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Welcome to the official home and wonderful world of Pulitzer Prize Winning Political Cartoonist Michael P. Ramirez, daily editorial cartoonist for the Las Vegas Review Journal |
Trump tariff delay is a nod to the U.S. consumer — the only engine powering the global economy
Published: Aug 15, 2019 6:50 a.m. ET. MARKET WATCH Delay designed to avoid politically-damaging rise in consumer prices ahead of the holiday season CHRIS MATTHEWS MARKETS REPORTER The Trump Administration gave markets an early Christmas present, when it announced Tuesday that it will delay planned tariffs on a subset of the $300 billion in imports that had been announced Aug 1. While the news caused stock markets to rally — with the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.30% , Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.37% and Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.01% all gaining at least 1.4% Tuesday — investors should be interpreting this not as an easing of trade tensions with China, but as a concession to the U.S. consumer a critically important driver of the current economic expansion and bull market. read more AUGUST 15, 2019 BY PAUL MIRENGOFF POWERLINE A TRADE WAR THAT’S NOT SO EASY TO WIN Reportedly, there is a division within the White House over how to proceed with China on trade. One camp, which includes Steven Mnuchin and Larry Kudlow, is optimistic that the administration can reach a trade deal with Beijing as things stand now. But Peter Navarro, the senior trade adviser, believes stronger tactics are required to change China’s approach. President Trump is said to agree with Navarro. But what if both sides are wrong? What if both are too optimistic? It may well be that China isn’t going to reach an agreement with the U.S. in 2019 or 2020 whether we get tougher with Beijing, or not. Sure, China is suffering due to Trump’s tough policy, and will suffer even more if his policies get tougher. However, Chinese leaders don’t answer to the Chinese people. Thus, they can resist a deal until at least 2021. By then, they hope, Trump will have been defeated thanks in no small part to the pain his trade war will have inflicted on the U.S. economy. read more at POWERLINE BLOG |
The Dave Sussman Show
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