outline.
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It’s not a bluff; it’s never a bluff…. He doesn’t bluff.  I’ve looked through the interviews, writing and granules of opponents describing hundreds of deals, and I cannot find a single person who ever said that Donald Trump was bluffing during any negotiations.

NYT cont. […] In recent days, officials from the Commerce Ministry, the police and other agencies have summoned exporters to ask about plans to lay off workers or shift supply chains to other countries.

With stocks slumping and the currency dropping 9 percent against the dollar since mid-April, censors have been deleting a torrent of criticism online, some of it directed at President Xi Jinping’s leadership.  State news outlets, by contrast, have sought to promote the official line, with the authorities restricting the use of the phrase “trade war.”

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The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) is an assembly and survey of small business owners throughout the U.S.  In the latest survey (full pdf here) overall optimism is the second highest ever recorded at 107.9 (the highest reading was 108 in 1983).

The full press release is available here.  The full pdf of the survey is available here. The executive summary outlines the overall content and highlights the sentiment amid Main Street U.S.A.:

[…] Although some panned any celebration of the 4.1 percent second quarter GDP growth, small business owners beg to disagree. At least in the small business sector of the economy, Main Street’s performance over the last 21 months is unprecedented based on reports for the past 45 years by hundreds of thousands of NFIB’s member firms. Owners have never been so optimistic for so long. This has translated to improved employment and investment spending that buoys GDP growth, even at the end of what will be the longest expansion in modern history.
Consumer sentiment is at record high levels. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of our economy, posted 4 percent growth in Q2. Historically revised data show that consumers have been saving much more than thought, and income gains in recent months have been solid, providing support for spending in the second half. The record levels of firms reporting higher compensation is a clear indication that wages will be rising further in the second half.

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