Tag Archives: Weaponized IRS

Aug 3 2024

Posobiec: Ellen Greenberg A Skeleton In The Closet Of Harris Favorite VP Pick Josh Shapiro


Posted originally on Rumble By Bannons War Room on: Aug 02, 2024 at 07:00 pm EST

Aug 3 2024

New York Commercial Real Estate Plunges 97.5% at Great Depression Levels


Posted originally on Aug 2, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

23_Floor_Manhattan_Office_Building_Just_Sold_at_a_97.5 Discount

COMMENT #1: Mr. Armstrong, I had to write to say thank you so much for everything you do. When Trump was indicted, you said sell and get out of New York. Your advice has always been discussed with our board, and the decision was made to sell in light of your ECM also turning in 2024. We managed to sell our commercial real estate in New York City, and based on the auction that just took place, you saved our company and every employee in our company. With 135 West 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan that was originally sold for $332 million in 2006 and now sold at auction for $8.5 million, reality has struck with a vengeance. Your forecast for New York City will be forever remembered among our ranks. We owe you more than a dinner and a drink.

Thank you ever so much, SC

ECM Wave 2020 2028 Pi
Real Estate

COMMENT #2: Yesterday, the New York Times ran a sobering real-estate story headlined, “This 23-Floor Manhattan Office Building Just Sold at a 97.5% Discount.” Apparently, inflation hit everything else but missed big-city commercial real estate. The building in the story, which used to headquarter Sports Illustrated, last sold in 2006 —admittedly at peak market— for $332 million dollars. On Wednesday, it sold at auction for only $8 million, a stunning 98% discount.MSREPLY:  On Sepetember 2nd, 2023, we warned on the private blog that the “real estate market, 2023 should produce the highest annual closing.” With the ECM turning down into 2028 and war on the horizon, what New York has done to Trump is a warning to get the hell out of New York. This decision was as bad as putting sanctions on Russia, which became a warning to everyone else: if you do not do as the American Neocons command, they will remove you from the SWIFT system.This event in New York City will send tremors throughout the nation. Commercial Real Estate (CRE) peaked on our models in 2020 in REAL TERMS with COVID. Ever since the need for office space has taken a nosedive, as I have said, if I were Trump, I would have handed them an office building for the fine and then bought it back at 10% when they auctioned it off. With its political vendetta against Trump, New York has only made New York City the leader in the decline, and we have NOT seen the bottom yet. This will send panic among the smart people, and this will cause further contagion to spread to residential property, which has been propped up because of jobs in New York City, which we still show are in crash mode into 2028/2029.

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Banks’ CRE loan books’ primary concern is exposure to the office and retail sectors. Based on our sources, we would estimate that banks’ CRE lending financed 46% of office and retail loans which most likely comes in between $700-725 billion. Added to this concern is the concentration of CRE loans on the balance sheets of regional banks. It appears that CRE loans on the books of regional banks amount to about 65% of non-multifamily CRE loans. After this auction, many banks are going to be deeply concerned about the realistic valuation of CRE properties. The risk is that this will further undermine the belief in bank stability going forward.

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Smaller regional banks will most likely pull back from CRE, which will undermine values going forward. Large banks or insurance companies are unlikely candidates to start lending into the CRE sector. The more likely lenders into CRE will probably be private credit investors, but that will also come at higher rates. The total CRE market is valued at over $10 trillion, with the office sector being the largest sector at around 24-25%.

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Refinancing Challenges for CMBS

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There there is the Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) market that accounts for 20% of the office and retail loans. That comes in around $300 billion+, of which about $22 billion in office loans maturing here in 2024. Typically, up to 50% of that would not be a problem to roll. However, after this sale at auction, many will have second thoughts. Our sources place about 95% of those loans are only backed by Class B and Class C offices. This auction will weaken the funding potential for the lower-quality buildings, and this will accelerate the risk of strategic default into especially 2026.

