Promises made, promises kept.  The CTH community is in a unique position to understand exactly what has taken place today as President Donald Trump announces the termination of NAFTA and simultaneously announces a bilateral trade agreement has been made between the U.S. and Mexico.  This is exactly what CTH predicted. Most, not all, but most of the media are absolutely clueless.

In an Oval Office announcement today President Trump put outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on his speaker phone as the press watched in the Oval Office. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo, and the key figure for incoming Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Jesus Seade was present for the announcement.

CTH will have much more on the details of the trade agreement.  This is the most comprehensive and complex trade agreement in U.S. history.  However, in the interim here’s the full video of the announcement (including nuance).  ENJOY:

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[Transcript] Oval Office – 11:09 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Hello everybody. It’s a big day for trade, a big day for our country. A lot of people thought we’d never get here because we all negotiate tough. We do, and so does Mexico. And this is a tremendous thing.

This has to do — they used to call it NAFTA. We’re going to call it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, and we’ll get rid of the name NAFTA. It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years. And now it’s a really good deal for both countries, and we look very much forward to it.

And I believe the President is on the phone. Enrique? You can hook him up. Tell me when.

How are you? It’s a big thing. A lot of people waiting. Hello? Do you want to put that on this phone, please? Hello? Be helpful.

♦PRESIDENT PEÑA NIETO: (As interpreted.) President Trump, how are you? Good morning.

♦PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you, Enrique. And congratulations. That’s really a fantastic thing. We’ve all worked very hard, and your brilliant representatives are sitting right in front of me. And I thought we would congratulate each other before it got out. And I know we’ll have a formal news conference in the not-too-distant future.

♦PRESIDENT PEÑA NIETO: (As interpreted.) Thank you very much, President Trump. I think this is something very positive for the United States and Mexico. And the first reason for this call, Mr. President, is, first of all, to celebrate the understanding we have had between both negotiating peace on NAFTA, in the interest we have had for quite a few months now to renew it, to modernize it, to update it, and to generate a framework that will boost and potentiate productivity in North America.

It is our wish, Mr. President, that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in all this. And I assume that they going to carry out negotiations of the sensitive bilateral issues between Mexico — rather, between Canada and the United States.

And I’m really grateful, Mr. President. I want to say that you — I greatly recognize and acknowledge your political will and your participation in this. And on this paved path, I want to bear my testimony, Mr. President, and my acknowledgement to both negotiating teams, especially the team that is headed and led by Mr. Robert Lighthizer, and also the accompaniment and the support we have had from the White House through Jared Kushner.

And I also extend this recognition to the Mexican team. They are listening to you. They are close to you right now — Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and the Secretary of the Economy, Mr. Guajardo.

Yes, in terms of (inaudible) the negotiations that have taken months, it’s been difficult, complex, and a very hard negotiation altogether with difficult moments, of course. But I truly acknowledge now the fact that we’ve been able to reach an agreement that we are about to make public. And this is the result of good understanding and good work. And I — of course, I am quite hopeful that now Canada would start discussing with the United States the sensitive bilateral issue.

Congratulations, President Trump. I am very grateful and I am attentive to your comments.

♦PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, Mr. President, thank you very much. It’s an honor. You’ve been my friend. It’s been a long time since I traveled to Mexico, where we got to know each other quite well and we actually had a good meeting. Some people weren’t sure if it was a good meeting, but I was.

I have a lot of good meetings that a lot of people aren’t sure if they were good or not.

But it’s been a long time, and this is something that’s very special for our manufacturers and for our farmers from both countries, for all of the people that work for jobs. It’s also great trade and it makes it a much more fair bill. And we are very, very excited about it.

We have worked long and hard. Your representatives have been terrific. My representatives have been fantastic too. They’ve gotten along very well, and they’ve worked late into the night for months. It’s an extremely complex bill and it’s something that I think will be talked about for many years to come. It’s just good for both countries.

As far Canada is concerned, we haven’t started with Canada yet. We wanted to do Mexico and see if that was possible to do. And it wasn’t — I think, it wasn’t from any standpoint something that most people thought was even doable when we started.

If you look at it, you remember, at the beginning, many people thought that this was something that just couldn’t happen because of all of the different factions, all of the different sides, and the complexity. And we made it much simpler, much better. Much better for both countries.

Canada will start negotiations shortly. I’ll be calling the Prime Minister very soon. And we’ll start negotiation, and if they’d like to negotiate fairly, we’ll do that. You know, they have tariffs of almost 300 percent on some of our dairy products, and we can’t have that. We’re not going to stand for that.

I think with Canada, frankly, the easiest thing we can do is to tariff their cars coming in. It’s a tremendous amount of money and it’s a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day and we take in a lot of money the following day.

But I think we’ll give them a chance to probably have a separate deal. We can have a separate deal or we can put it into this deal. I like to call this deal the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement. I think it’s an elegant name. I think NAFTA has a lot of bad connotations for the United States because it was a rip-off. It was a deal that was a horrible deal for our country, and I think it’s got a lot of bad connotations to a lot of people. And so we will probably — you and I will agree to the name.

We will see whether or not we decide to put up Canada or just do a separate deal with Canada, if they want to make the deal. The simplest deal is more or less already made. It would be very easy to do and execute.

