Showing posts with label tariffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tariffs. Show all posts

Monday, August 24, 2020

New Newspeak



Sometimes I, like George Orwell, believe that liberal brains are mis-wired and they are “unable to process.” It seems that they have an uncanny way of offering up arguments that, by their mystical quality, sound possible ... but fall apart upon closer inspection. The following is a comment on a recent blog post here that has Swiss cheese holes all through it:

People yearn for simple ways to describe complex issues. In the political realm, unlike science, the simplest solution is too often a short term fix, which fails in the long run due to those pesky unintended consequences.

This is Trump's appeal: He offers simple solutions. A Wall to stem illegal immigration, Tariffs to punish China, Hydroxychloriquine, cancelling Treaties, on and on. The ramifications of his actions are beyond his ability to process. It will take a long tome to fix the mess he has created.”

 A few observations:

- William of Ocean did not say the his “razor” only applied to science. He obviously meant that the simpler solution applied across the board.

- How does this commenter know that Trump’s solutions will fail in the long run ...  does he have a Magic 8 Ball? And does his observation imply that they are working at least in the short term? The wall and Trump’s standing up to China are seminal events that, I predict, will make the history books.

- Trump’s jettisoning of the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran Nuclear Deal was legit because they were NOT treaties since they had never been ratified by Congress. The remake of NAFTA WAS ratified by Congress.

- Are these Biden solutions also short-term: the Green New Deal, huge tax increases, open borders, eliminate cash bail, defund the police, no fracking, Medicaid for All (including illegals), more regulations, gut our armed forces, eliminate prisons, rewrite our history, more regulations, voting from prison, scuttle tariffs, Socialism, etc.?


Bottom line: With many of these cockamamie Democrat proposals, there is no long-term ...


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Sunday, April 26, 2020

At War? (Part Two)


If you missed it ... see: At War?(Part One).

Now, to the rest of the story ... the more up-to-date events.

Is China now rolling over for the Orangeman? Of course not. They have turned up the heat on all those insidious activities I listed in Part One ... and more. And the “more” gets a little scary.

The further I muse about it, the further I am convinced that China unleashed the COVID-19 virus on itself and the world as a threat and a smokescreen for its other nefarious activities ... see: Xi Jinping.

China had a devastating African Swine Fever epidemic last year ... wiping out a huge portion of its major source of protein. Clearly the United States would not unleash such a scourge on the world ... but does China suspect otherwise ... and could COVID-19 be in retaliation?

And I am close to certain that China will not live up to Phase One of the trade agreement it signed in the White House this past January (knowing that it’s invisible enemy was on the way here.) So, how will President Trump respond to China’s reneging? My bet is on further and larger tariffs on Chinese exports ... maybe even unto iPhones ... and put more restrictions on what can be exported to China.

They say that there are no coincidences in world politics. So was Kim Jong Un’s apparent turning into kimchi coincidental? I suspect not. I don’t think that the US had anything to do with this transformation ... but did China? Perhaps the Rocketman was not being an annoying-enough gadfly to Trump for Xi to allow him any more Swedish call girls?

It seems clear that Trump and COVIS-19 have turned the tide of world public opinion against Xi and China. This makes them much more dangerous! Will they unleash another pandemic on the world? Will they annex more territory (Outer Mongolia, Taiwan)? Will they sell their holdings of US debt (the price is right)? Will they devalue their currency further? Will they crush Hong Kong? Will they cut off the supply of rare-earth minerals? Even, gasp, a kinetic war?

Watch out pilgrims .. we are living in dangerous times!

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Headlines


Jersey City attack investigated as domestic terrorism, hate crime

US has a phase one trade deal with China in principle pending Trump’s approval

McConnell plan to acquit Trump at trial ... Dem defections?

Joe Biden’s plan: amnesty for all illegals, free border crossers

Senate defied earlier White House block to unanimously recognize Armenian genocide

A ‘wimpy’ trade deal will be enough for markets as long as there are no new tariffs

Feds collect record taxes; historic spending ...

Dems accuse Trump of ‘bribery’ — after dropping it from ‘articles’

Newspapers in swing states have yet to embrace impeachment

Facebook falls on possible FTC injunction

Credit card debt 10-year high ...