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When we dig deeper, the 60-day-plus delinquency rate is only about 10%, but it is rising rapidly. This implies that we should expect more stress in the CMBS market between now and 2026. The vacancy rate in major cities nationwide is approaching 20%. In the case of New York City, this particular building had a vacancy rate of about two-thirds. The rents they collected from the remaining tenants were not even enough to cover the ground lease, no less the taxes and upkeep of the building. The losses were catastrophic, especially since they indicted Trump in New York City.

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On top of all of that, then you have the flight from the Democratic Blue States to the Red Republican States post-COVID. We addressed the Commerical Real Estate on June 8th, 2023. Where vacancy rates in San Francisco were approaching 30%, in Miami they were the lowest nationally at just 15.8%. We wrote back then:

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“During the first quarter of 2023, U.S. office vacancy topped 20% nationally for the first time really since the Great Depression. Then there are cities that have embraced WOKE to their detriment and are witnessing the worst. In San Francisco, the vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2023 climbed to 29.4%, up from 27.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Manhattan has a vacancy rate of n the first quarter of 2023 at 22.2% according to Cushman & Wakefield.  Dallas has been absorbing the flight from California so its vacancy rate is 18.7% according to Cushman & Wakefield.  The commercial vacancy rate in Miami, Florida office market has an overall vacancy which has been declining counter-trend to the rest of the nation falling now to 15.8% according to Cushman & Wakefield. In Chicago, Class-A vacancy rate stands at 19.3% while Class-B vacancy jumped to 28.3% according to Cushman & Wakefield.”

–For anyone thinking about leaving major centers like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, it does not matter how low rates might go; there will be no buyers, and you will be stuck where you are until after 2032. You may have already missed the last train.

Jul 29 2024

A Reminder About Information and Research


Posted originally on the CTH on July 28, 2024 | Sundance

After writing the recent article outlining the modern history of the FBI [SEE HERE] a lot of messages and emails flood in.  Here’s a quick reminder for those who use CTH as a reference resource and research library for information.

CTH was founded because everyone seemed more comfortable pretending about the journey than admitting our predictable destination.  From the outset, and with a long view of the challenges we would face, I have repeatedly stated that everything on this website would be free for the taking.

The truth has no agenda, it just sits there -out there somewhere- waiting to be discovered. Our feelings about it are irrelevant to its existence. The core of our assembly is to look deeply at uncomfortable things, then accept them as they are and not as we would wish/pretend them to be.  We are now in the middle of a fully Orwellian information control operation.  A DHS reconfiguration of the U.S. information communication network as we know it.

As a direct result, the voices who put accurate context to our national challenge are targets.  Information is now being categorized according to definitions by people who do not have good intents.  The blocking, censorship and categorization of information is intended to stop any/all information averse to the interests of a few powerful institutions.

Now, perhaps people see why the CTH ‘free information’ cornerstone was set. The truth has no agenda!

Everything you read and review upon these pages is free for the taking.

Anyone, for any reason, can take any content I produce and use it to advance the honest effort of providing raw unfiltered truth to their audience.  Everything is available for use free, without any attribution or citation if necessary. 

All that I provide is free and can be modified, changed, enhanced in part or whole to meet your needs. Images, writing, research, analysis, all of it is provided, along with no expectation of citation or attribution dependent on your motives and intents.

Make the words your own; use them in part or modify to make a more intelligent or comprehensive outline. All the accompanying graphics are available to use as would suit your interests.

Importantly, all the research is cited and verifiable.  This includes all the pdf files, government documents, FOIA outcomes and uploads to the SCRIBD account.   Take anything you want; thanks, sincerely, but no need to ask permission.  [Ex. FBI ARTICLE]

We are not going to save this republic by demanding or restricting information via self-important perspectives on citation or attribution. I simply do not care about such issues. Make it your own in whatever manner or format fits your interests.

We maintain the voluminous reference library as a documented resource for everyone.  Please accept this thankful reminder with the expressed intent.

If you are brave enough to stand in front of the furnace, you have my full and unwavering support and appreciation.  You are simply considered my brother or sister.  It’s ok, just take it. Anything provided here at CTH is yours to take, whole or in part and make it your own.

