Posted on 03/06/2018 6:07:34 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Gary Cohn, the White House’s top economic adviser, announced Tuesday that he was leaving the administration amid a major internal clash over President Trump’s sharp and sudden pivot toward protectionist trade policies.
The departure of Cohn, a former president of Goldman Sachs who had been an interlocutor between the Trump administration and the business community, is the latest jolt to a White House that has been especially tumultuous in recent weeks and unable to retain some of its top talent.
His resignation as National Economic Council director leaves the White House without a financial heavyweight whom business executives and foreign leaders believed had served as a counter to Trump’s protectionist impulses and as a moderating force in other areas.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The Post’s usual leavening of rumor and half truths is made infinitely worse by their show-off terminology. The last time someone used ‘interlocutor’ in print was in reference to a minstrel show.
Minstrel? THE POST IS RACIST!
I could have guessed that Pres. Trump would pursue some kind of Tariff, so why couldn’t Mr. Cohn? Why is this a “sudden pivot” of policy? BS
It shows that Trump is his own man and makes the decisions.
It would be funny if a week after Cohn leaves, Pres. Trump reverses course and says “I’ve changed my mind about tariffs. This is not the right time for that measure.” His original goal having been to convince Cohn to quit on his own, and leave the Trump Team once and for all.
Fake News. Stopped reading right there.
Donald J Trump
Trump ran on this. Cohn is not part of Trump world. But they will try to make this into a stock market thing. They are trying to talk the market into crash on this news. I think the world can live with out a Goldman guy in the White House. Others can run the economy. Trump ran on fair trade. Goldman likes to give in to other countries because they make money over there too. Nobody cares if the trade is just free on our side but closed on their side. Well, except for the people in Manitowoc WI and a thousand other US towns with closed factories.
Correct... FAIR TRADE, not free trade. Putting America First. GO TRUMP !
During a news conference Trump defended the tariffs perfectly. We are at a $800 billion dollar deficit because of BAD TRADE DEALS by previous administrations and congresses. “Wouldn’t a trade war hurt us?” ... Trump: What could hurt us worse than an 800 Billion dollar deficit? He also said that if a country didn’t want a tariff coming at them to sit down and tell him why and he would “negotiate” with them. He said we’ve been on the wrong end of bad trade policy for years, it is ending. Personally, I think this is just part of his negotiations ... a good opening threat and people start coming to the table to talk real numbers.
“His resignation as National Economic Council director leaves the White House without a financial heavyweight “
Right, because Trump is such a lightweight in business.
WaPo writers are a bunch of maroons.
Look for the Stock Market to Go Up, Up, Up tomorrow!
Peter Navarro is a financial heavyweight. (The Post just doesn’t like his perspective.)
“...Cohn, former president of Goldman Sachs...”Aaaaand that's where I stopped caring.
DOW Futures looking @ almost 400 pt drop for openers.
President Trump:
I have supported you from the beginning. Before you even announced your candidacy. I have been hanging in, wanting very much to see something, anything, to substantiate my very early support of Trump.
One entire year went by. Don’t get me wrong, you weren’t any worse than anyone in either party. But I was waiting, for you to be different than EVERY SINGLE PRESIDENT FOR THE LAST THIRTY YEARS.
When I saw this headline, I just wanted to say to the world.
It appears I was 100% right on you.
Thank you, and please keep up the good work.
Sincerely, your loyal fan.
(among very, very, very, very, very many)
Totally refraining from tariffs, no matter what, is the economic equivalent of unilateral disarmament.
Sure, when you use force, there is a cost, but if you are absolutely unwilling to do so, others will just run roughshod over you.
Tariffs are not an economic growth policy, they are a coercive tool - a weapon.
Before Trump, they would have cheered a Goldman Sachs operative leaving the White House.
Steel is a high stakes, high profile strategic industry all over the world
Our Steel industry has been hard hit by foreign competition but it is becoming more competitive and Trump wants to rebuild our steel infrastructure.
We also have a huge trade problem with China that needs to be addressed.
Steel is a major area where China is engaged in the classic process of Dumping highly government subsidized products on the US market at below market prices. China is also fraudulently using Canada and Mexico to launder their steel and aluminum products for sale under NAFTA for massive trade breaks.
The kicker is that China is using the prices of Dumping in the classic Dumping strategy to increase it's market share by selling metals well below market price.
Of course, once China has wiped out American steel makers ( just like they have wiped out so many American industries) they will rise prices in the same predatory fashion that they have in other markets where they have wiped out American domestic competition
The kicker here is that China currently only has a tiny 2% share of the US market - a problem they are trying to remedy via the classic predatory Dumping gambit.
Therein lies the genius of Donald Trump as both a negotiator and strategic thinker.
Trump slapped a huge 233% punitive tariff on Chinese steel and he did it at a point in time where China's overall market share was tiny - less than 2%.
With this Trump accomplishes a huge number of goals
First - he is protecting a vital American Industry from Chinese Dumping before the Chinese have a chance to wipe it out with predatory trade polices like China has to so many American industries.
Second - President Trump addresses the issue while China has such an insignificant market share of the American market that the tariff will have virtually no impact on either the American or Chinese markets.
Unlike other American Presidents, Trump is taking action against China's predatory Dumping both before it has a change to devastate our steel industry and Trump also takes action before China has stolen so much market share that tariffs against China have a huge negative economic impact on our economy.
Third - Trump sets himself up for future hard ball Trade negotiations with China on a host of other items where China does have a huge and dominant American market share and where being forced to use tariffs enthuse market segments will cause very real market pain for America.
China desperately wants and needs access to the American market for steel, aluminum and other emerging Chinese industries which gives Trump negotiating leverage in market segments already wiped out where we have less leverage. This also ensures that any trade deal going forward in these emerging areas ensures free and fair trade as opposed to China's past history of predatory government subsidized dumping
The truth is that America has been sold out by 30 years of trade deals where American negotiators have focused on foreign countries economic development subsidized and at the expense of the American economy.
Fourth - Except for America, the rest of the worlds steel industries, as highly critical and strategic economic infrastructure, are highly subsidized by the their respective national governments - especially in the more socialistic countries like Europe and Scandinavia.
All depend highly on the American export markets to keep their steel industries variable and at the cutting edge and all are engaged in at least taking advantage of their highly subsidized to obtain a huge competitive advantage against American steel makers.
All these foreign steel exporters do not want to face similar tariffs so they will be much less aggressive in exploiting their subsidized price advantage unfairly in the US market.
Fifth and most important of all - the entire world is entering into a major phase of re investment in next generation technology that will define the economic future of the world in the 21st century. It is critical to the economic future of our country that our US steel makers invest in this next generation technology here in America.
American steel makers cannot and will not be able make these critical investments in high tech, next generation production plants off they are faced with being wiped out by China's predatory trade being used to make sure THEY are the ones who dominate the worlds steel economy and that China is the one who gets to make the massive investments investments in new, high tech plants to secure their economic futures.
Regardless of what you hear from the Free Trade purists and zealots, this is the high stakes game Trump is playing and our economic future is on the line.
So far, Trump is doing everything he can and making all the right moves to secure our economic future help keep America at the forefront of the worlds rapidly changing economy
Unfortunately his decision of tariffs is wrong and will damage the economy.
And raising the price of good and services is going to help Americans....how?
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