DOJ IG: Obama may have known Trump campaign [was] spied on ...

Tuesday, December 03, 2019

Headlines


John Kerry: We are way behind on climate change

5G broadband is an existential threat to cable companies, but execs and investors aren’t worried

Chinese tech groups writing UN facial recognition standards ...

Trump still has not released aid to Lebanon

U.N. Chief warns of ‘point of no return’ on climate change

Winter storm snarls post-Thanksgiving air travel

Focus on early release of convict in London stabbings ...

Islamist militants hack to death 12-year-old Christian boy in Cameroon

Doug Collins wants Adam Schiff to testify in front of House Judiciary Committee

China wants rollback of tariffs in phase one trade deal with US, Chinese state media says

Unusual tornadoes confirmed in Arizona ...

NBC’s Todd accuses GOP Senator of pushing Putin talking points

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Polishing the Apple


Apple is featuring a huge Mac Pro manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas where its CEO, Tim Cook, visited yesterday with President Trump. This move conforms with Trump’s pledge to emphasize domestic manufacturing over offshore venues. We also know that Apple has gotten tariff relief from Trump for its China-manufactured iPhones ... but will also bring some of its manufacturing of this product to Mesa, Arizona.

Is this all quid pro quo? Very likely. And will this help Trump’s re-election chances? Most certainly, since this is a fulfilling of his campaign promise to expand domestic manufacturing and return the US to robust economic expansion.

The question then presents itself ... will Rep. Adam Schiff hold more impeachment inquiry hearings on this bit of Trump’s political self-dealing? I think we all know this answer.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Talking Points


Michael Bloomberg is teasing a run to become the Democrat presidential candidate. Imagine that I am a talking head on cable TV and here are some points that I might make:

- Our population is aging ... as logically are our presidents. But, Michael Bloomberg entering the Democrat primary fray might bring a new first. If Bloomberg were elected president, he would be inaugurated shortly before his 79th birthday ... and most of his tenure would be while he was in his 80s.

- Bloomberg is just one more old white guy .... and a member of the Davos elite. This hardly lines up with current political winds. He has said he would roll back Trump’s tariffs ... and go back to the Obama national defeatist stance.

- Bloomberg’s entry is an act of political desperation. He and a lot of the Democrat leadership apparently believe that the current cast of candidates are all sure losers against Trump.

- Bloomberg was a reasonably good NYC mayor ... but his stop and frisk actions ... his banning of large soft drinks ... and his reversal of his term limit could cause embarrassment.

- Bloomberg has poor national name recognition ... he only has a 6% approval rating, far underwater.

- Bloomberg is a rabid gun control advocate. not sure this will play well in middle-America

- Bloomberg is a plutocrat worth $52 billion and a Wall Streeter. He like Trump is a New Yorker which, in this case, might be a negative.

- Bloomberg is also a radical on climate change ... a left of center position

- And finally, like Warren, Bloomberg is rather opaque as to what would be his foreign policy ... other than he will likely, out of spite, reverse many of Trump’s initiatives

Headlines



Who will betray Trump?

Trump on Bloomberg: ‘He’s got some personal problems’

Dems want impeachment by Christmas ...

Elizabeth Warren confirms her Medicare for All plan will cover illegal aliens

Jim Jordan joins Intelligence Committee to boost Trump in public impeachment hearings

Alphabet’s self-driving car project Waymo is shuttering it’s Austin operation

Facebook removes news reports mentioning alleged whistleblowers identity ...

Sessions up 13 points in early Alabama U.S. Senate race poll

Trump says he hasn’t agreed to rolling back China tariffs

Trump’s ex-top Russian expert described frustration with Giuliani, according to testimony

Trump tax case should be an easy Supreme Court call ...

‘Whistleblower’ attorney Mark S. Zand tweeted ‘Coup has started’

Saturday, November 09, 2019

Headlines


China and U.S. ‘agree to phased rollback’ of extra trade war tariffs

Stock market at record funds a new fee: ‘Elizabeth Warren is the new Wall of Worry’

Bolton to defy White House, testify

Democrats sweep into victory in both chambers of Virginia legislature

Biden picks up endorsement of a 9th black member of Congress

China says it has agreed with the US o cancel existing trade tariffs in phases

Fed pumps another $10 billion [into banking system] ...