This is how we ensure our small contribution to a much larger awakening.

Effective solutions require brutally accurate understanding.

…”There is no such thing as “disinformation” or “misinformation”.  There is only information you accept and information you do not accept.  You were not born with a requirement to believe everything you are told; rather, you were born with a brain that allows you to process the information you receive and make independent decisions.”… 

I will always work earnestly to be deserving of your fellowship. As new visitors attest every day, the fellowship in this commenting community is unique, insightful, articulate, intelligent, funny and awesome.  I love you guys.

With humble appreciation and the warmest of regards, Sundance

Remember, we are inside every facility, every institution, every meeting, every moment of their existence – and we notice everything. We are there when they do not expect, and we melt away before they notice our appearance. We see what they hide, we hear what they whisper, we decipher their codes, and we understand the complexity they create in their effort to conceal. We go to the places we know they will travel.  We have allies and resources inside the core of their machinery. We understand what and why everything is being constructed, and we share all the information we discover.  The truth isn’t mean, it’s just The Truth.   

Jul 27 2024

Harker: Smith, Willis, And Bragg Deprived Trump’s Civil Rights Under The Color Of Law


Posted originally on Rumble By Bannons War Room on: July 26, 2024 at 07:45 pm EST

Jul 16 2024

Lawfare Apoplectic – Judge Cannon Dismisses Classified Document Case Against President Trump – Rules Special Counsel Appointment Violates “Appointments Clause”


Posted originally on the CTH on July 15, 2024 | Sundance 

Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the classified documents case against President Trump that was brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Using a similar argument recently included by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Judge Cannon has dismissed the case as an unconstitutional lawfare attack. The Lawfare community, writ large, is apoplectic.

In her ruling [SEE HERE] Judge Cannon ruled the appointment of Smith was not constitutional. “The Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme — the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” Cannon wrote.

“At most, the history reflects an ad hoc, inconsistent practice of naming prosecutors from both inside and outside of government (typically in response to national scandal) who possessed wildly variant degrees of power and autonomy. The lack of consistency makes it near impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions about Congress’s approval of modern special counsels like Special Counsel Smith,” she wrote.

[SOURCE DOCUMENT]

The malevolent forces of the deep state have suffered a tremendous defeat, and the demons are shrieking.

The Washington Post, representing the interests of the U.S. Intelligence Community who fully supported the Lawfare attack, writes:

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is highly likely to appeal the decision, and the issue may eventually reach the Supreme Court. By dismissing the entire indictment, Cannon’s decision also means that the charges are dropped for Trump’s two co-defendants, Waltine “Walt” Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

Even if Cannon’s ruling is eventually overruled, the decision to dismiss Trump’s indictment adds to a string of legal victories for him in recent weeks, including a sweeping Supreme Court ruling July 1 that gives former presidents broad immunity for their official acts while in office.

At the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland declined to comment on the ruling. A spokesman for Smith did not immediately comment.

On social media, Trump said Monday’s dismissal “should be just the first step” and that the rest of the criminal and civil cases against him also should be tossed out of court. He accused Democrats of conspiring against him to bring those cases, a claim that has been repeatedly denied by federal, state, and local officials. (read more)

Jul 13 2024

Remarkable Development – New Mexico Judge Dismisses Case Against Alec Baldwin Because Prosecutors Hid Critical Exculpatory Evidence


Posted originally on the CTH on July 12, 2024 | Sundance 

Remarkable Development – New Mexico Judge Dismisses Case Against Alec Baldwin Because Prosecutors Hid Critical Exculpatory Evidence

July 12, 2024 | Sundance | 156 Comments

This is quite remarkable.  Alec Baldwin broke down in tears during court today because the trial judge dismissed the case against him.

Apparently, the prosecution received a box of live ammunition from a witness.  The ammunition was from the same lot used on the set of Rust.  That evidence strongly suggested the live ammunition that made its way on to the set came from the prop supplier, rather than from the film’s armorer.