But I will — I will tell you that working with you has been a pleasure. Speaking with and working President-elect López Obrador has been absolutely a very, very special time.

You both came together for your country. You worked together. I think that’s important for the media to know. We have a little — a small amount of media in our presence, like everybody. And the media should know that the President and the President-elect worked very closely together because the President felt it was important that the President-elect liked what he was seeing.

And our teams worked together. Our teams were really well unified, and your team was very well unified. I was very impressed with the fact that the two Presidents came together and worked out something mutually agreeable.

So it’s an incredible deal. It’s an incredible deal for both parties. Most importantly, it’s an incredible deal for the workers and for the citizens of both countries. Our farmers are going to be so happy. You know, my farmers — the farmers have stuck with me; I said we were going to do this. And Mexico has promised to immediately start purchasing as much farm product as they can. They’re going to work on that very hard.

And as you know, we’re working — unrelated to this, we’re working very much with other countries. China is one; they want to talk. And it’s just not right time to talk right now, to be honest, with China. It’s been — it’s too one-sided for too many years, for too many decades. And so it’s not the right time to talk. But eventually, I’m sure, that we’ll be able to work out a deal with China. In the meantime, we’re doing very well with China.

Our economy is up. It’s never been this good before, and I think it’s only going to get better.

But, Mr. President, you’ve been my friend and you have been somebody that’s been very special in a lot of ways. We talk a lot. We talked a lot about this deal. And I’d like to congratulate you and the Mexican people.

♦PRESIDENT PEÑA NIETO: (As interpreted.) Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I finally recognize this, especially because of the point of understanding we are now reaching on this deal. And I really hope and I desire — I wish — that the part with Canada will be materializing in a very concrete fashion; that we can have an agreement the way we proposed it from the initiation of this renegotiating process, a tripartite.

But today I celebrate the (inaudible) between the United States and Mexico because we’re reaching a final point of understanding. And I hope that in the following days we can materialize (inaudible) in the formalization of the agreement.

Something additional, Mr. President — and you have already mentioned it — it has to do with an involved and committed participation of the administration and the President-elect of Mexico. As you know, we are now going through a period of transition, and it has been possible to create a highly unified front between the negotiating team of this administration and the people appointed by the President-elect of Mexico to be observers and participate in this agreement, in this understanding, to reach the point we are now reaching.

The President-elect has been aware of everything that has been happening, and I have also had the opportunity of talking to him directly and personally on the progress being made.

You have also had direct conversations with President-elect. Things that we have to do and I hope we have the space to do it would be to find — to toast a good toast with tequila, of course — (laughter) — to celebrate this understanding.

♦PRESIDENT TRUMP: Enrique, I think that’s exactly right. And you know the good relationship that I’ve already established with the President-elect. I was very impressed with him, I must tell you. He was terrific in every way. And he wants — you know, he loves your country like you love your country. You want to do the right thing. And we’re really doing the right thing for all of us. So I really enjoy that. Please send him my regards, and I will speak to him very shortly.

But this was great that you were able to do it together. I think doing it mutually as opposed to just you doing it — or even just him doing it — I think a mutual agreement between your two administrations was a fantastic thing. I suggested that early on, and I think it was immediately embraced and I think it was a really fantastic thing that you were able to do it — and with great spirit. I mean, it was great coordination and spirit. So I think that is really just great.

And, you know, one of the things that I’m excited about is you’re going to be helping us at the border. You’re going to be working together with us on agriculture. You’re going to be working in many different ways, and we’re going to be working with you in many different ways. This is a very comprehensive agreement.

So, Enrique, I will see you soon. I think we’re going to have a very formal ceremony. This is one of the largest trade deals ever made. Maybe the largest trade deal ever made. And it’s really something very special that two countries were able to come together and get it done.

And I just want to thank all of my people — Bob and Jared. And, gentlemen, you have been really great, the way you’ve worked so long. And I know you’ve been going up until three o’clock, four o’clock in the morning, and then getting in at eight.

So I just want to — on behalf of the United States, I want to thank you very much. And I can say that Mexico is very proud of you. They’re very proud of you. Thank you all very much.

Enrique, I’ll see you soon. I’ll talk to you soon. And congratulations, and job well done.

♦PRESIDENT PEÑA NIETO: (As interpreted). Thank you, Mr. President, and congratulations as well to you, to the negotiating team, to the (inaudible) of both countries. We’ll be waiting for Canada to be integrated into this process.

I send you an affectionate hug. And all my greetings to you and my regards.

♦PRESIDENT TRUMP: A hug from you would be very nice. (Laughter). Thank you. So long. Thanks. Goodbye, Enrique.

Okay, so we’ve made the deal with Canada. It’s a very —

Q With Canada?

♦PRESIDENT TRUMP: They’re starting. We made the deal with Mexico. And I think it’s a very — deal. We’re starting negotiations with Canada, pretty much immediately. I can’t tell you where those negotiations are gone. It’s going to be a — it’s a smaller segment, as you know. Mexico is a very large trading partner. But we’ve now concluded our deal and it’s being finalized.

And, Bob, when would you say it will be signed — actually, formally, signed?

♦AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: Well, it will likely be signed at the end of November because there’s a 90-day layover period because of our statute. But we expect to submit our letter to Congress, beginning that process on Friday.

