Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the latest stunning announcements from North Korea.  The mustache aligns with those who say the talks between Kim Jong-un and President Trump should begin ASAP to see if the DPRK is really serious about denuclearizing the Korean peninsular.

.

Maria Bartiromo talks about the steel and aluminum tariffs recently announced by the Trump administration along with the shifted trade perspectives of the Trump administration with White House Trade Policy Adviser Peter Navarro.

While the current trade focus centers around steel and aluminum tariffs, Mr. Navarro expands the discussion when asked about China as a trade target specifically.  Within the expanded discussion Navarro highlights U.S.T.R Robert Lighthizer’s pending 301 review of intellectual property theft by the Chinese government.

.

Regarding ‘European Union (EU) retaliation’, forget it; they won’t.

The protectionist EU hypocrites simply cannot afford to go toe-to-toe with the U.S. on trade.  The UK is in the process of formalizing their Brexit terms; the EU (essentially ‘Germany’) needs to find a way to make up for the lost revenue (billions in taxes) from the UK economy.  Currently the UK pays Brussels approximately a billion per month on a $2.5 trillion economy; that will stop.

Brexit reduces the overall EU GDP by $2.5 trillion.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel cannot -and will not- challenge President Trump.  In addition to being politically weak, Merkel has attached her economy to expansive environmental regulations (Paris treaty), though she is now attempting to pale down those regulations.  Chancellor Merkel cannot afford to run the risk of losing any access to the U.S. market.

A 25% decrease within the German auto sector alone would be enough to throw the entire nation of Germany into a recession; and functionally Germany is the EU.   President Trump holds all the leverage within the trade discussions with the EU…

…. WE ARE THE CUSTOMER in this equation.

White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short appears on Fox News to discuss the Steel and Aluminum tariffs being implemented by President Trump to protect the U.S. steel and aluminum manufacturing industry.

The Wall Street antagonists together with politicians purchased by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and K-Street lobbyists (working on behalf of Wall Street),  have vowed to fight President Trump’s trade initiatives.   The steel and aluminum tariffs are the first in a series of trade actions by President Trump that he outlined during his candidacy.

Wall Street politicians (globalists) are now engaged in a fight against Main Street economic and trade policy (nationalists). There are trillions at stake. The anger against the President over the steel/aluminum tariffs is nothing in comparison to what lies ahead; with a likely NAFTA withdrawal and other MAGAnomic trade initiatives looming on the horizon.

Kristian Saucier was a former Navy submariner who was arrested (age 22) for taking a photograph of his work station while on duty. He was prosecuted for the photograph as distribution of classified information. Mr. Saucier spent a year in prison for his photograph. Yesterday President Trump pardoned Mr. Saucier.

During a press availability with Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was asked about the recent stunning developments between the U.S. and North Korea. The Q&A segment is outlined below:

QUESTION: Thank you so much. Mr. Secretary, for months you’ve been saying that conditions are not yet right for talks with North Korea, and that you would know it when you saw it. Less than 24 hours ago, that was still your position. What changed in the last 24 hours that gave the Trump administration confidence that now is the right time? Can you explain the logic behind starting this process, talks about talks, as you’ve described it at the level of the leaders of the country? And did you know when you made those comments yesterday that this meeting was in the works?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: With respect to talks with North Korea versus negotiations – and I think this seems to be something that people continue to struggle with the difference. My comments have been that we’re – the conditions are not right for negotiations, but we’ve been saying for some time we are open to talks.

President Trump has said for some time that he was open to talks and he would willingly meet with Kim Jong-un when conditions were right and the time was right. And I think in the President’s judgment, that time has arrived now. So there’s no – in my comments yesterday, I was indicating comments about negotiations, but we’ve been open for talks for some time.

In terms of the decision to engage between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, that’s a decision the President took himself. I spoke to him very early this morning about that decision and we had a good conversation. This is something that he’s had on his mind for quite some time, so it was not a surprise in any way, because I think this has long been something. He’s expressed it openly before about his willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un.

So now, I think it’s a question of agreeing on a timing of that first meeting between the two of them and a location, and that will take some weeks before we get all that worked out. So no surprise.

We know that there’s been a lot of discussion, and you’ve been reading about it too through the intra-Korean dialogue. We also had been having contacts back and forth with them, as you’re well aware, through channels that we have had open for some time. And I think this was the most forward-leaning report that we’ve have had in terms of Kim Jong-un’s, not just willingness, but his strong desire for talks.

So I think it was really – what changed was his posture in a fairly dramatic way that, in all honesty, was a – came as a little bit of a surprise to us as well that he was so forward-leaning in his conversations with the delegation from South Korea. (LINK)

It’s always a superMAGAnomic day when we get to hear Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross talk shop.  Two interviews today means extra doses of winnamins are needed to help digest all the winning.

Wilburine begins with Fox Business Charles Payne talking trade and NAFTA:

.

Secretary Ross also appeared on Bloomberg to talk with the pearl-clutching Brits:

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross discusses possible negotiations with several countries over exclusions to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, the effect of the tariffs on the U.S. economy, and the exit of Gary Cohn from the White House. He speaks to Bloomberg’s Julia Chatterley on “Bloomberg Markets.”

