Joe Biden Announces Tariffs on Non-Existent Products from Non-Existent Origination Country – Here’s Why


Posted originally on the CTH on May 14, 2024 | Sundance

BlackRock investment firm writes the regulatory and economic policy for Joe Biden’s administration. That’s the quid-pro-quo that maintains the Biden political financial operation. All of DC know it. No one does not know. The one’s who claim they do not know about it are all pretending. Republicans take the background BlackRock bribes and pretend.

BlackRock positioned massive investment assets inside Chinese auto manufacturers, MG, BYD, and Chery. The three Chinese companies are in the process of moving North American auto manufacturing to Mexico, specifically to make EV’s. The Chinese EV’s made in Mexico will come into the U.S market tariff free under the USMCA trade agreement. China and BlackRock will make billions.

Today Joe Biden announced a series of tariffs against China in the EV industry. [SEE HERE] The Chinese EV’s are not being made in China. The tariff regime is a farce a total joke.

Biden might as well be announcing tariffs on Chinese swimming pools flown into the USA via hot air balloon.  There will be more Chinese swimming pools delivered from China than Chinese EV’s.  The Chinese EV’s come from Mexico.  The tariff is fake.

WHITE HOUSE […] To further encourage China to eliminate the acts, policies, and practices at issue, and to counteract the burden or restriction of these acts, policies, and practices, the Trade Representative shall modify the two actions to increase section 301 ad valorem rates of duty for the following products from China:

  • Battery parts (non-lithium-ion batteries):  Increase rate to 25 percent in 2024;
  • Electric vehicles:  Increase rate to 100 percent in 2024;
  • Lithium-ion electrical vehicle batteries:  Increase rate to 25 percent in 2024;
  • Lithium-ion non-electrical vehicle batteries:  Increase rate to 25 percent in 2026;
  • Natural graphite:  Increase rate to 25 percent in 2026;
  • Other critical minerals:  Increase rate to 25 percent in 2024; (read more)

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None of this stuff is coming from China.  It is all coming from Mexico via transnational shipping and Chinese manufacturing in Mexico. [Check Date]

On the EV issue, this tariff approach is politically duplicitous by Biden against the backdrop of massive investment in Mexico by the three largest Chinese EV automakers. Last December the three Chinese auto manufacturers, MG, BYD, and Chery, announced they were going to spend billions building new EV manufacturing plants in Mexico.  Each Chinese auto manufacturer was going to spend between $1.5 to $2.0 billion.

Those Mexican built Chinese EV’s would pass into the USA market under current USMCA trade rules and regulations, as long as they technically meet the material origination rules.  This can make tariffs against the Chinese imported EVs a moot point, because China will be making them in Mexico (North American trade agreement).

One of the reasons President Trump said the U.S. auto industry would suffer a “bloodbath,” is specifically because the current Chinese auto companies are targeting these EV’s in the $10,000 or less range.  If you want to see what it looks like when cheap Chinese EV’s start to flood a consumer market, visit Russia – the western sanctions have only increased this flow.  I can see it clear as day.

China plans to pump out thousands of cheap, what I would consider semi-disposable, electric cars into the USA market. That’s why they have invested so heavily in Mexico.  Keep in mind, Blackrock (a Biden benefactor investment firm) is enmeshed with this Chinese move.

This tariff claim by the Biden administration on “import Chinese EV’s” is optics only for political benefit.  Whereas the 100% tariffs proposed by Donald Trump specifically target Chinese EV’s made in Mexico.

Stand back and elevate your thinking on this Chinese EV issue; the substance of it is a consequence of a much larger dynamic.  It is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There is a cleaving underway, a dedollarization that continues in global trade.  Nations are no longer relying (dependent) on dollars as the baseline for trade parity; they are determining their own nation to nation trade valuations outside the use of the dollar as a benchmark.

The result of this dedollarization taking place is massive inflation inside the USA that continues as the dollar (yellow zone) is weakened against the increasingly non-dollar-aligned world (grey zone).  The frequency of dollar use is lessening as alternatives are being used.

Trade into the yellow zone still requires a benchmark of dollars, but bilateral trade within the grey zone increasingly does not.  This is the root of the global financial and economic cleaving.  Mexico is not stupid.