♦PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay, so that starts the process.

♦AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: And then 90 days later, it will be signed.

♦PRESIDENT TRUMP: We have an agreement where — both with Canada and with Mexico — I will terminate the existing deal. When that happens, I can’t quite tell you; it depends on what the timetable is with Congress. But I’ll be terminating the existing deal and going into this deal. We’ll start negotiating with Canada relatively soon. They want to start — they want to negotiate very badly.

But one way or the other, we have a deal with Canada. It will either be a tariff on cars, or it will be a negotiated deal. And, frankly, a tariff on cars is a much easier way to go. But perhaps the other would be much better for Canada.

And we’re looking to help — you know, we’re looking to help our neighbors, too. If we can help our neighbors, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. So we’re going to start that negotiation imminently. I’ll be speaking with Prime Minister Trudeau in a little while.

So I want to thank everybody. I want to thank you. What a great job you’ve all done. And it’s been — it’s been a long one, but a lot of people thought this was not a doable transaction. It’s going to be great for our people. And again, I want to thank you folks. And we’ll see you at the signing, and we’ll see you many times before that, I’m sure.

So, congratulations to the people of Mexico. Great job.

Thank you very much everybody.

END

Remember the ju-ju bones?… Well….  The U.S. Main Street economic engine is almost firing on all cylinders as brick-and-mortar retailers drop their historic complaints of e-commerce impacting their sales and foot-traffic, and instead begin seeing the real life consequences from a resurgent American middle-class.

Target CEO Brian Cornell: “There’s no doubt that, like others, we’re currently benefiting from a very strong consumer environment — perhaps the strongest I’ve seen in my career.”  “We’re seeing a great consumer response … unprecedented traffic. As we go back and look, we’ve never seen traffic growth like this.” (link)

The growth in retail foot-traffic is a critical KPI for the economy.  Despite economic and business school theory (pushed over the past 20 years), everything of consequence is dependent on a thriving American middle-class; blue and white collar.

Target CEO Brian Cornell is not alone in his optimism:

• Walmart VP of Investor Relations Dan Binder: “Job growth is great. Wages are up. Credit is expanding … So the consumer is in great shape. In the surveys that we look at, they tell us that they are feeling good about their financial condition.”
• Home Depot CFO Carol B. Tomé: “As we look to the back half of the year, we continue to expect strong economic growth, with the backdrop of a healthy home improvement environment. Homeowners continue to enjoy home price appreciation, and rising wages and low unemployment have driven consumer confidence to record high levels.”
• Macy’s CEO Jeffrey Gennette: “Based on the first-half performance, our strong execution and the anticipation of continued healthy consumer spending, we’re raising both sales and earnings guidance for the year.”
• Lowe’s CFO Marshall A. Croom: “We expect to see solid sector growth driven by gains in employment which should boost disposable income and consumer spending.”

The middle-class economic engine can/is self-sustaining around the basic principles of MAGAnomics.  Additionally, finalizing America-first trade deals could explode U.S. GDP growth as investment pours into the U.S.A.  We will soon need to build a bigger-engine to handle all the high-octane investment fuel.

The economic models of the entire last generation+ are based on the assumptions of continuing globalist economics which advances, and has advanced, the interest of Wall Street over Main Street.  They were driving a “service-driven economy” message.

The investing class economy, ie. another name for a ‘service-driven economy’, has been the only source of historic reference for approximately three decades. These talking heads convinced themselves that a “service driven economy” was the ONLY economy ever possible for the U.S. in the future.  WATCH:

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Back in January 2017 Deutsche Bank began thinking about it, applying new models, trying to conceptualize and quantify MAGAnomics, and trying to walk out the potential ramifications.  They began talking about Trump doubling the U.S. GDP growth rate when all U.S. investment groups couldn’t yet fathom the possibility.

As we have continued to share, CTH believes the paycheck-to-paycheck working middle-class are going to see a considerable rise in wages and standard of living.  How high can wages rise?… that depends on the pressure; and right now the pressure is massive.  I’m not going to dismiss the possibility we could see 10 to 20% increases in year-over-year wage growth in multiple Main Street economic sectors.

Winnamins.  We need lots of them…

Now here’s the critical leadership part…. After two-plus decades of Wall Street emphasis on inventory and supply chain management: Who is going to be bold enough to ramp up inventories high enough to prepare for, and take advantage of, the upcoming MAGAnomic holiday season?

President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Ohio Republican Party State Dinner.

President Donald Trump and First-Lady Melania Trump visit Nationwide Childrens Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio.  VIDEO:

Earlier today President Trump tweeted a message to the invisible U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions: “C’mon Jeff, you can do it.”

The evidence of severe DOJ/FBI corruption is visible everywhere. Congress has unearthed it (FISA abuse); the DOJ Inspector General has outlined it (McCabe, Strzok); current FBI investigators have showcased it (SSCI James Wolfe); and yet, Jeff Sessions is entirely absent from doing anything about it….

…”Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!”…

After two weeks of counting additional ballots Trump-backed Ohio republican candidate Troy Balderson was declared the official winner today by Franklin County officials.

Democrat Danny O’Connor said on Friday he called to concede to Balderson. The final vote count showed Balderson received 104,328 votes, or 50.12 percent, and O’Connor had 102,648 votes, or 49.32 percent, according to Franklin County.

