The intransigent European Union is hitting a dead end with immovable Trump on the issue of tariffs. The resulting dynamic is what we would expect given 75 years of the Marshall Plan (European Recovery Plan) as part of the EU’s only point of reference.
In order for the EU to maintain its socialistic form of government, it needs to continue the economic benefits from one-way tariffs that exploits the American consumer market. President Trump’s plan to force reciprocity is against its entire economic foundation. The EU simply cannot fathom life without the status quo.
In many ways the EU is in the same position as Canada. From its perspective, economic reciprocity is not sustainable; it would have to change its social compacts. This is the core of the conflict.
The EU trade delegation hit a brick wall in Washington DC, as the U.S. trade team reiterated the baseline tariffs are not something within the negotiation dynamic.
As we highlighted in term-1, these ongoing negotiations with the EU on the issues of trade are extremely challenging. However, in term-2 President Trump’s position is much simpler; why keep arguing about the same problem only to end up in negotiations of intransigence?
Instead, if the EU is going to continue negotiations as a collective, President Trump is now favoring just sending the EU a letter informing them of the tariff rates applied to each of their industrial sectors. This is the most direct and impactful way to end the stalemate.
The EU cannot fathom the new level of ambivalence carried by President Trump, and by extension his trade team, toward the conversation. There is no level of countervailing tariffs the EU can announce that impacts the position of Trump. Even if the EU were to end all trade with the USA, that only feeds into the goals and objectives of the Trump administration.
The EU has no power in this dynamic beyond its purchasing power, and if the EU doesn’t want to level the purchasing – thereby maintaining a trade deficit, then Trump will equalize the financial imbalance with tariffs.
Canada is in the same position, hence its alignment with the EU.
The union was the first to announce the buyout, calling it an ‘illegal violation’ of the national contract in which UPS committed to create 22,500 jobs.
‘Our members cannot be bought off and we will not allow them to be sold out. UPS needs to live up to the existing contract. They must honor their commitments,’ said Sean O’Brien, general president of the union.
The company concluded that its profit margins from Amazon deliveries profit were too small, and it wanted to focus on other markets like healthcare and international deliveries.
‘The world has not been faced with such enormous potential impacts to trade in more than 100 years,’ said CEO Carol Tomé. Deliveries for Amazon make up around 12 percent of UPS’s revenue.
Donald Trump has threatened to turn the Department of Government Efficiency on his former ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk.
The president suggested he may use the department Musk once headed to strip away the billionaire’s government subsidies to decimate his business empire, as their feud hit galactic new heights.
‘Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday.
‘It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.’
He then turned the screws on Musk, suggesting his time benefitting from the U.S. government could be over and that the South African native could be forced to return to his homeland.
‘Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!’
It is possible Musk has been poisoned or transmogrified by energy weapons or destabilized by some other deliberate method. There are many groups who would do that to him.
It’s also possible he was a Trojan time-bomb from the outset.
X has become terrible since his flap with Trump, which happened around the same time X’s algorithms were changed to yield more shallow, cartoonish feeds.
It’s also possible Musk has Promethean fantasies, or Icarian ones and rose so high he had to fall.
Of these possibilities, the two that are more serious are: 1) he has been poisoned or 2) he was himself a plant, a poison pill from the beginning. Both options suggest a clandestine group working nefariously behind the scenes to control Musk through the carrot or the stick.
This is how elites operate. They do this to maintain control, and even want the public to see it and know it. It serves as a warning.
Where does Trump stand in this? No way to be sure but he is still better than any other option I can see. ABN
GE Appliances on Thursday said it would spend $490 million to move the production of most of its washing machines from China to Kentucky.
The operation will move to the company’s massive industrial Appliance Park headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, where it already manufactures washers and dryers. At least 800 new full-time jobs are expected to be created, the company said in a news release.
The news came as President Donald Trump is attempting to lure companies back to the United States by imposing tariffs. He has slapped additional tariffs on China, as well as other countries. GE Appliances is a subsidiary of the Haier company, which is based in China.
This is the result of tariffs. More of this, more cheap energy, more nuke reactors, more trade, more wealth, more freedom, less war or no war, more freedom of speech, more happiness. ABN
With less labor needed in manufacturing and cognitive professions, promoting small family farms that provide wholesome organic produce would benefit everyone. ABN
We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country. They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Things are getting very interesting as the clock ticks toward the end of the USMCA trade agreement.