China is trying to position their transportation sector (auto, planes, trains and mass transit manufacturing) as Apple manufacturing is to cell phone use.  Some of these disposable Chinese electric vehicles are actually impressive, which makes sense when you consider that China steals the engineering and design elements from knuckleheaded western corporations who use China for industrial manufacturing (see Tesla etc).

“China Is An Existential Threat To America” and What The US Should Do Now | Bradley Thayer PhD


Posted originally on Rumble By Kim Iversen on: Feb 9, 2024 at 3:00 pm EST

Chairman Xi New Year Message About Taiwan: “China will surely be reunified”


Posted originally on the CTH on January 1, 2024

In his New Year message to the people of China, Chairman Xi Jinping affirms the intention to unify Taiwan with China.

[Full Translation HERE] From the speech:

“We will continue to support Hong Kong and Macao in harnessing their distinctive strengths, better integrating themselves into China’s overall development, and securing long-term prosperity and stability. China will surely be reunified, and all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”  ~ Chairman Xi Jinping (link)

This is sure to create anxiety amid the DC interventionists within the U.S. foreign policy establishment.  However, with the USA bogged down in two regional conflicts, Israel/Gaza and Ukraine/Russia, the window for China to influence the Taiwan election is wide open.

ALJAZEERA – […] Beijing’s policy towards the self-ruled island it claims as its own will again be under the spotlight when voters in Taiwan go to the polls on January 13 to choose a new president and parliament, and the United States will be watching closely.

At the moment, William Lai Ching-te, the incumbent vice president and the candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is expected to emerge the winner.

That result would likely rankle Beijing, which portrays Lai as a “separatist” bent on independence and ensure continued tension across the narrow strait that separates the island from China.

“Washington is well prepared to deal with any choice that the Taiwan electorate makes, but there’s certainly going to be different opportunities and challenges depending on what the results of the election are,” Rorry Daniels, the managing director of the Asia Society Policy Institute, told Al Jazeera, adding that the US would be considering strategies for the “appropriate political signals” to deter any Chinese military responses. (more)

A Walk into the Matrix


The focus on Russia being the aggressor does not make sense when history and facts are looked at.  The following analysis cuts through the propaganda and gets to the core of the thing.

Let me start by saying everything we have read about the Western sanctions against Russia is false.  What sanctions might exist do not have any impact, and Eastern Europe has no intention to anger Putin.  When Brussels threatens to kick Hungary out of the EU/NATO, I can almost hear Viktor Orban saying, “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”  Hungary doesn’t even use or rely on the €uro for domestic financial transactions; they still retain their own national currency, the Hungarian forint or HUF.

First things first with the Western financial sanctions- specifically the SWIFT exchange.  It is true you cannot use VISA, Mastercard or any mainstream Western financial tools to conduct business in Russia; however, the number of workarounds for this issue are numerous.  One of those tools is the use of a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin; and within that reality, you find something very ominous about the USA motive.

Crypto users are likely familiar with stories like Binance and the US regulatory control therein.  Factually, outside the USA Binance is being used to purchase and trade crypto without issue, but inside the USA it is regulated.  That brings me to the MEXC crypto exchange, a Mexican version, again available globally but not allowed in the USA.  The same applies to Metamask, used all over Europe but not permitted in the USA.  Start to ask yourself, why all these crypto exchanges are available to the rest of the world but not the USA, and you start to suspect the Russian sanctions, just like the Patriot Act, are something else entirely.

Then there’s app wallets.  You might be familiar with Apple Pay as a process to handle transactions from your iPhone.  Apple Pay is linked to your bank account.  Well, the “wallet feature” exists on other apps also, like Telegram; however, you can find the wallet feature, but if you try to use it from a USA cell phone… “This feature is not allowed in your region.”  Why are digital wallets available for the rest of the world but blocked by the U.S. government?

This brings me to several crypto conversations in the EU at various cafes with people who have a deep understanding.  The commonly accepted bottom line, the Western sanctions, organized by the Biden administration and US Treasury, were not intended to put financial walls around Russia; they were designed to put control walls around the USA.  Russia was the useful justification.

Here’s how it really looks from the outside looking at the USA.  The same way the Patriot Act was not designed to stop terrorism but rather to create a domestic surveillance system. So too were the “Russian Sanctions” not designed to sanction Russia, but rather to create the financial control system that will lead to a USA digital currency.