(Via Fox) […] The Trump-backed Balderson had declared victory over Democrat Danny O’Connor on Aug. 7, but O’Connor had declined to concede because of the small margin.

According to the Associated Press, after final absentee and provisional ballots were counted, Balderson defeated O’Connor by 1,680 votes. […] The result fell 520 votes outside the window to trigger an automatic recount. (link)

It was ABSOLUTELY NOT coincidental that China sent a low level trade delegation to the U.S. at exactly the same time U.S.T.R. Lighthizer is conducting open hearings on Section 301 national security trade issues; which are specifically targeted toward China.

For the second time POTUS is using strategic deployment of sunlight on the relationship between Beijing and North Korea. President Trump is highlighting what has been hidden for decades.  China has structured the use of North Korean nuclear ambitions as the sword of Damocles over their economic adversaries in the West. China’s Chairman Xi Jinping controls the government officials that surround North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un:

(Tweet Links)

These tweets, along with the earlier tweet. are serious business.  They are being fired directly into the heart of Beijing.  They are the mother of all truth bombs, and they take away the ability of Chairman Xi to deploy the hidden threat and DPRK control.

“Subtle” like a brick through a window. [More backstory available here.]  President Trump is removing the Panda mask to reveal the authentic nature of Chairman Xi Jinping.  Simultaneously Trump is trying to rescue Kim Jong-un from the clutches of the Red dragon behind the panda mask.

Until there is an empirical or factual reason to counter what seems like an obvious geopolitical strategy, we should consider all events through the prism that the primary leadership within the DPRK, the officials controlling Kim, are under the control of China.

The trade confrontation is China’s biggest geopolitical risk. The primary weapon China holds toward demanding terms from the U.S. would be their ability to change the dynamic in North Korea at any given moment. From this frame-of-reference things begin to make more sense.

On the surface it appears the U.S. is negotiating terms for a denuclearized North Korea; however, under the surface the bigger issue is the ongoing economic confrontation between the U.S. and China. The DPRK is Red Dragon leverage.

Consider that Chairman Kim was/is likely put into power not as a linear out-cropping of his familial relationship, but more as a strategy of ongoing Chinese duplicity. Kim Jong-un was seen as easier to control.  Consider the possibility that all of the DPRK officials who carry out the objectives of the ruling North Korean government are factually operating according to the dictates of the hidden Chinese authority.

Within this dynamic Chairman Kim received the scorn of the international community; but was -in reality- merely a figurehead, a false panda face – hiding the true authority behind all of the DPRK policy, and a designed strategy constructed by China.

Consider that by confronting the economic interests of China, President Trump fractured the decades-long ruse, and is now positioned to expose the nature of the Chinese ruling authority within North Korea.   This becomes a stunning paradigm shift; a reality that few could possibly fathom, unless you consider the cunning of Beijing.

Under this scenario, it is adverse to the interest of China for a united, open and democratic Korean peninsula where the North and South are together again.  It would be particularly adverse to Xi’s interests if the U.S., Japan and a united Korea formed any substantive  international alliance.

The best play for China would be to control the outcomes of any unification and position China as the control agent for any united Korea.  This would be critically important if, as I am now increasingly confident, North Korea was/is actually a proxy province of China and has been for decades under the complete -albeit hidden- rule of the Chinese authority.

Under this scenario, Chairman Xi has to play a very careful game of geopolitical cunning; and if at any moment he sees Chairman Kim accepting the rescue of President Trump, Xi will likely move to eliminate Kim and defend his interests quickly.

Imagine the internal stress upon the young Kim Jong-un who has been forced to ride this dragon for almost a decade, and knows his government is not actually his government but rather a governing body with all officials reporting to Beijing.

Imagine you are the next-door-neighbor to an abused child who lives inside the palace of the abuser.  The abuse has been psychological and manipulative upon this child for decades. How do you rescue him?  Additionally, how do you rescue him when the ultimate abuser is the king of all communities, governments, political and legal systems in/around the palace?… and only you know the nature of the dynamic…. (link)

If our overall operating thesis is correct, these are very tenuous times.  Communist China will not give up on a decades-long grand design for economic conquest.  President Trump is confronting that Chinese strategy head-on.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon) China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and the action continues. The red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately.  The Art of War.

President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask.

It is specifically because he understands that Panda is a mask that President Trump messages warmth toward the Chinese people, and pours vociferous praise upon Chairman Xi Jinping, while simultaneously confronting the geopolitical doctrine of the Xi regime.

In essence Trump is mirroring the behavior of China while confronting their economic duplicity.

President Trump is putting on a MASSIVE economic squeeze.

♦Squeeze #1. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin sanctioned Venezuela and cut off their access to expanded state owned oil revenue. Venezuela needs more money. China and Russia are already leveraged to the gills in Venezuela and hold 49% of Citgo as collateral for loans outstanding.  China and Russia now need to loan more, directly.

However, China cannot engage in economic commerce with Venezuela or they risk losing access to the U.S. banking system.  Therefore all current Chinese aid to Maduro comes in the form of IOUs.  These ongoing loans are likely impossible to be repaid.

