It one hasn’t learned one thing?
The Traff/Import Tax throw down is just a effort to get leverage ….
Wall Street and global leaders have spent two days fretting whether President Donald Trump is open to compromise on his new tariffs or whether they are as final as the White House has been making them out to be.
Trump ended some of the mystery on Friday: He’s ready to talk, though maybe not quite ready to cut deals….
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The acknowledgements that the president is even entertaining offers from other countries confirms the growing consensus both at home and abroad that the tariffs Trump announced in Oprah-like fashion during a Rose Garden ceremony on Wednesday are open to negotiation. White House officials have, however, been cautious in their wording, noting that hearing offers from other countries is not the same as actively negotiating with them.
The parsing of words — even behind the scenes — illustrates the messaging needle the White House has been trying to thread as even close allies sound unsure of Trump’s intentions and are wary of appearing to contradict signals that remain muddy…
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The White House official tried to square the protectionist messages on Wednesday and Thursday with the president’s openness to hearing offers from other countries, saying “two things can be true at the same time.”
“There’s a national emergency,” — necessitating a change in trade policy — “and countries have already reached out to talk,” the person added.
There’s also a legal reason for insisting negotiations are off the table. The White House has relied on declaring a “national emergency” — arguing that unfair trade practices are a threat to national security — as a legal basis for levying tariffs without congressional approval. Voicing that they are up for negotiation might suggest the trade deficit does not truly constitute an emergency, thus putting the tariffs on shakier legal ground.
A second White House official said that the president is “always willing to accept phone calls from other world leaders to hear them out and to hear these proposals” but argued “that’s not a negotiation per say.” The official confirmed that the White House’s version of “negotiations” could be on the table in the near future, but said they aren’t prepared for that yet.
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The three countries are scheduled to review the USMCA next year, though that’s now expected to turn into a larger trade negotiation that starts in the coming weeks. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in an interview Thursday on Fox Business Network, said the administration has a number of ideas for those talks….
Note….
Trump also has a restless US Senate working on taking his Tariff power away…..
Please READ Lutneck’s comment…..
‘The Tariffs Are Coming’
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the Trump administration will remain steadfast in its reciprocal tariffs on major U.S. trading partners even in the face of a global stock market sell-off, CNBC reports.
Said Lutnick: “The tariffs are coming. He announced it, and he wasn’t kidding. The tariffs are coming. Of course they are.”
He added: “There is no postponing. They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks. The president needs to reset global trade. Everybody has a trade surplus and we have a trade deficit.”
Note….
‘Days or Weeks’….
Rumour there COULD be a 90 Day Tariff ‘Pause’ reported on CNBC….
Unkown if this REAL….
Ok….
The 90 Day Freeze thing is NOT REAL…..
Dow dives back down to -1,000
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think inflation’s gonna be a big deal.”
— Donald Trump, talking to reporters.
Epically Stupid
John Ellis: “You can’t grow coffee in any of the United States of America except Hawaii. And you can’t begin to grow enough coffee in Hawaii to meet even a small part of America’s daily demand. So you have import it from all around the world (Africa, South America, Central America, Asia).”
“Right now, a cup of coffee or a can of coffee at the supermarket or a 5-pound bag… costs X. This week it will cost X plus 10%. At least. If the coffee comes from certain countries, it will cost X plus a lot more.”
“Politically speaking, what the White House has managed to create here is a daily reminder to every single coffee drinker in the United States of America that their cost of living has increased. Every day they will get this little memo…
“In the annals of political stupidity go, there are ‘own goals’ and there are ‘own goals’. This one is epic.”