Now, does the exploding debt and seeming govt ambivalence take on a new perspective?  It should, because that unspoken motive explains everything.  This is not accidental folks.

Again, the western sanctions against Russia are not having an impact against Russia; they are having a quiet impact in the USA that no one is permitted to talk about.

♦LOGISTICS – Despite popular opinion to the contrary, it is entirely possible to travel all over Europe without being tracked.  If you pick an entry point into the EU (Schengen Area), once inside, you can travel without any national checkpoints or passport checks.  It is also entirely possible to fly all over the EU without ever giving a passport number when you book the flight.  The trick is to know which airline.  You are a name on a passenger manifest, nothing more.

Bottom line, travel around the EU is less controlled, tracked and monitored, than travel inside the USA.  Yes, let me emphasize; freedom of travel is greater in the EU than it is in the USA.  This was completely unexpected.

♦GROUND REPORT – You might ask how I know the Russian sanctions are ineffective – here’s an example.  After doing advanced research, I went to three separate banks as a random and innocuous customer.  I put my reason in the kiosk at each bank, got my ticket number and sat down to listen to the conversations. When my ticket number came up on the digital board, I just ignored it and sat for hours listening to conversations.  No one ever noticed or questioned me – not once.

At every one of the banks, the majority of the customers, at the “new account” desk, were foreign nationals asking about setting up business accounts to trade with Russia. In every bank the conversations were friendly and helpful, with the bank staff telling the customers exactly how to set up their account to accomplish the transactions.  No one was saying no; instead they were explaining how to do it in very helpful detail.

Within Russia, there are now 3rd party brokers with international accounts, an entirely new industry, which creates a layer of transactional capability for the outside company to sell goods into Russia.  A Samsung TV travels from South Korea to the destination in the RU with the financial transaction between manufacturer and retailer now passing through the new ‘broker’ intermediary. Essentially, that process is what was happening in the banks for small to medium sized companies.

♦ Back to the crypto and digital wallet angle.  In addition to financial/transactional brokers for durable goods into Russia, there is now an entire industry of selling telephone id’s with EU phone numbers to process the transactions that are blocked by the USA sanction regime.

Meaning, a person could buy a phone and register a phone number from within the EU, and then go back to the USA and access all the blocked/restricted financial processes [Binance (non-US), Metamask, MexC, Telegram digital wallet etc].  This would permit them to do untracked financial transactions into and out of Russia from the USA without the USG knowing about them (sanction workaround).

[DISCLAIMER: in the interest of my own legal risk, I did not do this; I’m just explaining.]

I am not smarter than the U.S. intelligence community, so what does this mean?

This means the U.S. government knows exactly why the Russian economy is thriving, the Ruble is stronger against the dollar, and there is nothing -not one thing- visible or different on the ground in Russia that an ordinary Russian citizen would notice.  In fact, the Russian economy is doing fine, better than before the Ukraine conflict initiated, albeit with new financial industries created by the sanctions.

If the US government knows this, then why the sanctions?

Asked and answered.  The Western sanctions created a financial wall around the USA, not to keep Russia out, but to keep us in.  The Western sanction regime, the financial mechanisms they created and authorized, creates the control gate that leads to a U.S. digital currency.

In essence, the Ukraine war response justified a system that creates a digital dollar.

I will have more revelations, but for now just think about this aspect.

Mercantilism v Consumerism – China’s Direction


Armstrong Economics Blog/World Trade Re-Posted Oct 26, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Mercantilism is the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government should encourage by means of protectionism, according to the Oxford Dictionary. We see nations like Germany rely on this model as they produce various products to export through trade. German manufacturing has provided the nation with Europe’s strongest economy, but this is not the model China is following to become America’s successor as the financial capital of the world.

Italy may have a lower GDP than Germany, but the average Italian has a higher net worth than the average German. The average Italian has a household net of $295,020. In contrast, the average German household is worth $304,317. Yet Italy has half the GDP of Germany at 2.108 trillion compared to 4.26 trillion. A few short years ago, the average Italian or Spaniard had a higher net than the average German despite Germany having the strongest economy in the continent.

Germany has clung to inflationary fears in the aftermath of the hyperinflation that arose post-World War II. The government has kept taxes high as a result. What made America great was consumerism – people lined up to sell products to Americans. Germany, on the other hand, focuses on producing products to sell to someone else.