♦Squeeze #2. China’s geopolitical ally, Russia, is already squeezed with losses in energy revenue because of President Trump’s approach toward oil, LNG and coal. Trump, through allies including Saudi Arabia, EU, France (North Africa energy), and domestic production has influenced global energy prices.  Additionally, President Trump is demanding NATO countries, specifically Germany, stop supporting financial dependence on Russia.

Meanwhile, and directly connected, Russia is bleeding out financially in Syria. Iran is the financial reserve, but they too are energy price dependent and President Trump is now putting pressure on Iran vis-a-vis new sanctions and new demands on allies.

♦Squeeze #3. In 2017 Trump and Secretary Tillerson, now Secretary Pompeo, put Pakistan on notice they need to get involved in bringing their enabled tribal “extremists” (Taliban) to the table in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s primary investor and economic partner is China. The U.S. removed $900 million in financial support to pressure Pakistan toward a political solution in Afghanistan, China has to fill void.  [NOTE: Last month the World Bank began discussions about a financial bailout for Pakistan.]  Again, more one-way bleed for China.

♦Squeeze #4. China’s primary economic threat (competition) is next door in India. President Trump has embraced India as leverage over China in trade and pledged ongoing favorable trade deals. The key play is MFN (Most Favored Nation) trade status might flip from China to India. That’s a big play.  It would have massive ramifications.

♦Squeeze #5. President Trump launched a USTR Section 301 Trade Investigation into China’s theft of intellectual property. This encompasses every U.S. entity that does manufacturing business with China, particularly aeronautics and technology, and also reaches into the financial services sector.

In March of 2018 U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer completed a section 301 review of China’s trade practices.  [SEE HERE] Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 authorizes the President to take all appropriate action, including retaliation, to obtain the removal of any act, policy, or practice of a foreign government that violates an international trade agreement or is unjustified, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.  However, as talks with China progressed, President Trump shelved the 301 action to see where negotiations would end-up. The May and June, 2018, negotiations between the U.S. and China provided no progress.  The 301 review of China was pulled back off the shelf, and President Trump assembles his trade-war strategy.  The 301 tariffs/sanctions are currently being worked out with U.S.T.R Robert Lighthizer.

♦Squeeze #6. President Trump, Secretary Ross, Secretary Mnuchin and USTR Robert Lighthizer are dissolving NAFTA in favor of two bilateral agreements; one with Mexico and one with Canada.  One of the primary objectives of team U.S.A. is to close the 3rd party loopholes, including dumping and origination, that China uses to gain backdoor access to the U.S. market and avoid trade/tariff restrictions. [China sends parts to Mexico and Canada for assembly and then back-door entry into the U.S. via NAFTA.]

♦Squeeze #7. President Trump has been open, visible and vocal about his intention to shift to bilateral trade renegotiation with China and Southeast Asia immediately after Team U.S.A. concludes with NAFTA. [Current discussions with Japan are ongoing]

♦Squeeze #8. President Trump positioned the U.S. relationship with the E.U. as a massive potential loss for Europe (via Steel, Aluminum, and Auto tariffs) if they did not: (A) shift their trade relationship toward greater reciprocity; and (B) reconsider the size of their trade relationship with China.  After initially trying to push-back, Europe acquiesced.

♦Squeeze #9. President Trump has positioned ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as trade benefactors for assistance with North Korea. Last year the KORUS (South Korea and U.S.) trade deal was renegotiated, and announced in March. The relationship between ASEAN nations and the Trump administration is very strong, and getting stronger. Which leads to…

♦Squeeze #10. President Trump has formed an economic and national security alliance with Shinzo Abe of Japan. It is not accidental that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un fired his last missile over the Northern part of Japan. Quite simply, Beijing told him to.  However…

♦Squeeze #11. President Trump cut-off the duplicitous Beijing influence over North Korea by engaging directly with Kim Jong-un.  The open exchange and ongoing dialogue has removed much of the ability of Beijing to leverage the DPRK nuclear threat for their own economic benefit.  This dialogue was as much, if not more, about dismantling the Beijing geopolitical influence as it was about denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.  However, no-one caught on to that part of the strategy.

It is not coincidental that three events are occurring simultaneously:  (1) U.S.T.R. Lighthizer is conducting public hearings on Section 301 impacts; (2) a Chinese trade delegation is in the U.S. to re-initiate talks; and (3) U.S. President Trump conducts a roundtable meeting with congressional leadership over the Foreign Investment Risk Review and Modernization Act.

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[Transcript] 11:35 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for being here this morning, and thank you to Secretary Mnuchin for joining us. And congratulations. You’re doing a great job. We appreciate it very much, Steve.

I especially want to welcome Senators John Cornyn, who has been working so hard lately, and especially at the border. We’re doing things that nobody else thought we could do with very bad legislation. Better get that legislation changed. I think we’ll get it done.

Tom Cotton, Mike Crapo, Marco Rubio, and Jeb Hensarling — I want to thank you all. This has been a tremendous thing that we’re sort of announcing today, but people are — they found out about it.

Each of you was instrumental in passing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act — so important — which was included in the National Defense Authorization Act that I signed into law earlier this month.

This new authority will enhance our ability to protect cutting-edge American technology and intellectual property vital to our national security. You’ve all been reading that intellectual property and all sorts of different things of that nature are being stolen from us by other countries. It’s going to be very hard for them to do that. We’re putting a lot of safeguards in, and we’re doing a lot of things against foreign acquisition of property, and especially where they’re near sensitive military installations.