The question has always been, how did live ammunition get into the gun on the set?  The prosecution team hid the evidence and never told the defense team, a clear Brady violation. [Print Media Report Here]  WATCH:

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As much as I dislike Alec Baldwin, this judge did the right thing.  The evidence was at the center of the prosecution and withholding it was a gross violation of ethical responsibility of the prosecution.  The charges should have been dismissed, and they were.

Right is right, even if nobody does it.  Wrong is wrong, even if everybody does it.  Using corrupt lawfare tactics and hiding Brady material is wrong.  The prosecution should be sanctioned.

Jul 12 2024

The ETHICS Act – End Insider Trading in Congress


Posted originally on Jul 12, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

Lobbying.Votes_

Both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate can agree on one thing – Congress has been using classified information to illegally trade stocks. Our public servants have been bought out by lobbyists and they no longer work for the public. A bipartisan group is passing on a formal consideration to prevent members of Congress and members, their spouses and dependents, from buying and selling stocks under the ETHICS Act (Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks).

“Congress should not be here to make a buck,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said at a press conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “There is no reason why members of Congress ought to be profiting off of the information that only they get.” The Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee will hear the proposed legislation on July 24, but this topic and consistently been blocked. “Would you like to vote in favor of losing millions in illegal trades?” We should not be allowing the very people abusing their office to vote on this matter.

The Ethics Act would give legislators 90 days to sell their investments beginning in March 2027. The president and vice president would also need to divest covered investments. Those in violation would lose either their monthly salary or a mere 10% of the value of each covered asset.

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The severity of insider trading in Congress came to a head after March 2020 when the pandemic began. These insiders offloaded millions in stocks as they knew in advance what was to come. Over 72 lawmakers in the House and Senate received money from Big Pharma before the 2020 US Presidential Election. Over 50 invested heavily in the pharmaceutical sector before COVID became public, as reported by Open Secrets. Forty-eight lawmakers purchased Pfizer stock ahead of the vaccine rollout. Then these same lawmakers had the ability to vote on legislation that would directly benefit their investments.

Pfizer donated to 228 lawmakers on Capitol Hill ahead of the 2020 elections to the tune of $14 million. The company wrote out 1,048 individual checks to candidates and effectively manipulated the direction of the COVID pandemic as these lawmakers then voted on restrictions and mandates that benefitted Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies. Republicans and Democrats are both guilty of abusing their powers.

RevolvingDoorLOBBYISTS

Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) were some of the top recipients of donations from the pharmaceutical industry, both holding seats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Tillis and Coons penned a bill in 2019 to protect pharmaceutical patents. Stats News reported that few candidates funded by Big Pharma lost their re-election campaigns.

Pharmaceuticals are one of EVERY sector that American lawmakers have their hands in. Our public sector workers, whose salary is paid for by the taxpayers, made decisions that impacted the health of the nation simply to line their own pockets.

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Those like Nancy Pelosi have made MILLIONS on insider trading. In one example, Paul Pelosi managed to save $600,000 by selling his stock a month before the microchip ban on Russia and China, which cost Nvidia $400,000,000. Another time, Paul earned $5,300,000 after exercising a call option to buy 4,000 Alphabet shares. Not so coincidentally, this occurred when the House Judiciary Committee cracked down on antitrust practices. Nancy claims her husband is merely an extraordinary trader, and she has no involvement in his obvious success. She was against legislation to curb insider trading until her seat was threatened in the 2022 midterms. The ETHICS Act would prevent members from curtailing already proposed restrictions by banning them from trading through spouses or dependents.

Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, proclaimed to his colleagues “if you want to serve in Congress don’t come here to serve your portfolio, come here to serve the people.” Congress is currently only required to disclose their trades. Everyone sees the unethical practice happening, but nothing has been done. “The fact that members of Congress do better than a generalized portfolio suggests that there’s privileged information that folks hear about — may not be inside information, maybe it’s early information, maybe it’s an insight that comes from working on a sector through your committee work or so on an so forth, But that is an issue,” Merkley said.

