'Trade wars are good, and easy to win,' Trump tweets

[Labster]

In other news, I'm going full ursa major and pulled all of my money out of stocks yesterday.  Between trade wars, Robert Mueller, and Moviepass, I can't see the economy working out well in the next year, and I don't have the skill to pick winners in a down economy.

So hey, looks like my investment in cash has been paying off; I now have 10% more buying power than I did 6 months ago.  I guess I could have waited until mid-September to sell, but I maybe had a bit too much foresight.  I'm still a bear though, so it's not going back in for a while.

And I mean, hey, Trump is threatening to fire the Federal Reserve Chairman, something that he probably doesn't have the legal authority to do.  Markets sure do love uncertainty, right?  We'll see what happens on Monday, when markets reopen to a government shutdown.

[Rajvik]

If my recollection is correct, he does have ability to fire and appoint a new head of the fed, however, like any other appointee it has to get through the senate first. I could be wrong in this but I don't think I am.

[robkelk]

If my recollection is correct, he does have  ability to fire and appoint a new head of the fed, however, like any other appointee it has to get through the senate first. I could be wrong in this but I don't think I am.

Wikipedia agrees with you, Rajvik. One caveat: the apointee has to come from the Board of Governors.

(I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case; every other important senior position goes through the same process, and most require the appointee to be recognized as being successful in the applicable profession.)

[robkelk]

The Trans-Pacific Partnership goes into effect today.

Canadian farmers are going to bring in money hand-over-fist - as long as we can market ourselves. US farmers, thanks to Trump pulling out of the deal, get to twist in the wind. Sorry, folks!

Japanese and South Korean cars are now less expensive in Canada. (Good news for somebody who buys Hyundai, Mazda or Mitsubishi.) Don't know whether anime and J-pop will be coming down in price, though...

[Black Aeronaut]

Dunno. There's still a lot of producers/distributors in Japan who think very little of the North American market, which is idiotic of them.

[Labster]

Can I just say that I like the version of the TPP that Canada got without the stupid crap that my own government was asking for? I'm still against the original TPP, but CPTPP looks pretty great and the U.S. should join.

[robkelk]

Heck, yeah - we've been trying to get free trade with Japan for decades, and now we have it.

[robkelk]

Canada collects $839M in steel and aluminum tariffs

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told an interviewer in Davos this week that once the U.S. drops its steel and aluminum tariffs, Canada will too, "30 seconds later."

Until that day comes, the extra taxation is pretty lucrative for the federal government. Finance Canada says $839 million was collected in the six months leading up to Dec. 31 from retaliatory tariffs on imported American steel, aluminum and other products.

Canada didn't start this tariff spat, and from the prime minister on down every Canadian official says he or she wishes it would end. The tariffs on both sides of the border have disrupted supply chains and added extra costs for consumers and businesses across a wide range of industries.

All the same, the new revenue is on track to hit the $1-billion mark by the time Finance Minister Bill Morneau tables his final pre-election budget this spring.

Reading farther into the article reveals that at least some of that tariff money is going to support Canadian steel and aluminum companies that have been hit with tariffs by the USA - which means that the matching companies in the USA - you know, the ones that this whole spat was supposed to benefit - are funding the payment of the USA tariffs. I hope they realize they're paying a tax that they weren't before Trump decided to start this trade war.

[robkelk]

(blows dust off thread) (what, you thought this was over just because a draft treaty was reached?)

'Anything but tariffs': How Republican senators found rare occasion to defy Trump

The Republican Party has, for the most part, backed U.S. President Donald Trump through controversial policy announcements and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. But the prospect of supporting his proposed tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico seems a bridge too far.

Veteran Kentucky Republican strategist Scott Jennings chalks it up not just to the party's penchant for viewing itself as the party of free trade, but also for the simple fact that many conservative lawmakers will invariably perceive tariffs as yet more taxes.

According to the New York Times, Sen. Ted Cruz called the proposed tariffs a $30-billion tax increase on Texans.

"There's no reason for Texas farmers and ranchers and manufacturers and small businesses to pay the price of massive new taxes," Cruz told reporters Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Trump's tariffs would be met with opposition from Republicans.

[Black Aeronaut]

Ah yes. Hitting them where they feel it the most: their pocket books.

[Matrix Dragon]

Ah yes.  Hitting them where they feel it the most: their pocket books.

That is the only thing that'd make the likes of Cruz and McConnell show some psuedo-integrity.

[robkelk]

I suspect this is probably the best thread for this one.

How Justin Trudeau learned to deal with Donald Trump

The moment Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Canada's steel imports was the moment Justin Trudeau realized he couldn't take U.S. president at his word.

[robkelk]

Dude, could you at least pretend to want to be at the most important international meeting of the entire year?

Trump and Trudeau:


Macron and Trump:


(Source)

[SilverFang01]

Last I heard he was complaining that the group just wanted to discuss niche issues like climate change.

[Norgarth]

Last I heard he was complaining that the group just wanted to discuss niche issues like climate change.

As opposed to the Glory of Trump?

[classicdrogn]

Accounting for having a square face instead of diamond/lozenge shaped and being orange instead of green, he really looks a lot like the Grinch in those shots. I'm not going to speculate further in that direction but man, those visual s

[robkelk]

Last I heard he was complaining that the group just wanted to discuss niche issues like climate change.

As opposed to the Glory of Trump?

As opposed to the economy. He's still trying to figure out why it started to tank when he started his trade wars.

[robkelk]

This has happened so many times that it shouldn't even be news any more, but it keeps coming back...

NAFTA panel finds - yet again - that Canada's softwood lumber industry hasn't harmed U.S. producers

[robkelk]

(blows dust off thread)

Donald Trump opposes trade rules that Donald Trump ordered to be put in place.

[Jinx999]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-t...SKCN1UD18L

An example of how tariffs are (not) helping American industry.

[Black Aeronaut]

I find it darkly amusing how some of these people think that, even though it's costing them dearly, that these trade tariffs will work out in their favor in the long run. History states otherwise.

[Matrix Dragon]

It's well established we're dealing with spiteful fucks that can't count to ten without both hands and a calculator.

[robkelk]

This has happened so many times that it shouldn't even be news any more, but it keeps coming back...

NAFTA panel finds - yet again - that Canada's softwood lumber industry hasn't harmed U.S. producers

Folks here know how rarely I swear here.

Here we fucking go again...

U.S. hikes duty on Canadian softwood lumber to 17.9% — twice the old rate

For God's sake, people, CANADA IS NOT YOUR ENEMY. Why the fuck do you continue to beat this dead horse???

[Labster]

Are you sure Canada isn’t the enemy? They keep building all these oil pipelines and cut down their forests. It’s like they’re trying to make global warming worse, as part of a secret plot to become a world power by making the mid-latitudes uninhabitable.

If Canada really wasn’t the enemy, would they be trying to destroy America‘a economy by flooding the market with cheap wood when we’re in the middle of a housing crisis? Think about it.

[robkelk]

Hey, somebody has to clear land in order to make room to plant those "plant a tree for carbon offsets" trees.

As for the pipeline going from Canada to the USA... yeah, our bad. The pipeline going from the USA to Canada, though...