So this was a very big deal. This was a very important deal. And the people in this room are the people that really were most instrumental in wanting it and getting it passed.

Because of our incredible achievements, other nations seek to steal, copy, or control American intellectual property. And we had very, very little safeguards up. We had, in many cases, I would say, Marco, no safeguards. And now we have probably the best there is in the world. We’ll see if that’s good enough, and if it’s not, then we will keep adding on to it.

This weakens our economy when they steal, destroys our jobs, and threatens the security of our country. I’m pleased this new legislation provides the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States greater authority when it comes to reviewing foreign ownership of American firms with critical technology and intellectual property.

And if we see something we don’t like — some country is buying something that we don’t want them to be buying — we stop it. We now have the right to stop it. They won’t be stealing our companies anymore, especially companies that are quite complex.

We will protect America’s crown jewels of intellectual property and advanced technologies from harmful foreign investments. I look forward to a productive discussion with the members of Congress here today. To a certain extent, this is a little bit of a celebration meeting, more so than a meeting, John. Right? More than a meeting on the act itself. Because we passed the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act.

But we’re very proud of it. It was in the making for years, and we got it done. So I want to very much thank the people in this room. This is really the group that worked so hard to get it.

And, Mike, maybe I’d have you start off. We’ll go around the room; we’ll say a few words about what we’ve done.

SENATOR CRAPO: Certainly.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mike.

SENATOR CRAPO: Well, first of all, Mr. President, I appreciate the attention that you’re bringing to this issue. I don’t think that it is well known enough the intensity and the scope of efforts by other nations to steal or to simply outright purchase and access our intellectual property and our technology that’s critical for our national security.

And you’re right, this legislation updates critical procedures that we have in the United States now, in both our export controls, as well as in our Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to put us on the cutting edge to protect America’s technology, intellectual property, and ultimately our national security. So this is critically important.

And I just think it’s important that the American people realize the scope of assault on America today that is happening across this globe.

THE PRESIDENT: It’s true. That’s true. Thank you. Great job you’ve done.

Marco?

SENATOR RUBIO: Yeah, Mr. President, as you know, we often talk about this, and I’m constantly thanking you for finally standing up to China after far too long of not doing it, as an American government. This is the first time since 1991 that we have a near-peer competitor in the world. It was only America and everybody else. And now we are starting to wake up to a reality that we have a near-peer competitor. And this competitor is cheating, stealing, and undermining us, using virtually every tool at their disposal. And one of them is intellectual property theft.

They steal the stuff from us, oftentimes innovated through American taxpayer investment, and then they reverse engineer it and use it for their own purposes. Because they seek to replace us in the world — not to be equal to us; to overtake us. And it’s almost too late. But finally, someone is standing up to them. And I’m grateful to your administration for making this a priority on every front — on trade, but also on national security.

And I’m glad we’re having this meeting today. And we’ll be with you every step of the way on this.

THE PRESIDENT: Great job, Marco. And I have to tell you that — and you see it; you brought it up to me the other day — so our country, since the election, we’re up $10 trillion in worth. And unfortunately — but this is the way it goes — China, over the last four months, is down about $15 trillion. We have to stop it. We can’t allow the things that were happening to happen.

And also, we can’t allow just common trade to stay the way it was — $517 billion in deficits each year. So that’s not happening anymore.

No, I think we’re going to — and as you see, we’re rising very rapidly. We’re rising. And people have said to me, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen it where the United States is like a hot country. We used to be a hot country many years ago. but now we’re the hot country again.

Everybody wants to be here. Companies are moving in. We want some of these companies to move in also, and they’re going to be now protected and we’re going to be protected that there won’t be theft of high-grade technology.

So, thank you, Marco. I appreciate it.

John?

SENATOR CORNYN: Mr. President, under your administration, we’re finally taking the big step to address the national security threat posed by China, which has grown dramatically, as others have already said. And I believe that China represents the foremost national security and economic challenge to our country of any other country in the world —

THE PRESIDENT: Not Russia?

SENATOR CORNYN: — in the long term.

THE PRESIDENT: Not Russia?

SENATOR CORNYN: In the long term.

In addition, its military transformation and its belligerence in places like the South Sea — South China Sea — as Senators Crapo and Rubio have pointed out — they’ve engaged in outright theft of our intellectual property. But this addresses the problem of foreign investment made strategically to exploit gaps in the Committee on Foreign Investment, and for them to be able to acquire the know-how on intellectual property they need in order to gain access to this cutting-edge, dual-use technology.

I just want to express my appreciation to Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary Mattis, the Attorney General, Secretary Ross, and your entire administration for your partnership. We could not have gotten this done without each of these people at the table and certainly the leadership of Chairman Crapo on the Senate side and Chairman Hensarling on the House side. And just, this is a great accomplishment. Now we need to make sure it gets implemented. And that’s — I know we’re top of Secretary Mnuchin’s list to make sure it operates as Congress intended it in order to accomplish these goals.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think not enough focus has been put on China. And that’s been for a long time. And we want to have — a big focus is on Russia. Not enough focus is on China — and other countries, frankly. Not just Russia and China; it’s many countries we have to watch. And probably individuals also.