Merkley and others are concerned that Congress will protest the ban on members of their household, with the Senator saying “members of Congress get very twitchy and when you say your family will be covered too, they have concerns.” We must restore democracy by preventing our public servants from using us as pawns for profit. The abuse became so blatant after COVID that this is perhaps a measure that needs to be passed by executive order. Take note of those who oppose the ETHICS Act as they are clearly sold out politicians who should not serve as public servants.

Jul 12 2024

Democrats are Putin


Posted originally on the CTH on July 11, 2024 | Sundance 

If we accept the actions and outcomes that are visible from Democrats right now, their definition of “democracy” is apparently to dismiss the will of tens-of-millions of Democrat party voters, and instead install a candidate the DC insiders select.

Democrats and even Biden administration officials are being very open about their intent. They are dismissing Joe Biden and debating the installation of their chosen alternative; all while trying to jail their political opponent.

Can democrats see their version of “democracy” is identical to horrible Vladimir Putin?

I can only imagine the conversation atop various government offices around the world as they watch this all unfold.

Additionally, having just returned from an extended visit to Russia, where I literally spent exhaustive time researching how the government views their role within the social compact – and its consequence upon the average population, the “we know better” outlook currently on display by Democrat influence operations in DC is stunningly similar.

Democrats are defending “The Motherland,” where “mother” is their retention of omnipotent power. Yes, Democrats are Putin.

(VIA CNN) – […] there have been clear signs throughout his term of Biden being increasingly stage-managed, with lists of talking points, names of questioners and drawings of where he should walk presented to him by aides. Ahead of closed-door Cabinet meetings that Biden attends, it is customary for Cabinet officials to submit questions and key talking points that they plan to present in front of Biden ahead of time to White House aides, two sources with direct knowledge told CNN.

“The entire display is kind of an act,” one of those sources told CNN. “They would come and say, ‘Hey, the president is going to call on you about 25 minutes in, and ask this question. What are the bullet points you’ll respond with?’”

[…] In fact, the last full Cabinet meeting took place on October 2, 2023. Sources also said Cabinet meetings during the Obama years, which Biden attended as vice president, were not pre-scripted this way.

[…] “There’s this general sense of just, unbelievable holding your breath every time he does an event, every time he’s with people,” one top Democrat in close touch with Biden’s inner circle of advisers told CNN. This person added that some of those advisers have privately acknowledged: “This is going to get worse.”

That Democrat was blunt about how the president’s closest advisers have responded to any criticism or concerns expressed about the president – including his age and fitness: “Everyone who expresses any level of suspicion or contrary views? They call everyone and they beat the s*** out of them and say: ‘Stay on message.’”

At least one official involved in Biden’s debate prep at Camp David raised doubts about his ability after seeing how rehearsals were going, according to one source briefed on those preparations.

“It’s not like Biden’s inner circle didn’t know this,” one Democratic strategist close to the White House said of the extent of the president’s recent decline.

Campaign officials have rejected Clooney’s and other donors’ characterization of Biden at the Los Angeles fundraiser, with one senior Biden official who was in attendance telling CNN that while the president had in fact been tired that day, he was “animated and extremely present.” (read more)

“I find it both laughable and preposterous that the same people who, for the past four years, forced you to carry a vaccine passport to dine in a restaurant, hold a job or get on a flight are the same people now opposing common-sense legislation requiring individuals to show proof of American citizenship to vote in elections.” – Rep Paul Gosar

Jul 10 2024

Federal Marshal Shoots Carjacker at Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor Residence


Posted originally on the CTH on July 9, 2024 | Sundance 

This is so typically DC; the irony is a little grimacing on many levels.  Apparently a not very smart carjacker pulled a gun and tried to steal a car belonging to a federal marshal while he was on the protective detail of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s condo in DC.

In response, the marshal fired “several shots” at the carjacker along with shots from another officer on the detail.  The young ‘dindunuffin’ was not seriously injured but suffered a major hemorrhaging in street credibility amid the local DC thug population.  Meanwhile, Justice Sotomayor is fine and continues to Build the Better World that surrounds her.

