White House Manufacturing and Trade Advisor Peter Navarro has been advocating for a return to U.S. production of medical products as a matter of national security.  With the spread of the Chinese Coronavirus and a rapid depletion of medical response products, Navarro’s concerns carry more weight than ever before.
President Trump has tasked Navarro with lead position coordinating the administration response to U.S. supply chain impacts.  In this interview with Charles Payne, Peter Navarro outlines the ongoing efforts to address all Coronavirus impacts.

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On the economic front President Trump has positioned the U.S. to withstand supply chain disruption better than most consumer economies. Starting from a position that the U.S. was too dependent on Chinese products; over the past two years Trump has pressured companies to return to the U.S. or find alternate suppliers outside China. During the two-year tariff battle many companies did exactly that. As a result those companies are not dependent on Chinese component goods. A proactive position is now helping many U.S. companies avoid the China economic contagion, and insulating their business interest.
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White House Trade and Manufacturing Advisor Peter Navarro has an interview with Maria Bartiromo to discuss potential U.S. supply chain issues and the need to reorient our medical equipment manufacturing back to North America.   As Navarro highlights the Chinese communist govt recently nationalized an American medical manufacturing company and commandeered all of their products. An important discussion.
Additionally, Navarro discusses the ongoing administration effort to combat incoming fake products from China still estimated to be over ten percent of all imports.

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National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appears on CNBC for an extensive interview on upstream economic issues.  With China’s economy at a standstill; and with the troubles of the coronavirus spreading outward; what does that mean for us?
There’s some good questions in this interview.  Domestically, as we noted yesterday, the U.S. economy is strong and growing. However, the Wall Street multinationals are very exposed to the China issues. On the bright side the overall China issues are helping to push more corporate decisions toward domestic investment and away from Beijing.

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Given these lessons being learned, I sure wish we didn’t have China involved in making our medicines and medical products.  The administration needs to look at this more.
Director Kudlow also appeared on Fox Business with Lou Dobbs.
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The potential for supply chain disruption as a result of China dealing with the Coronavirus, and almost a complete shutdown of their manufacturing economy, is looming heavy upon Wall Street multinationals invested in China.
However, tangentially related, as a result of USMCA we are now seeing signs of shifted investment into North America and increases in forecasts for U.S. manufacturing.

(Via CNBC) […] Early in the week, New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey for general business conditions posted a reading of 12.9, up 8 points from January and its best level since May. New orders surged to 22.1, the highest since September 2017, and shipments rose to 18.9, the best since November 2018.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia survey exploded 20 points higher to 36.7, the highest since February 2017. New orders hit their highest since May 2018. (more)

The Philadelphia FED tracks factory orders in eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware.  New orders in that region soared far higher than all expectations, reflecting a strong consumer-driven economy with ongoing purchases of durable goods.
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President Trump and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno deliver remarks to the press pool prior to a bilateral meeting in the White House. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s great to be with the President of Ecuador — and it’s one of the most beautiful countries in the world — and perhaps equally as important, and maybe even more importantly, your great First Lady. Thank you very much for being here. This is a tremendous honor. Some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world and one of the most beautiful places on Earth, they say. I’ve heard that for a long time.
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Earlier today President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed the President of the Republic of Ecuador and Mrs. Rocio Gonzales De Moreno to the White House.
Ecuador is a key country for stability in central America.  A key topic of discussion between the two leaders will be Venezuela.  Ecuador is suffering firsthand the effects of Nicolas Maduro and his dictatorship in Venezuela with waves of economic migrants from Venezuela arriving through Colombia to Ecuador.   The refugee crisis represents a fiscal strain and also a security threat. There are 400,000 Venezuela refugees in Ecuador.

Counter-narcotics and a trade agreement are also a priority for this meeting. The United States and Ecuador are very close to a free trade agreement. USTR Robert Lighthizer has held a successful round-one negotiation for trade and investment with the Ecuadorian Commerce Ministry; and a second round is likely very soon.

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Ecuador and the United States are working toward an energy and infrastructure framework agreement under America Crece.  Brazil is likely to join in March and they will join Panama, Chile, Argentina, Jamaica, Colombia, El Salvador, and hopefully Ecuador.

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Wow, earlier tonight the great Lou Dobbs shared some incredible information with his audience that highlights just how Machiavellian the DC system of tiered justice can be.
In a tremendous exposé on Fox Business with Lou Dobbs, the intrepid bringer of sunlight outlined how the Senate Intelligence Committee Security Director James Wolfe leaked the FISA application used against Carter Page and how DC U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu dropped all charges related to the leak and instead only charged Wolfe with one count of lying to FBI investigators.   Wolfe only received a 60 day sentence.  WATCH:

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It would appear Mr. Dobbs expose’ helped bring sunlight ultimately resulting in the withdrawal of Ms. Liu’s nomination.  Dobbs is terrific.  Thank You !
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Complicated business folks, complicated business....

WASHINGTON – President Trump is withdrawing his nomination for former U.S. attorney for D.C. Jessie Liu to serve as the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, a top position overseeing economic sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge.
[…] This was “the president’s call,” according to a former administration official familiar with the situation. The decision, which was made today, has administration officials questioning the circumstances that led to Trump changing his mind — with the developments in the Roger Stone case today being the only one they are aware of.  (read more)

Great job folks. Apparently the Senate will not have  to ask Ms. Liu any pesky questions…. Imagine that.

Earlier today President Trump hosted a business luncheon with U.S. governors to discuss economic expansion and administration policy efforts to assist the states.
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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Wow. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. It’s a great honor to have you at the White House, a very special place. Beautiful and so meaningful in so many ways. And our country has never done better. You’re all doing really well. Every state is doing well. I can say most every state in the room today is setting records. And we’d like to think that the federal government has been helping you a lot.
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White House manufacturing policy advisor Peter Navarro has an important discussion with Maria Bartiromo about the consequences of the Coronavirus which includes the need for U.S. companies to return manufacturing to the United States on key medical products and pharmaceuticals.   A very important subject.
Both Navarro and Bartiromo note that our dependency on Asia for medical products is a problem when a global virus erupts, global demand for those products peaks, and the supply of those products becomes most urgent.

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It would seem obvious (to me) that medical products and pharmaceuticals would be two sectors for the Commerce Department (Sec. Wilbur Ross) where a national security review would be well worth the time & effort.  The multinationals would fight the administration, but it might be worth this fight.
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