.

Excellent news for the community of Lorain, Ohio, where it was announced today that Republic Steel has plans to recommission at least one blast furnace by the end of this year. They are also estimating the possibility of putting a second blast furnace back on-line due to production forecasts as a result of President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

Lorain Pig Iron is beginning the process to start the mill’s Blast Furnace 4,  by working with contract service providers to submit proposals for the recommissioning.  Since 2015 over 1,000 workers in Lorain were laid off.  BF4 has been dormant since 2016 when the remaining 200 steelworkers were laid off.

If Republic Steel fires up two blast furnaces (BF3 and BF4) at this ironworks, over 1,000 jobs could be created depending on the number of shifts each day.  100 to 200 jobs per shift, per furnace, equals 300 – 600 jobs per furnace/24 hrs.  That’s a tremendous economic lift to the people living in/around Lorain, Ohio. Great news.

LORAIN, OHIO — Two of the blast furnaces at Republic Steel on East 28th Street could be up and running by the end of this year.

According to a news release, Lorain Pig Iron LLC, or LPI, is beginning the process to start the mill’s Blast Furnace 4, or BF4, by working with technical service providers to review and submit proposals for the recommissioning.

In restarting BF4, the company would be able to produce and distribute 1 million tons of pig iron annually.

LPI, which is jointly owned and operated by Republic and Minnesota-based ERP Iron Ore LLC, also is evaluating starting up the mill’s Blast Furnace 3, or BF3, which would double pig iron production in Lorain to 2 million tons annually. (read more)

…Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

A very confident Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears on CNBC for a wide-ranging interview on current economic subjects. Within the discussion [14:00] Secretary Mnuchin affirms the U.S. economy is nowhere near “full employment”; an economic reality which highlights how much labor statistics were manipulated by political ideologues the prior administration(s).

Additionally, Secretary Mnuchin discusses the administrations’ focus on ‘reciprocal trade deals’ as the cornerstone of new trade constructs. This is a seismic shift in U.S. trade position. The secretary replaces the word “globalism” with a more nuanced “world-wide”; and “economic patriotism/nationalism” is replace with the word “territorial”.

Also worth noting is the larger dynamic of “intellectual property” (vis-a-vis China) and how the inherent Trump policies therein overlay trade positions between the U.S. and China. As we have previously mentioned the USTR Lighthizer 301 investigation into China could be exponentially more significant than Steel and Aluminum tariffs. Secretary Mnuchin confirms this aspect albeit with a measure of necessary opaqueness.

Leo Gerard, the President of the United Steelworkers Union, talks to a very frustrated Chuck Todd about the effect of President Trump’s new tariffs and his appreciation therein.

Chuck Todd has all his Media Matters talking points prepared to outline his narrative; however, unfortunately for the toad, he came up against a very knowledgeable union leader with a solid grasp of the details and important specifics.  WATCH:

.

As you can see from President Leo Gerard’s comments he well understands the value of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and administration trade strategist Peter Navarro. The next phase of MAGAnomic Main Street trade initiatives involves global “trade reciprocity” advancement.

The statement tonight by South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong is so jaw-dropping in significance it has left the professional diplomatic apparatus stunned.

A year of targeted and strategic geopolitical policy execution by President Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has resulted in North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accepting denuclearization and requesting a meeting with President Trump to achieve terms therein.

Yeah, HO-LEE-CATS is an understatement.  The possibility of a willingly denuclearized Korean peninsular is such an astounding policy victory; it is difficult to conceptualize.  Here’s the statement from South Korea’s Chung Eui-yong:

“Good evening, today I had the privilege of briefing President Trump on my recent visit to Pyongyang, North Korea.  I’d like to thank President Trump, the vice-president and his wonderful national security team, including my close friend General McMaster.” 

“I thanked President Trump that his leadership, and his maximum pressure policy together with international solidarity, brought us to this juncture.  I expressed President Moon Jae-in’s personal gratitude for President Trump’s leadership.”

“I told President Trump that in our meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he is committed to denuclearization. Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests; he understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue.  And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible.”

“President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization.”

“The Republic of Korea along with the United States, Japan and our many partners around the world, remain fully and resolutely committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsular.” 

“Along with President Trump we are optimistic about continuing a diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution.   The Republic of Korea, The United States and our partners stand together in insisting that we not repeat the mistakes of the past; and that the pressure will continue until North Korea matches it’s words with concrete actions.  Thank You.”   (link)

.

(Tweet Link)

Korea Times – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed willingness to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for talks over denuclearization, South Korean officials visiting Washington said, Friday.

In response, Trump said he would like to meet him by May, they said.

National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, one of President Moon Jae-in’s envoys to Pyongyang who is now visiting Washington, said in a press briefing at the White House that he delivered such messages of Kim to Trump.

Kim also said he was “committed to denuclearization” and would “refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests,” Chung said. (link)

“Complicated business folks,… Complicated business”

When it comes to the use of economic leverage to create U.S. national security outcomes, well, we are learning at the knee of an economic master player. {Deep Dive}