The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) releases the Consumer Price Index for February [DATA HERE], reflecting a drop in the year-over-year inflation rate to the lowest level in four years.
The rate of inflation dropped significantly due to lower gasoline (-6.3%) and fuel prices, which directly impacts every middle-class worker. The ripple effects (transportation, warehousing, etc.) from lowered gasoline prices is not yet embedded in the cost of goods, that should start to surface next month.
[…] Consumer prices were up 2.4% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, cooler than February’s gain of 2.8% and well below the 2.6% rise that economists expected.
Prices excluding food and energy categories—the so-called core measure economists watch in an effort to better capture inflation’s underlying trend—rose 2.8%, below forecasts for a 3% increase. That was the smallest increase in the core measure since March 2021. (read more)
For those who have travelled the MAGAnomic weeds with us, you will note this is the way overall lower inflation starts to surface under Trump policy. This is exactly what happened in 2017 and continued throughout late 2019 until COVID-19 hit. President Trump’s economic policies drop the rate of inflation, and eventually lower prices.
The downward price pressure from lower energy costs will eventually surface in lower food costs.
The same media who said Joe Biden was not responsible for massive inflation, will also say President Trump is not responsible for dropping inflation. However, the average American can see that under Joe Biden stuff cost more, and under Donald Trump stuff starts costing less. Policy does change prices.
Wall Street will hate these results, Main Street will love them.
Posted originally on CTH on April 10, 2025 | Sundance
Komrade Ursula von der Leyen represents the European Commission command and control authority, regardless of whether the individual members within the containment zone agree with the HQ in Brussels.
Komisar von der Leyen informs the union members that she has decided to pause the retaliation tariffs against the USA, based on the 90-day pause announced by President Trump. However, in actuality there’s not much difference even within the pause as the German/EU autos are still tariffed (25%) and the steel and Aluminum tariffs’ (25%) still apply.
The only gain from yesterday’s modification in the global tariff regime for the EU was a switch from 20% EU tariff to a baseline 10% tariff during the pause.
The total EU relief is 10% for 90-days; but that was enough for Komrade Ursula to mount her high-horse and claim magnanimity status.
According to von der Leyen, “if negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.”[SOURCE]
“I welcome President Trump’s announcement to pause reciprocal tariffs. It’s an important step towards stabilizing the global economy.
Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function.
Tariffs are taxes that only hurt businesses and consumers. That’s why I’ve consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States.
The European Union remains committed to constructive negotiations with the United States, with the goal of achieving frictionless and mutually beneficial trade.
At the same time, Europe continues to focus on diversifying its trade partnerships, engaging with countries that account for 87% of global trade and share our commitment to a free and open exchange of goods, services, and ideas.
Finally, we are stepping up our work to lift barriers in our own single market. This crisis has made one thing clear: in times of uncertainty, the single market is our anchor of stability and resilience.
My team and I will continue to work day and night to protect European consumers, workers and businesses. Together, Europeans will emerge stronger from this crisis.
We took note of the announcement by President Trump.
We want to give negotiations a chance.
While finalising the adoption of the EU countermeasures that saw strong support from our Member States, we will put them on hold for 90 days.
If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.
Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues.
As I have said before, all options remain on the table.” (source)
Before President Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, EU member countries voted to approve retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to the 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Those steel and aluminum tariffs are still in place, but the EU cancelled their retaliation.
Posted originally on Apr 10, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
Nancy Pelosi strongly supported tariffs before Donald Trump came into the picture. Trump is accomplishing what Pelosi dreamed of achieving nearly three decades ago. In 1996, on the House floor, Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gave a speech highlighting America’s trade imbalance with China.
“How far does China have to go? How much more repression? How big a trade deficit and loss of jobs to the American worker? And how much more dangerous proliferation has to exist before members of this House of Representatives say ‘I will not endorse the status quo?’” Pelosi touted.
At the time, bipartisan support existed to grant China Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status, but a younger Pelosi firmly disagreed and believed China was taking advantage of the US. “China should not receive most favorite nation status,” she declared. Similar to Trump’s reciprocal tariff charts, Pelosi provided a chart on the status quo of America’s $34 billion trade deficit with China in 1995, which was expected to rise to $40 billion in 1996.
“Since the Tiananmen Square massacre, this figure has increased 1,000% from $3.5 billion to $34 billion now. In terms of tariffs, I think it’s interesting to note that the average US MFN tariff on Chinese goods coming into the United States is 2%, whereas the average Chinese MFN tariff on US goods going into China is 35%. Is that reciprocal? On exports, China only allows certain industries into China, and therefore, only 2% of US exports is allowed into China. On the other hand, the US allows China to flood our markets with a third of their exports.”
Fast-forward to 2025 when her political opponent implemented tariffs on China. Suddenly, Pelosi believes a tariff on China is “reckless” and told her party to repeat the message that Trump’s tariffs will damage the US economy and hurt the American people. “Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs will cause chaos in our economy, raise prices for consumers, and hurt hardworking American families. This is not a strategy — it’s the largest tax hike on the American people in history,” Pelosi wrote on X.
Yet, in 1996, Pelosi believed the opposite to be true and stated that China was stealing millions of US jobs. “In terms of jobs, this is the biggest and cruelest hoax of all, not only do we not have market access, not only do they have prohibitive tariffs, not only our exports not let in very specifically, but China benefits with at least, at least, 10 million jobs from U.S.-China trade. The president in his statement, requesting the special waiver said that China trade supports 170,000 jobs in the United States whereas our imports from China support a 10 million jobs at least … the fact is that U.S.-China trade is a job loser.”
Pelosi visited Tiananmen Square in 1991 to protest China’s suppression of protestors. She was extremely critical of China’s trade practices, ethics, and human rights abuses. At the time, her views expressed a desire to strongly distance the US from China in general.
In 2018, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that the US-China trade deficit send 3.4 million jobs offshore. Manufacturing, a sector that has been on the decline in recent years, accounted for 74% of all job losses to China. As for Pelosi’s home state, 560,000 jobs were lost to China, the largest loss by state in the nation, followed by Texas, which lost 314,000 positions.
The deficit has widened and Chinese goods have continued to flood the US market. The only thing that has changed is the person paving the way for these tariffs. Pelosi’s flip is yet another example of a politician expressing views that express their self-interest rather than the interest of the American public.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 