George Rebane
In my 10jul18 ‘Trump’s Trade War’ I opened with the puzzlement that most of his supporters have had lately about the tariffs that he has initiated – “Unless President Trump has something up his sleeve on the outcome of the current tariff tussle and ensuing trade war, I think our fearless leader is making a big mistake in imposing tariffs – and doubly so for “national security” purposes.” Well, things have taken a turn for the better, and it looks like there really was method to the President’s apparent madness.
Today’s meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House resulted in a surprising and fortuitous announcement in the Rose Garden. It appears that the president has opened the door to an expanded free trade with the EU, and taken some serious steps toward his hopeful ‘zero tariffs’ goal among trading nations. People not suffering from TDS immediately realize that no matter if we ever achieve the zero level – I’m betting we won’t – it doesn’t matter. We will wind up in a much better place than we were before Trump started throwing around his tariffs. (BTW, here is a piece that gives a little history on zero tariffs recommended way back in 1988.)
The extra benefits from these announcements of new trade agreements will now impact our NAFTA partners, renegotiating with the TPP members, and, of course, a new and better trade agreement with China in which they don’t steal us blind in the intellectual property department. You can bet the ranch that everyone is watching how today’s agreements will set the stage for follow-on success.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross explained the genesis of today’s unfair and asymmetrical tariff situation that has led us to this important juncture. He pointed out that these asymmetries were put in place right after WW2 when America was working as the world’s good guy in rebuilding destroyed and then emerging economies to create the post-war prosperity that we have all witnessed (well, most of us at least. Team Obama/Schumer/Pelosi/Sanders/Warren/Waters/Castro/… and our local leftwing lackies will admit to none of it). We were willing to help other countries by allowing them to charge much higher tariffs on our products than we charged for importing their products, which benefited their agriculture and industries.
But those days are over, and those rules are no longer needed because the Europeans and Asians and Latin Americans are no longer destitute. The only ones that still screw over their populations are the socialists and communists who have spread wholesale misery within their borders of the kind that the sought-after policies of Team Schumer/Pelosi/Sanders/Warren/Waters/Castro/… will provide Americans if ever we become stupid enough to let this crowd get their hands on our economy and common weal.
And now we understand why President Trump had to use that ridiculous ‘national defense’ ploy to announce his tariffs – that was the only legal lever that he had to get things moving quickly without getting into a congressional quagmire of hearings, etc before the midterm election. He played poker with a poker face, and our allies correctly painted him serious and came to the table. They too realized that continuing this ridiculous trade game three generations after the end of the war was a hell of way to run a railroad. Much more to be done. More accomplishments to take to the bank. But from my perch, things are looking up.
rebanesruminations.com 
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