Tulsi Gabbard: ‘We do not have a nation if we do not have borders’

Impeachment transcripts reveal a constant, damaging narrative for Trump

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushes vote on sweeping drug pricing bill to December

Poll: 1in 4 Americans uncertain about impeachment ...

Report: GOP discussing whether to include Bidens in impeachment trial

Monday, November 04, 2019

Headlines


In Iowa Biden faces a growing threat: Pete Buttigieg

UAW President Gary Jones will take a leave of absence amid corruption probe

At Iowa dinner, Warren and Mayor Pete take aim at one another ...

Brexit party: Torres ‘deliberately misrepresenting’ our peace offering

Turkey threatens to send ISIS fighters back to home countries

Thousands of companies are asking for tariff exclusions even as US and China push to sign trade deal

Smugglers sawing through new sections of wall!

Former CIA Deputy Director on Impeachment Inquiry: ‘Thank .god for the Deep State’

Warren’s $20 trillion health plan fails to quiet critics

Trade wars, climate change plunge the family farm into crisis

USA opens national security investigation into TIKTOK ...

China releases updated ‘morality guidelines’ for ‘social progress’

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Warren’s Foreign Policy


Recently I outlined Elizabeth Warren’s platform to be elected president. Missing was her stance on foreign affairs ... which she seems to studiously avoid on the debate stage ... see:  The Warren Doctrine. So I have gone back to the search engines to fill in this void and did find something she “wrote” in 2018 which lays out her vision for how she would deal with the rest of the world if elected ... see: Foreign Affairs Article. Kind reader, take some time to read this revealing article. You will find that Warren’s foreign policy is little more than an extrapolation of her socialist domestic stance. Not very detailed or insightful beyond what Trump is doing.

In short, she advocates:

- Trade policies that sound very much like President Trump’s ... although I sincerely doubt that she would pursue this stance with Trump’s tariffs spine. She does acknowledge that globalism has benefited large international companies while hollowing out American manufacturing and our middle class.

- Given this recognition, Warren offers little of how she would remedy these imbalances. She accuses President Trump of self-serving policies with little evidence to support this assertion. It seems she would fix the sins of globalism with more domestic programs, subsidies and expanded socialism. The whipped cream on this cake would be punishing US corporations with higher taxes and lower profits ... and, although not admitted to by her, crippled competitiveness.

- American technology companies must insure individual privacy both at home and abroad.

- We should use American economic power to coerce other nations toward cleaner environmental policies. Climate change is a dire threat.

- Like Trump, Warren believes we must end our involvement in endless foreign wars. Virtually all of our involvements in the Middle East have burdened our future generations with untold debt while bringing little current benefit. BUT, our focus on terrorism has distorted our domestic policies toward limiting immigration, increased racism and social injustice. Our foreign policy must be based on “fair” domestic policies.

All in all — pretty thin gruel ...

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Headlines



Another judge rules against Trump on border wall

Trump says US has come to a substantial phase one deal with China

Shep Smith out at Fox ... Trump critic exits

Report: More possible ‘whistleblowers’ are reaching out to lawmakers

Judge blocks Trump’s move to deny green cards to recipients of government benefits

US says China tariffs scheduled to rise on Tuesday suspended; no decision on other tariffs

Report: Turkey bombs US special forces in Syria ... ‘By mistake’ ...

Biden campaign warns Dem candidates: Do not repeat ‘discredited lies’ about Hunter

Trump threatens sanctions against Turkey amid Syria backlash

Trump says Fed should cut rates anyway even though US and China have agreed to a trade deal

LA wildfires rage ... 10,000 evacuated ...

Schweizer and McLeod: Hunter Biden helped China get ‘strategically sensitive assets’

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Phase One


President Trump has announced “phase one” of  a US-China trade deal ... despite the fact that he has previously stated that he wanted all the trade disputes settled at once. Yes, he has gotten “commitments” from China on big agricultural buys, openings for financial services, intellectual property protections, currency guarantees and other trade deficit reductions ... but we have seen most of this Beijing slight-of-hand before. Kind reader, for the actual details, see: NBC Story. The real issue is — will China put all these concessions into writing over the next few weeks in exchange for Trump holding off on some tariff increases?