(WASHINGTON DC) – A deputy U.S. Marshal tasked with protecting Supreme Court justices’ homes shot an alleged armed carjacker near the Washington residence of Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor last week, authorities said Tuesday.

The suspect, 18-year-old Kentrell Flowers of Southeast D.C., allegedly pulled a handgun on the marshal, who was in a parked car in the Northwest section of the city around 1:15 a.m. ET on Friday, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a press release.

The marshal drew his own gun and “fired several shots at the suspect,” the MPD said. Another marshal in a separate vehicle also fired at Flowers, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. (read more)

Lord, please help me not to laugh about this because none of it is funny, yet for some reason I cannot stop snickering.

I always got in trouble when I was a kid for laughing at the wrong stuff.

Jul 9 2024

Made in Mexico


Posted originally on Jul 9, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

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US manufacturing is in trouble as companies move offshore to avoid taxation, high wages, and asinine green legislation. John Deere, an American branded company, announced it will move manufacturing from Illinois to Ramos, Mexico. This is part of a growing trend of companies simply finding it difficult to turn a profit in the US.

John Deere is moving numerous plants to Mexico, effectively eliminating over 4,000 manufacturing jobs. As I have noted in other posts, the Biden Administration sought to expand manufacturing roles by 1 million in 2024 but has seen a contraction. As for John Deere, the issue of a shrinking agricultural sector is partnering with heightened manufacturing costs. The Department of Agriculture noted a 7% decline in farms across the nation since 2017, with only 1.89 million remaining. The USDA predicts net income from agriculture will fall by 27% in 2024, or $43 billion. Animal products and crops are also believed to be in decline, with the USDA foreseeing a $21 billion loss in revenue for 2024.

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The USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) has made it easier for corporations to leave the US and Canada in favor of Mexico. The automotive industry has already fled to Mexico with BMW, Honda, Ford, General Motors, Audi, Nissan, Tesla, Mazda, and Toyota all breaking ground on new manufacturing plants. States like Illinois and Michigan are especially feeling the effects of this shift. Texas and bordering states have felt the effects of “near-shoring” business alliances since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the predecessor of the USMCA.

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The average hourly salary for unskilled labor is $4.55 per hour in Mexico compared to $17.42 in the US. The cost of living is simply drastically less in Mexico than in the US or Canada. Mexico has a robust, educated workforce, with more students graduating with engineering degrees than in America. There is also a strong apprenticeship aspect to trade labor in Mexico, with multiple generations of men honing their skills from a young age.

Mexico has adopted policies in recent years to attract business, holding 14 free trade agreements with over 46 nations. IMMEX (Industria Manufacturera, Maquiladora y de Servicios de Exportación) has boosted manufacturing as it permits companies to avoid taxes when importing materials used to manufacture goods. The Sectoral Promotion Programs (PROSEC) reduces Most Favored Nations (MFN) tariffs to 5% if not zero and expands across 20 sectors.

Aerospace, automotives, electronics, and more have left the US in favor of Mexico. Manufacturing contributes to 16% of Mexico’s GDP and the sector has expanded a 3.2% annual growth over the past 10 years.

Mexico dethroned China to become the top exporter of goods to the US in 2023, exporting $475.6 billion to the US in 2023, a 5% YoY uptick. This is the first time in two decades that Mexico’s exports to the US surpassed China’s, as Chinese exports fell 20% for the year. Biden calls nearshoring a method of “friend-shoring,” as it is safer to depend on a country geopolitically aligned.

Yes, businesses based in America will still pay Uncle Sam, but the allure of cheaper production and labor is causing numerous sectors to decline rapidly. Then we have state laws in the US in addition to federal that undercut revenue, but the politicians in charge at the state level are not concerned about the GDP or world trade. Those decision-makers only need to focus on their next election to remain in power, whether it is a detriment to America as a whole or not. Analysts will claim that sending jobs and manufacturing to Mexico is a partnership, but capitalism is indeed a game, and in this situation, Mexico has the upper hand over the rest of North America.