But this goes a long way. And I appreciate, very much, your words. It’s — you’ve done a great job. Thank you very much, John.

Steve?

SECRETARY MNUCHIN: I appreciate the opportunity to work with everybody in this room on this important legislation. I think this is just a great example of the Senate and the House working together, giving us, at CFIUS, the new critical tools that we need to protect investments in the United States while also allowing for investments in the United States. And we will be launching the pilot program very quickly, and we look forward to full implementation of the legislation next year.

So, thank you to everybody.

THE PRESIDENT: You guys like all those cameras behind your head as you speak? (Laughter.) I’d be very, very — I’d take a long time in combing my hair if I was going to be in that seat. (Laughter.) It would take a long time.

Tom?

SENATOR COTTON: Well, it’s a really good thing that the Congress now recognizes China as our chief, long-term rival. We’ve known for a long time that China has been hurting our manufacturing sector, and they’re not buying enough of our agricultural products. They discriminate against our companies. They just turned down the merger from Qualcomm, an American company, and NXP, a Dutch company. It had nothing to do with China; just to hurt the United States and our jobs here.

They’ve been conducting espionage for years. You know, you’ve noticed that their jets look a lot like our jets in our military.

THE PRESIDENT: Especially the F-22.

SENATOR COTTON: Exactly. And now they’re just outright buying our technology. You know, they don’t have to steal it so much anymore, especially if you’ve got smaller companies that have critical breakthroughs in technology or artificial intelligence, or quantum computing, what have you.

This legislation will allow us to recognize those threats for what they are, and to stop China from buying our most critical technology that we need to maintain our role as the world’s greatest superpower.

So I thank you for your support for this legislation, and thank you to all my peers around the table, and encourage Secretary Mnuchin and everyone on the Committee on Foreign Investment to take a very tough look at everything that China is doing to the United States.

THE PRESIDENT: And, Tom, you know, we’ve put a $50 billion number out there. Now, the total number is $250 billion. But of that, $50 billion has to do with technology — high tech and things. And there’s a 25-percent tax on that, now, coming in.

And I think that, economically, also helps us. This is very different, but it also helps us. And people are saying that’s already having a big effect. And it is already; we’re collecting that money. It’s a lot of money. Much of it is being collected. Some of it starts in a week. But it’s a tremendous amount of money coming into the coffers of the United States, which nobody has ever seen that before. Nobody has ever come close to seeing that before, actually.

Jeb?

REPRESENTATIVE HENSARLING: Thank you, Mr. President. I’m very happy to represent the House today. I don’t know what to think about the ratio. Does it take one House member to equal four senators? I don’t know. I’ll let them draw their own implications. (Laughter.)

Mr. President, I just came from doing a series of town hall meetings in the 5th District of Texas. People are enjoying — most of them — the best economy in their lifetimes. And they send their gratitude.

Your leadership on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the deregulatory agenda of this administration, has made a real difference.

But you know, and this administration knows, we’re not going to keep 3 percent-plus economic growth if our intellectual property and technology is taken from us by hook and crook, and ill-gotten gains and improper leverage.

So, with your leadership, CFIUS has been updated for the first time in a decade. Needed gaps were filled. And also, Mr. President, I wanted to just thank you for helping unite our Congress and unite our nation. Because the bill that came out of the House was almost unanimous. I think we had two or three dissenting votes. And so Congress is united to ensure that this intellectual property theft does not continue; that we stand up to all the countries that are not playing by the rules, including — and especially — China.

So I want to thank my fellow Texan in the Senate for leading here, my counterpart, Senator Crapo. I want to thank a couple of the House members who aren’t here: Robert Pittenger of North Carolina who authored, originally, the House bill, and Barr, who helped shepherd it through our committee.

And I want to thank the Secretary who played a very vital role, Mr. President, in negotiating those few differences between the House and Senate, and ensuring that we could get this into the NDAA and get your signature. So I wanted to acknowledge yourself as well.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jeb, very much. This is really a great achievement, and I want to thank everybody in the room very much. Great job.

Thank you, everybody, very much. Thank you.

END

Cristhian Rivera is the illegal alien who killed 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa.  Today it is revealed that Rivera used fraudulent and stolen identification to apply for work, a VERY common way for illegal aliens to gain employment in the U.S.

The farm where he worked ran the social security number through the authentication process, after completing the I-9 form; however, they did not use E-Verify which is connected to the Department of Homeland Security.

IOWA – […] Cristhian Bahena Rivera,  the 24-year-old immigrant accused of abducting and killing Tibbetts, allegedly used a different name and provided false identification when he applied for employment at the farm just outside of Brooklyn, his employer said Wednesday.

Rivera worked at Yarrabee Farms in rural Poweshiek County for four years, Lang said. Yarrabee Farms is owned by multiple generations of the Lang family, including Craig Lang, former Farm Bureau President and prominent Iowa Republican.

[…] Dane Lang is Craig’s son. He said Rivera provided a state-issued government ID and social security number when applying for employment. The information is required to file a Form I-9, which verifies the identity and employment eligibility of a person in the U.S.

As a voluntary second verification step, the business put Rivera’s information through the Social Security Administration’s number verification service, but Dane Lang said he and others assumed it was E-Verify.gov.