China understands what Germany does not. China is moving in the direction of the US to create a consumer-based economy. It will take time, but in 15-20 years, nations will line up to sell to the Chinese.

China Moves Six Warships into the Middle East Amid Rising Tensions


Posted originally on the CTH on October 21, 2023 | Sundance 

Please remember the global economics of the thing always aligns with the motives and outcomes of the thing.  Remember, Saudi Arabia just joined the BRICS coalition, BRICS+.

A new report shows China is moving six additional warships into the Middle East amid concerns the Israeli War could expand into a larger regional conflict.   China is aligned with multiple interests; and cunning Panda also supports the Biden administration end goal of a two-state solution in Israel.

(UK EXPRESS) – China has deployed six warships to the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalates, according to reports.

The 44th naval escort task force – from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre – has been involved in routine operations in the region and spent several days in Oman last week.

The Chinese warships left Muscat for an unspecified location on Saturday after participating in an exercise with the Omani navy.

The task force includes the Zibo, a guided missile destroyer, the frigate Jingzhou, and the supply ship Qiandaohu – all of which will be stationed in the Middle East as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of Gaza.

During the visit to Oman, Chinese commanders met with Omani military officials and visited military institutions, while sailors from both countries toured shops and even organized a basketball game, according to a state news agency.

Since arriving in the Gulf of Aden north of Somalia six months ago, the PLA task force has been involved in escort missions for shipping.

However, it handed over its mission to the 45th task force – from the PLA’s Northern Theatre command – earlier this month.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Thursday that a two-state solution to establish an independent Palestine is the “fundamental way out” of the Israel-Hamas war. (read more)

We need to keep watching these developments closely.

The U.S. has positioned two carrier battlegroups in the Mediterranean.   One group contains the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer assigned to USS Ford Carrier Strike Group 12.  The Carney traveled through the Suez Canal Wednesday and immediately intercepted 4 cruise missiles and 11 drones from an unknown origin with an unknown destination. {Go Deep}

The original Pentagon statement has not changed in the past 48 hours.  Unknown origin, unknown target.  The missiles entered the protection zone of the strike group, so we shot them down.

All of the follow-up reporting about Yemen and Israel, as the origination and target respectively, has come from high level “U.S. government officials,” not the military.   That approach indicates a sensitive political matter, with the Biden administration (State Dept, NSC and Intel) guiding and controlling public information very carefully.

If you just stick to the Pentagon as the source of information, there has not been a change since the original report to the media.

Something remains sketchy.   I’m still not sure what it is, but something is not passing the sniff test.

China now moves six additional ships into the region.

What interests specifically is China planning on defending?

Also, Asia Times 

Digital IDs in China – THE GREAT RESET IS HAPPENING NOW


Armstrong Economics Blog/Great Reset Re-Posted Aug 22, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The mainstream media does not want the West to know what is happening in China because the people would be frightened and begin to rebel. The media wants you to believe that China is “experimenting” with digital IDs that are linked to bank accounts and impacted by social credit scores, but they’re already there. TikTok is one of the last platforms where users throughout the world can share personal news without censorship. In the video above, a Chinese woman is explaining how she “once again cannot buy food.”

Her story is one example of how the digital ID program will work. She attempted to buy a new phone linked to a Chinese bank account to bypass the digital ID, but since her cousin purchased the phone, she was unable to log on because the phone was flagged. China has been testing this system since 2018 and had a soft launch in March, when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that 100 million citizens would be issued digital identification cards. As always, they market this as a mere convenience.  “One policy from the government this year is to make ID cards electronic, so that relevant information can be accessed by a simple scan of the code on the cellphone,” he said.

Simply look at the articles regarding digital IDs and the praise they receive such as “offering an omnichannel experience” or even calling the provinces that have instituted the measure “digital ID havens.” They tout how citizens can access public venues with facial recognition technology. What they fail to mention is that the government now owns its citizens. All of their data, from where to go to what to buy, is tracked and harvested. One misstep and a person can and will be financially excommunicated from society.

Welcome to the Great Reset. China already had a firm grip on its population that was already battered after what it did during COVID. Remember, Trudeau said China is his ideal form of government. All of the West will watch this play out in China to determine how they can implement it too. They will market this to the sheep as a technological achievement to be celebrated. Those who can think independently will not go down without a fight. We must wake up and realize that the global elite is implementing the Great Reset.

