dagblog - Comments for "We're screwed. And so is our President. "

Ag Sec makes clear he parts

artappraiser — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 21:56:09 +0000

In reply to We're screwed. And so is our President.

Ag Sec makes clear he parts ways with the president on trade https://t.co/L5rjfUVdNh
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 10, 2018

The Little-Known Trade

artappraiser — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 07:15:42 +0000

In reply to We're screwed. And so is our President.

The Little-Known Trade Adviser Who Wields Enormous Power in Washington

By Ana Swanson @ NYTimes.com, March 9

WASHINGTON — Robert Lighthizer just became one of the most powerful people in Washington.

Mr. Lighthizer, the United States trade representative, will spend the next 14 days deciding which countries, if any, will be exempt from the stiff and sweeping steel and aluminum tariffs that President Trump authorized on Thursday.

The issue is expected to dominate discussions in Brussels on Saturday between Mr. Lighthizer and his trade counterparts in Japan and the European Union, with the European trade commissioner saying on Thursday that Europe should be excluded. Dozens of other countries that import metals into the United States — such as Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea — are demanding a carveout or threatening retaliation if they are included.

It is a fight Mr. Lighthizer has been preparing for his entire life [.....]

EU threatens to sue Britain

artappraiser — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 06:30:54 +0000

In reply to We're screwed. And so is our President.

EU threatens to sue Britain if it negotiates UK exemption from Trump tariffs

By James Crisp, Brussels correspondent @ Telegraph.co.uk, March 9

Britain faces huge fines in an EU legal battle that would poison the Brexit negotiations, if Liam Fox secures a UK-only exemption from Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

The British Trade Secretary, who on Thursday accused the EU of acting like a gang in Brexit talks, said he would use a trip to Washington next week to secure a British carve-out from the US President’s levy of 25pc tariffs on steel and 10pc on aluminium [....]

From you link:

NCD — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:24:38 +0000

In reply to Found helpful:

From your link:

there is as yet zero indication other than fear that he has nearly as much sway as he believes.

What Trump believes, or what he wants everybody in the rapt audience to believe?

What we and The Base believe is what matters to him.This is a TV personality who knows how to get attention and knows how short TV watching Americans memories are.

It appears the exemption loophole would allow rampant patronage of corporations and CEOs that play the MAGA game of "national security."

Months down the road, will we see that 90% of steel and aluminum are coming in exempt from tariffs?

Found helpful:

artappraiser — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:03:24 +0000

In reply to We're screwed. And so is our President.

Found helpful:

Gary Cohn Doesn’t Matter

The president matters to the economy much less than you think.

By ZACHARY KARABELL @ Politico Magazine, March 07, 2018

Frankly surprising to read

NCD — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 16:15:07 +0000

In reply to Not betting anything is going

Frankly surprising to read everyone, including Krugman, Flake and even the Koch Bros, taking another Trump con so seriously, how many cons have there been from Trump?

Trump loves the predictions of disaster: "Tough talking Trump fulfills radical election promise to defend the little guy and America greatness from evil foreigners."

Once the signing ceremony is over Trump has a PR win, and moves on to another Reality Show gambit of distraction.

There are likely no US producers ready to supply the categories and huge amounts of steel/aluminum big US companies import in the millions of metric tons, so exemptions are certain.

Big companies will get exemptions. Little guys, as usual with the GOP, may have some problems.

Not betting anything is going

artappraiser — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 14:43:17 +0000

In reply to We're screwed. And so is our President.

Not betting anything is going to come of this, but the reactions in Congress should be noted including that Jeff Flake is talking putting together a bill to stop him, seems lots of GOP are very upset, but probably doing a wait and see as to what he actually does and how it will hurt them vote-wise, others seem to be hoping that oversight can soothe a lot of the trouble caused (I say fat chance on the latter considering:lobbyists!)

And also, maybe more importantly for the gang here, that Schumer made very mild criticism within a pro-protectionist bent!

Sen. Jeff Flake says Congress will try to nix Trump's proposed tariffs

Nicole Gaudiano and Deirdre Shesgreen, USA TODAY, March 8, 2018

Here is Jeff Flake's official statement. It may be that a bill like that in waiting may be enough for the admin. to temper things? It's not clear yet, I haven't seen anything doing google news for the last half day after the above was published.

The USA Today article is good because, unlike many others,it reports on some of the Dem leadership reaction:

Will Democrats help?

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, said he wanted to see what Trump produces, but he believes Trump is "painting with too broad a brush."

"I think doing it in a generalized way runs the risk of an all-out trade war, which hurts many of our allies who are not guilty of trade abuses," Durbin said.

The Senate's top Democrat, Charles Schumer of New York, said Trump's instincts on trade were right. But the president was in danger of hurting U.S. allies with his broad approach.

Schumer and others said Trump should focus on the punitive trade levies on China and other global competitors who have flooded the U.S. market with cheap steel and aluminum, undercutting American manufacturers of those products.

"China has been rapacious about trade," Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. "If we don't stop China, America will be a weaker place with fewer good-paying jobs, with less wealth, less strength."

But "the haphazard way these tariffs were put together has caused the policy to miss the mark," Schumer said.

I would guess that the big

NCD — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 03:01:54 +0000

In reply to The tariff drama may be just

I would guess that the big corporations with staffs of lawyers and big credit lines will go to the front of the exemption line.

Small manufacturers, with tight cash flow and low margins may get burned however.

If Trump puts his typical incompetent political appointee in charge of issuing exemtions, that could be trouble for business.

The tariff drama may be just

NCD — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 02:46:54 +0000

In reply to We're screwed. And so is our President.

The tariff drama may be just another campaign like photo op, a con job. An Adoration Rally applause line. Like his opioid emergency announcement, or the rescuing jobs at Carrier, or his televised gun control meeting.

Corporate America Makes Its Case That Trump Tariffs Don't Apply

Under the new rules, an importer can ask the Commerce Department for a waiver if there’s a limited supply of the product in the U.S. or if national security is at stake. How that’ll be interpreted is anyone’s guess, but aluminum can makers, pipeline builders and car companies are now building their cases for why the tariffs shouldn’t apply to them.