The rules have changed.
Asian countries are simply ignoring the US now.
Or taking advantage of the dumbbell at the top.
The new, ironclad, fair, America First trade agreements negotiated by Trump…
Yeah, these trade deals are bad for America. but they said nice things about me. So these trade deals are now good for America.
Trump has solved the trade deficit problem. Instead of running trade deficits, there will now be no trade at all. Making trade small enough to drown in the bathtub.
They’re not as prominent as the cable news but AP is absolutely one of the worst offenders in normalizing this President and blandly accepting what he says at face value without the faintest effort to challenge its lunacy. They were always bad but now, in context, it’s pathological. Trump did nothing on this trip but kowtow to authoritarian dictators and murderous thugs, and nothing will change. American influence in world affairs will continue its catastrophic hemorrhaging, but that’s just another day in Trumpworld.
Trump pressed that point on every stop on the grueling tour of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines,…
Grueling?
Let me guess, Trump is Heston redux?
<img src="/uploads/default/original/3X/0/2/02abbaac94a1abbb7eb68bddd071940c481eda65.png" width="252" height="200">The Dumpster doesn’t think we need Tariffs now that he got
the Morons to vote for him… How does it Phucking fell you
“Hard Working American People” ?? No Lube for You !!
Quick, how many news organizations will plumb in depth the promise to reduce trade deficits to zero with all our major trading partners? Dissect the probability and effects, comment as to whether it’s even wise to attempt it? Analyze the outcomes on American workers, and the pressures placed on the economies of allies in setting it as a goal? How many?
“The reason I like the Boeing is because it’s jobs for the United States,” Trump said.
The reason I like the grammar is because it makes it easier to make ideas understandable.
Donnie, take heed:
"…the president said confidently that U.S. trading partners “will be treating us much differently than before.”
Oh, that they will, but not at all how you think they will. Idiot!
Yes the rules have changed, the US is well on the way to becoming and 2nd tier world power.
A little red carpet, a little flattery and a couple of blow jobs and you, too, can own a battered and used Trump.
Meaning they talked nice to him but will ignore the US and do things without us pushing for human rights. Thus hurting innocent people more than otherwise and hurting the US economically while aiding the rise of China.
I imagine he will announce a security deal with the Russian government to protect US interests domestically with his best pal Vlad.
Agree on the AP, and it’s striking that this story – and I’m only presuming that this is not just an excerpt – does not mention the fact that the 11 countries that we got to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership decided to go ahead with a modified version of the deal while Trump was in Asia.
That fact gave a lot of people pause, as Trump assumed the TPP would just collapse without our participation in it.
That said, overall, I’m impressed by the quantity of the coverage lately since the 11 countries agreed on the TPP framework, and also by how the tone shifted from where it was in 2015 and 2016, when so many were lambasting it.
It seems now that many pundits recognize the importance of this trade deal, and not only in economic terms, but also in its strategic and geopolitical dimensions.
Whereas before so many were complaining that TPP was too pro-corporate, now the focus has shifted to how the US is ceding its leadership role in Asia, and leaving a void for China to fill.
What’s changed since President Obama’s team hammered out the TPP? A couple of things: Brexit and Trumpism.
First, the hoaxsters behind the Brexit debacle have been thoroughly discredited. Rather than a boon to the UK that would free up Britain’s economy, Brexit has become a massive headache for UK leaders that will lead to a downward spiral in that economy once the painful years-long unwinding from the EU is complete. It led to Prime Minister Cameron’s ouster, and may soon unseat May.
Second, Trump picked up on the pseudo-populist anti-TPP rap and, touting his alleged negotiating prowess, he promised to end what he called job killing multi-lateral deals such as NAFTA and TPP.
And all his touted negotiating skills have gotten us is further isolated from our allies and trading partners. The NAFTA renegotiating talks with Mexico and Canada are falling flat, and no bilateral trade deals are looming on our horizon.
The US and UK must snap out of their isolationist and protectionist bubbles and once again take their place in the community of nations. Their anti-trade phobia can be seen as in the same vein as their xenophobia and ethno-nationalism.
From the Washington Monthly: Trump’s Colossal Failure on Trade
The story begins:
"One of the first things Donald Trump did as president was to pull the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP). While traveling in Asia, he was accommodating towards China and belligerent in Vietnam. That is the exact opposite of what the Obama administration was attempting to do with TPP—which was designed to work with Pacific rim countries to put pressure on China.
Meanwhile, here’s the big news that surfaced during the president’s trip:
President Trump delivered a fiery speech on trade here Friday, declaring that he would not allow the United States to be “taken advantage of anymore” and planned to place “America first.”
And then, less than 24 hours later, 11 Pacific Rim countries collectively shrugged and moved on without the U.S.
On Saturday, the countries announced they had reached a deal to move ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact that Trump threw into question when he withdrew from it earlier this year.
The agreement represents something of a rebuke of Trump, coming near the end of his five-country, 12-day swing through Asia, and reflects the willingness of other nations to proceed without the buy-in of the United States."
Thing is, it’s easy to give up influence; even Trump can manage that much. Getting it in the first place is much harder, and recovering it after losing it harder still. We’re in for a long decline as a world power, but we can’t complain—we did this to ourselves.
They are stenographers. Sometimes they report what sane people are saying, but then only with “balancing” quotes from the crazies. And almost always without reference back to the lies that the sane people are refuting.