Against the backdrop of President Trump’s unapologetic economic muscle flexing, National National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appears on CNBC to discuss the latest stunningly positive jobs and economic reports.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the May Jobs Report earlier today (pdf here) and has stunned forecasters and economic analysts with incredible results. Over 223,000 jobs were created in May, and the unemployment rate drops to 3.8%.
As the New York Times is forced to admit, there are not enough words to describe just how good these results are amid the continued growth of the U.S. economy. Accepting the BLS heavily manipulated jobs numbers during the Obama years, the BLS is forced to attempt to reconcile the scale of monthly job gains (223k) and an unemployment rate that has seemingly dropped below the floor of reasonable possibility. As a result 3.8% is the lowest unemployment rate since April 2000; and if the unemployment rate drops another 0.1% it will be the lowest unemployment number since the 1960s.
Average monthly employment growth in 2018 now averages a whopping 207,000 jobs per month. These monthly average gains are faster than gains in both 2016 and 2017. Collectively, the U.S. economy has added nearly 3 million jobs since President Donald J. Trump took office.
White House: “Job growth has been strong across the board during the first 16 months of this Administration, and the gains in the goods-producing industries (manufacturing, construction, and mining and logging) have been especially robust. After averaging gains of 27,000 jobs per month during President Obama’s second term, these industries have almost doubled the pace of hiring to 46,000 jobs per month since January 2017. Manufacturing gains have picked up even more speed: Monthly gains have averaged 19,000 per month since President Trump took office after increases of only 8,000 per month, on average, during the second term of President Obama.
Focusing a lot of today’s information on the economic front and the implementation of the U.S. America-First trade discussion because this is the very heart of the Trump MAGA initiatives. Everyone who voted for President Trump should be grinning ear-to-ear today at how steadfast POTUS has been – against all economic adversaries foreign and domestic.
White House Trade Council Director Peter Navarro discusses the implementation of countervailing U.S. duties; the transshipment issues, NAFTA and the intended trade reset therein. “Economic Security is National Security“!
Justin from Canada presents one of the most ridiculous contexts for the U.S. 232 Steel and Aluminum tariff decision. Justin proclaims the imposition of countervailing duties by the U.S. indicates that President Trump considers Canada a national security threat. Seriously, I’m not kidding, that’s what he is stating – watch. Additionally, his feelings are hurt.
Apparently Justin from Canada cannot draw a distinction between an industry being lost, and that loss being a national security risk, and the hurt feelings of the Canadian Prime Minister. Intensely ridiculous… even for Justin. Obviously the irrational liberals in both the U.S. and Canada will likely draw the same ridiculous and illogical conclusions.
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China, the EU, Canada and Mexico have been exploiting weak U.S. trade policy for years. Through the effective utilization of targeted tariffs, with multiple opportunities -and warnings- to avoid the outcome, President Trump and Wilbur Ross cut the Gordian Knot.
The Big Club, driven almost entirely by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Tom Donohue are going bananas….. They can’t believe Trump actually did it. He actually followed through. The Wall Street consortium of multinationals are apoplectic.
Decades of economic gaslighting upon the U.S. electorate; massive manipulative multinational corporate influences; hundreds of millions spent purchasing U.S. politicians; and POTUS has just punched it all square in the face.
Amid ongoing trade stalemates with NAFTA and the EU, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has announced the U.S. Commerce Department will no longer provide exemptions for the European Union, Canada or Mexico.
As anticipated, during a telephone briefing with reporters Secretary Ross announced at midnight tonight the 25% steel, and 10% aluminum, tariffs on imported goods will begin.
Via Reuters: U.S Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters on a telephone briefing that a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico would go into effect at midnight (0400 GMT on Friday).
The Wall Street Journal is publishing a report the European Union is likely to lose their exemption on Friday June 1st, from the U.S. Steel (25%) and Aluminum (10%) tariffs. Despite their article outline almost everything is still speculation at this point; however, our own review of the trade position indicates the administration is very prepared to begin delivering the metal tariffs on all nations, including NAFTA partners, without reservation.
President Trump positioning the auto-industry 232 review, May 23rd, was one of the key ‘leverage signals‘ something was about to change.
Despite massively one-sided EU imposed tariffs against U.S. products, the EU is demanding to be permanently exempted from any U.S. reciprocal tariff measures or they will block the import of U.S. products. The hypocrisy is typically European.