Almost no one is watching the USMCA element because it quietly exists only in the background of events. However, pay close attention to the ancillary stories because they will eventually merge with the end of the USMCA and two bilateral trade agreements between the U.S-Canada and the U.S. and Mexico later this year.
NATO funding and Canadian economic independence, and by extension the EU and China, comes into the northern agreement. Border security and Mexican economic independence, and by extension immigration and China, comes into the southern agreement. The strength of MAGAnomic policy flows directly through both.
In the quiet sphere, a few days ago Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a key player in the trade program, announced sanctions against three Mexican financial organizations that underline the influence of the Mexican cartels and the Mexican government. [Treasury Announcement Here]
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued orders identifying three Mexico-based financial institutions—CIBanco S.A., Institution de Banca Multiple (CIBanco) [ORDER HERE], Intercam Banco S.A., Institución de Banca Multiple (Intercam) [ORDER HERE], and Vector Casa de Bolsa, S.A. de C.V. (Vector) [ORDER HERE]—as being of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, and prohibit, respectively, certain transmittals of funds involving CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector. These orders are the first actions by FinCEN pursuant to the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which provide Treasury with additional authorities to target money laundering associated with the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, including by cartels”. (more)
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is furious. “The Treasury Department hasn’t provided a single piece of evidence to show that any money laundering was taking place,” she said. “We aren’t going to cover for anyone, there isn’t impunity here. They have to be able to demonstrate that there was actually money laundering, not with words, but with strong evidence.”
Secretary Scott Bessent has provided all of the evidence above in the three orders. However, this U.S. Treasury action is going to cause a massive disruption to the financial system used by Mexican officials to remain in power. This is the key point.
Remember, the Customs and Border Patrol enforcement action in Los Angeles was not about deporting illegal aliens. The origination of the chaos in Los Angeles centered around the ‘customs” aspect of the CBP as they targeted local businesses that were operating as money laundering outfits for drug and human trafficking into the USA.
Again, for emphasis, the subsequent riots that took place in Los Angeles were NOT originated by deportation operations involving ICE; they originated from CBP and FBI operations involving Mexican money laundering. The ICE operations came as an outcome of encounters with illegal aliens who were working inside the Los Angeles businesses that were under investigation.
Last night on CNBC Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff hinted that some stunning revelations around expansion of the Abraham Peace Accords would likely surface in the next week. Immediately thereafter, President Trump sent a message of support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against a judicial effort targeting the Prime Minister.
Today, we start to hear of some rather stunning developments in the region that might explain multiple background stories, including the above and the severity of response from President Trump when he felt that Israel was overreacting to the Iran missile fired during the early hours of the ceasefire.
In a stunning development, Israel Hayom is reporting on the outlines of a peace agreement and long-term solution for the Israel-Gaza conflict. The report might explain why President Trump made bold moves in Syria recently, including the removal of all U.S./western sanctions and the close relationship between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS).
According to Israel Hayom, there was a 4-way call (Trump, Netanyahu, Rubio, Dermer) after the Iran strikes. President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to “fundamental principles in general terms” including:
♦ “Gaza hostilities will conclude within two weeks.” ♦ “Four Arab nations (including Egypt and the UAE) will administer the Gaza Strip, replacing the murderous Hamas terrorist organization.” ♦ “The remaining Hamas leadership will face exile to other countries (possibly Qatar and Turkey), while the hostages gain freedom.” ♦ “Multiple nations globally will accept numerous Gaza inhabitants seeking emigration.” ♦ “Abraham Accords expansion will bring Syria, Saudi Arabia, and additional Arab and Muslim countries to recognize Israel and establish official relationships.” ♦ “Israel will declare its willingness for future Palestinian conflict resolution under the ‘two states’ concept, contingent upon the Palestinian Authority reforms.” ♦ “The United States will acknowledge limited Israeli sovereignty implementation in Judea and Samaria.”
It’s new world. If this large peace deal holds, the Middle East will boom. At the same time the world can look forward to a very large wealth increase through robotic productivity and AI. This is a wonderful ’embarrassment of riches’ we all should celebrate. The Trump faction of the global elite has taken us to this point. Possibly by this example alone, Russia, USA and Europe will make a lasting peace based on many centuries of shared religion, heritage, genes, and culture. If Arabs, Jews and Persians can do it, so can white people. ABN
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