Palestine Enters the Chat


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Jun 20, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a three-day visit. Xi called Abbas a “good friend” and said that China fully supports Palestine. “We have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights,” Xi stated. China and Palestine have had good diplomatic relations for years, but this is the first time Xi fully committed to helping Palestine restore statehood.

Peace talks between Palestine and Israel ended in 2014. China may have mended tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but Israel-Palestine is another issue entirely. The land dispute in this region can be traced back to biblical days. Historians believe Palestine comes from the word “Philistia” or Philistines who are cited in the Torah and Old Testament as sworn enemies of the Jews. Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike know the story of King David battling the Philistines to become king of Israel, albeit they all interpret him a bit differently.

The region has been taken over by numerous empires over the ages. More recently, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire during the Great War in 1918, the British claimed Palestine. The British then established a Jewish nation in the region in 1923. Two decades later, in 1947, the United Nations decided to split Palestine into two states – one Arab and one Jewish. Arab leaders disagreed with the ruling. Britain withdrew, Israel then became a state in May 1948, leading to the Arab-Israeli War. The war ended in 1949, with Israel claiming control of over two-thirds of the territory. The two have been at odds ever since.

That is an extremely over-simplified version of events, but the hatred runs deep. The West has fully supported Israel in maintaining its territory, and China’s intervention in Palestine will be seen as a threat. “We especially appreciate the Chinese side’s commitment to financing a number of development projects presented by Palestine. We wish the speedy dispatch of technical delegations to implement these projects,” Abbas said. China is strategic. They want to assert dominance in the Middle East, where the West has lost its footing nearly everywhere besides Israel.

Blinken to Visit China – What Could Go Wrong?


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Jun 16, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Beijing this weekend. Blinken was originally scheduled to visit China in February, but it was delayed after Chinese spy balloons entered US airspace. Sending Blinken to China is like sending a thief to rob the headquarters of the National Rifle Association. Blinken has repeatedly offended China and gushed over the prospects of war. China does not want war, they repeatedly requested for the US to stay out of its affairs.

The meeting is already off to a bad start here. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang called Blinken on Tuesday to remind him to “show respect” before he arrives. CNN already reported that Blinken plans to discuss Taiwan and will “advocate strongly” for military communications. These do not align with the main goals of the meeting which is intended to discuss global macroeconomic stability, global security matters, and establishing proper communication channels. China’s military is not going to form an open line of communication with the US military. China does not advocate the war in Ukraine and has repeatedly tried to remain neutral.

“I hope that the U.S. side will take practical actions to implement the important consensus of the meeting between the two heads of state in Bali, move in the same direction as the Chinese side, effectively manage differences, promote exchanges and cooperation, and promote the stabilization of China-US relations,” Qin said, according to the South China Morning Post. This will not happen. If the US wanted to stabilize relations with China, they would send anyone other than Blinken.

The US is fanning the flames of war and is the aggressor in this situation. They continue to antagonize China, hoping that Beijing will make a move either with Russia or Taiwan so that they can jump on the opportunity for war. The neocons are not concerned about our economy, the lives of the people, or maintaining relations with America’s top trading partner. Expect the headlines early next week to read “Relations Between China and the US Further Deteroriate.”

Youth Unemployment in China


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Jun 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Chinese youth are struggling to find jobs in urban areas. Unemployment for the 16-to-24 demographic reached a new high in April at 20.4%. Youth unemployment has steadily risen this year after reaching 17.3% in January, 18.1% in February, and 19.6% in March. These young adults were born under the one-child policy that has since been repealed, adding more pressure to succeed to help support their families.

The main change here is that this generation is highly educated. Working in the countryside or in blue-collar roles became less appealing as the opportunity to attend college became widely available. Additionally, China is shifting to a consumer country, and high-paying jobs in the city are more desirable. Chinese students are encouraged to study STEM and seek out top-earning positions. There were 96.37 million people aged 16 to 24 living in urban areas as of March, and 64.18 million were unable to participate in the workforce as the majority were students. Those students are now graduating, and many will be unable to find work in their field of study, similar to most nations.

Unemployment remains low among the “main labor force” aged 25 to 59, but Chinese youth will need to compete for highly desirable jobs in the cities. The new generation is smart, highly educated, and willing to work. But competition will be fierce.