History teaches me to be skeptical ... but if this first phase does happen, it sure helps Trump to get re-elected. In fact, it may well be that Xi has concluded that, despite all the US political cross currents, Trump is likely to be his adversary for five more years ... which could mean much more economic pain for his Eastern fiefdom ... unless he acts now.

Afterthought: Watched Steve Bannon’s Friday interview on CNBC. He said that the vacuum at the top of the Democrat primary race (Hunter Biden’s mess and Bernie’s heart attack) likely will entice Hillary and/or Bloomberg into the race ... and, at least Hillary would try to get to the right of Trump on China. If he is right, maybe Xi is reading these same tea leaves ... and now finds Trump to be the preferred alternative.

Interesting!

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Soybeans


If one just reads the headlines, one would think American farmers are on the ropes. However, looking at the above chart (source: CNBC), one can see that things are not quite as bad as supposed. Add to this the fact that Trump has pumped tens of billions of tariff-collected dollars into US agricultural subsidies ... and that China has just agreed to import more US pork and soybeans ... farmers here may be doing a little better than OK ... not what the media are saying.

Lessons: Kind reader, at a moment in time there is only so much food in the world ... and always look behind the headlines ...

Monday, September 02, 2019

Headlines


Hong Kong burns during another weekend of violence

At least 5 dead and 21 injured in shootings near Odessa, Midland, Texas — suspect killed

JACKED: Twitter founder account ‘compromised’ ...

DNC embraces ‘religiously unaffiliated,’ belittles Americans of faith

Protesters take to streets in U.K. over parliament suspension

Trump’s tariffs on $112 billion of Chinese imports hit at midnight

Trump 2020 danger if Dem scores upset in NCarolina special election

Many Sanders supporters not enthralled by ‘angry Bernie’

North Korea berates Pompeo, says hopes for talks fading

Hurricane Dorian threatens Georgia, Carolinas; Florida still on alert

Iran taunts Trump with selfie over rocket explosion tweet ...

Report: Campaigns ramping up opposition research on Elizabeth Warren

Sunday, September 01, 2019

Headlines


Google to pay up to $200 million to settle FTC YouTube investigation

Companies may be terrified of tariff, but consumers clearly aren’t

GOOGLE says hackers have put monitoring implants in iPhones!

Joe Biden on migrant detention centers: ‘Close them down!’

Prosecutors call for Flynn’s sentencing amid impasse with defense attorneys

‘Absolute monster’: Hurricane Dorian gains strength as Florida braces for direct hit

Consumer sentiment lowest of Trump presidency ...

Sen. Pat Toomey: Odds of passing gun control better than ever

Trump’s executive assistant resigns from White House

ACLU asks Supreme Court to ease precedent that establishes ‘second class’ status for Puerto Rico

WEEKEND: Hong Kong police warn of more arrests  after sweep of activists ...

Canada Fmr PM: ‘Rooting’ for Dorian to hit Mar-a-Largo

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Headlines


Trump signals ‘second thoughts’ on escalating his trade war with China

White House says Trump regrets not raising tariffs on China higher

Drone war takes flight ... Israel battles Iran action over Beirut

AOC: Electoral College is ‘affirmative action’ for rural America

Lindsey Graham warns Trump not to pull U.S. forces out of Afghanistan

Kudlow does not expect China to retaliate against Trump’s latest tariffs, despite Beijing’s warning

Cities saying ‘No’ to 5-G, citing health, aesthetics, FCC bullying ... Carcinogenic?

2020 Senate Dems shy away from ‘Medicare for All’

Trump: ‘Chosen one’ remark was sarcasm

Trump hints at ‘very big trade deal’ with Britain post Brexit

Cory Booker: Car drivers are licensed, gun owners should be too

Iran foreign minister makes surprise visit [to G-7] ...

Monday, August 26, 2019

Headlines


Justice Dept. cancels news briefings service after sending white nationalist link

‘China is not paying for it’: Trump tariff hike hits everyone from beer brewers to book publishers

Tropical storm Dorian forms over the Atlantic ...

NBC News: ‘Heterosexuality is just not working’ ...

Justice Dept. renews fight on Trump’s right to block on Twitter

Trump’s tariffs on monkeys could ‘severe damage’ US menial research and send labs to China

Axelrod warns Supreme Court vacancy would ‘tear country apart’ ...