Adding fuel to the speculation the tariff exemptions will be allowed to expire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stated earlier today, at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) summit – a multinational trade conference, that any/all trade discussions are entirely possible regardless of whether the U.S. begins the tariff against steel and aluminum imports.
WSJ – […] Mr. Trump has threatened to punish EU car exports if the bloc retaliates, and Mr. Ross is pursuing a study of car and auto-part imports similar to the one he completed on steel and aluminum.
Officials in some EU member states are already angry at Washington over Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Still, others, including some German officials, want to seek a solution that prevents economic damage.
Canada is vowing to retaliate against the U.S. if President Trump subjects NAFTA partners to the same tariffs as other trade nations and eliminates the NAFTA loophole. {Go Deep}
The NAFTA Loophole allows Canada and Mexico to broker independent trade deals with Asian and European companies; then use their Mexican and Canadian access to the U.S. market as a backdoor around U.S. Tariffs.
This loophole has been exceptionally rewarding for both Canada and Mexico and for more than a decade they have structured their economies around loophole retention. U.S. corporations, seeing advantages from cheap Asian parts in Mexico and Canada, have moved some manufacturing there to take advantage. In an effort to reset the trade imbalance created by the loophole President Trump is threatening to close it.
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will “respond appropriately” to any U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday, less than two days before the punitive measures are due to kick in.
“The government is absolutely prepared to – and will defend – Canadian industries and Canadian jobs. We will respond appropriately,” Freeland told reporters when asked about possible U.S. action.
Buried in a Wall Street Journal article outlining their shock and horror over President Trump following through with a Phase-I trade penalty of $50 billion, you find the following quote from Captain Obvious at Cornell University:
“The Trump administration is clearly signaling, ahead of Wilbur Ross’s trip to Beijing, that the gloves are off given China’s unwillingness to agree to a trade deficit reduction target or to make broader trade concessions,” said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University professor of international trade. In addition, the “hardline stance may partly reflect the perception that China played a part in nearly derailing the Trump-Kim summit.” (link)
Gee, ya think?
The White House announced today it will clarify by June 15 a final list of $50 billion in imports from China that would be subject to tariffs of 25%, with the duties implemented “shortly thereafter.” Additionally, future investment restrictions aimed at preventing Chinese acquisition of American technology will be announced by June 30.
The 30-day extension on exemptions for Steel and Aluminum tariffs is scheduled to expire June 1st. President Trump is positioning the U.S. Trade Team for a substantial reset. According to reports, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystina Freeland held a terse meeting today over the tariffs and Canada’s unwillingness to close the NAFTA ‘fatal flaw‘ (loophole).
Both Canada and Mexico have structured key parts of their trade agreements to take advantage of their unique access to the U.S. market. Mexico and Canada generate billions in economic activity through exploiting the NAFTA loophole. China, Asia (writ large), and the EU enter into trade agreements with Mexico and Canada as back-doors into the U.S. market. So long as corporations can avoid U.S. tariffs by going through Canada and Mexico they will continue to exploit this approach.
If the U.S. applies the same tariffs to Canada and Mexico we apply to all trade nations, then the benefit of using Canada and Mexico -by those trade nations- is lost. Corporations will no longer have any advantage, and many are likely to just deal directly with the U.S. However, this would mean hundreds of billions in lost economic activity for Mexico and Canada. It is the NAFTA fatal flaw.
According to Yonhap News North Korea’s vice chairman of the Central Committee, Kim Yong-chol, is traveling to Beijing China for an operational briefing -and likely instructions- prior to heading to the U.S. where he might possibly be scheduled for a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The travel plans highlight the influence strategy deployed by China and Chairman Xi Jinping ahead of the tenuously scheduled June 12 summit between the U.S. and North Korea in Singapore. The U.S. negotiation team is currently in South Korea working on summit details amid discussions between all significant stakeholders.
Watch the U.S. -vs- China trade front closely. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on June 2nd to discuss current trade issues. China is hoping to manipulate their North Korean proxies as trade leverage. Communist Chinese trade negotiators are notorious for their cunning manipulation.
BEIJING, May 29 (Yonhap) — A senior North Korean official arrived in Beijing on Tuesday apparently en route to the United States to hold preparatory talks over a possible summit between the leaders of the two countries.
The trip by Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the Central Committee of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, came as Washington and Pyongyang are holding working-level talks on the summit agenda and issues related to security and protocol.