E-verify.gov allows employers to check if the information on a Form I-9 matches Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records.

Employment verification officials consider E-Verify a more robust backgrounding system, because it includes immigration status and eligibility to work in the United States. A check of only a social security number verifies that the number, name and birth date an employee provided match information that exists in the federal Social Security database.

Dane Lang said Rivera provided a different name when he applied for employment, but he would not share it on Wednesday, citing the investigation. (read more)

At its core, this is the reason why Wall Street, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and GOPe republicans are against border security and mandatory e-verify.  BIG-AG and Big Business support the status quo so they can retain/exploit unlawful low-wage illegal aliens within their business enterprise.

There are untold numbers, likely hundreds-of-thousands, possibly millions, of illegal aliens within the agriculture and farm industry.

When discussing or reviewing trade deals, particularly NAFTA, it is important to remember two baselines: (1) The trade reset is President Trump’s personal legacy initiative; it’s personal – ignore media banter – it’s personal; like, the most important thing he ever thinks about. Always. 24/7. (2) President Trump has no multinational corporations or financial interests with leverage/influence over his decision-making.

There are trillions at stake.

We begin:

“We are already looking at all the issues. We might close this, not in a matter of hours, but these days. We still have next week,” Jesus Seade, designated chief negotiator of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, told reporters.

Here’s where it becomes important to note that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has twice asked Jesus Seade to remain AFTER hours when all other trade officials have concluded discussions. Closed-door conversations between Lighthizer and Seade; and no-one else. [Refer back to the two Trump baselines again]

Next, before reviewing the comments and presentations of the media regarding the U.S. Mexico NAFTA status; again reference the team approach, and the division of responsibility. Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is meeting with the twitchy Chinese delegation – again, their arrival is not a matter of scheduling happenstance; it is directly related to the ongoing 301 hearings that began two-days-ago, Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mexico and the United States are close to resolving remaining bilateral issues in the revamp of the NAFTA trade deal, officials said, but hopes of squaring away differences on Wednesday were booted to at least later this week.

“We are already looking at all the issues. We might close this, not in a matter of hours, but these days. We still have next week,” Jesus Seade, designated chief negotiator of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, told reporters.

“We shouldn’t rush, but we’re already close,” Seade added as he left the Washington offices of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer following the latest talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Since restarting last month, the talks have focused on settling differences between Mexico and the United States that go to the heart of U.S. President Donald Trump’s complaint that NAFTA has hollowed out U.S. manufacturing to Mexico’s benefit. (read more)

Always draw references from what you know to be empirically true.  President Trump will not accept the NAFTA fatal flaw.  NAFTA is not currently a trade bloc.  NAFTA is currently an internal agreement of terms-for-commerce between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.  Because it is not a trade bloc, NAFTA is bad. The U.S. is the host (market), and Mexico/Canada are the parasites exploiting free-movement and economic access to that host.

Without new NAFTA rules; making it an actual trade bloc, where Canada and Mexico can only engage with 3rd parties based on the NAFTA group rules; there is no value in NAFTA.

That’s why Trump has essentially sidelined any 3-way discussion, and is engaged in bilateral trade talks.  In addition to hiding the ‘fatal flaw’ U.S. financial and corporate media are willfully blind and intentionally obtuse on this key point.

All indications, look at it from a 30,000/ft level, are that Lighthizer has explained this to Seade.  President Trump wants to see the Mexican economy gain stability and strength; and he is willing to afford time and economic value toward AMLO to achieve economic strength and more broad-based economic stability; however, team Trump will NOT allow the current exploitation to continue. Period.

Therefore, Mexico has an incredible opportunity…. but only ONE opportunity…. THIS opportunity…. to take advantage of the offer.  If they politicize the deal; if they mislead, scheme, or attempt to covertly structure a trade relationship that undermines the basic offer…. POTUS Trump, regardless of opinion or political pressure, will deliver an economic backlash of the size and scale never seen.  Mexico has one opportunity.

After the terms are finalized, they will likely have a time-frame where POTUS will permit the slow withdrawal of the ‘fatal flaw’ issue, while simultaneously supporting Mexico’s own internal growth in manufacturing and economic independence.   This is also the goal of AMLO, and thus this builds the framework of the Win/Win.

Canada is an entirely different kettle-of-fish.  Expect no magnanimous Trump approach toward Canada.  By politicizing their economic interests, Justin and Chrystia have made themselves an economic adversary.  Battle-hardened Trump, who is impervious to political pressure on trade/economics, will not relent.  He simply doesn’t care.

In July 2017, after a speech by former President Obama to the Montreal Board of Trade, Obama instructed Trudeau on how to best weaponize his economic policy to join the anti-Trump resistance. [Conversation pictured above]

President Trump isn’t stupid; he is an apex predator when it comes to the issues of trade, commerce and economics.  Trump knew the scheme, he knew the meeting, he knew the likely direction that Trudeau and Chrystia would take after receiving these instructions. And, in typically predictable form, Justin from Canada followed the left-wing plan and began working against any NAFTA renegotiation.

Justin and Chrystia intentionally planned to undermine any change and scuttle the negotiations.  Hence the demands for gender issues and climate change within NAFTA.

The Canadians made a choice.

No-one forced them to make this choice.

There are no sympathies deserved.