Martha’s Vineyard home shows Obama knows global warming’s a hoax

Trump’s Greenland gambit finds allies inside government

In a bad sign for trade talks, Trump deploys a new label for China's Xi — ‘enemy’

Macron rips up agenda for G-7 summit in fit of climate fury ...

Activist: Elizabeth Warren ancestors ‘complicit in Cherokee dispossession’

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The Acid Test


President Trump and President Xi of China are now engaged in a hot trade war ... after, apparently, a cordial start at Mar-a-Largo soon after Trump was inaugurated and Xi was elevated to president for life. The back and forth escalation of tariffs and broken commitments is complicated ... so, if you need a reprise, please visit: US-China Tariff Timeline.

As seen in the above, China’s obvious strategy in defeating the United States in this trade war is to trump Trump in the 2020 election  ... hoping for a more pliant Democrat to replace him ... Biden, for instance, who it has already greased with a $1.5 billion “investment” in his son, Hunter’s “hedge fund.” Most people suspected this slow-walk strategy when the mutual trade talks leading to a tentative pact was abrogated by China this past May. This complicated deal had been arduously hammered out over the many previous months. And this slap was followed by a Chinese agricultural purchasing agreement that was also shortly reneged on.

Needless to say, this trade war is now getting hotter and the back-and-forth quicker. Trump has even just labeled Xi his “enemy” which seems appropriate ... given the duplicity China has engaged in since May. So, a thinking person has to conclude that no good will possibly come of this tariff pissing contest until after November, 2020. And this then is the acid test.

The American voter quite likely will be given a choice in the next general election ... overcome any distaste for Trump’s reality-TV personality and vote for him ... or vote for the Democrat and signal capitulation to China ... in this extremely consequential trade war ... so consequential that it might well mean the beginning of the end of American hegemony in the world. I realize that this all sounds melodramatic ... but this contrast and it’s consequence is bound to be drawn more sharply in the months ahead.

So, kind reader, study up.

Afterward: Me thinks that China is banking on a substantial portion of the American public voting to have us step back from center stage and let someone else take over ... after all we voted twice for the man who clearly had this as an objective ... and the world cheered ... they even gave him the Nobel Peace Prize ... his name of course: Barack Hussein Obama.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Headlines


Trump says he doesn’t understand why he is getting blamed for Hong Kong tensions

Trump just blinked, giving China a possible edge in trade war, some big Wall Street names say

Riot police storm HKG ... Battle for freedom! ...Trump neutral ...

Chris Cuomo referred to himself as ‘Fredo’ in 2010 radio interview

Trump to delay duties on many consumer products

A $1 trillion US budget deficit is one big reason the Fed may have to cut rates

Mortgage debt hits record, eclipsing 2008 peak ...

Sanders: Trump ‘most dangerous president in U.S. history’

Hong Kong government is exacerbating unrest, former British governor says

Warden of jail where Jeffery Epstein killed himself reassigned, 2 guards placed on leave

Americans apply for jobs at food plant raided by ICE ...

Man screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ goes on Sydney stabbing spree

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Junkies


The United States has been hooked. No, I don’t mean on drugs ... but that too is a serious problem. I mean on low-priced consumer goods ... many coming from China. Companies like Walmart, Christmas Tree Shops, Five Below, etc. have been big beneficiaries of this trend ... as obviously have been our consumers.

I have often chided my wife, after a trip to one of these discount stores, that one day our house is going to explode because of all this cheap “stuff” filling all our crooks and crannies. And I’m sure that this story is being repeated all across middle-class America. Do we really need a four-story cat cubby and scratching pole?

So, the U.S. consumer needs to go on binge-buying withdrawal. And, if Trump sticks to his guns on his tariff wars, the eventual higher cost of such goods might inspire such an adjustment. ... maybe even a sea change.

These purchasing adjustments might well be painful to many American retailers, even possibly Amazon. But they would also be devastating to those foreign manufacturers which have relied on cheap labor to produce the cheap goods they export.

I am not smart enough to gauge the extent of these economic dislocations ... but they clearly could be severe ... maybe even traumatic ... somewhat like the detoxification that junkies experience in the first weeks of their rehab treatments.