Seeing Red This Week Until it All Became so Clear

Last Thursday the monster announced that he intended to impose a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on imported aluminum.  The devastating implications of this Faustian deal with the devil are inescapable.  A bright eight-year old child should be able to understand two issues which are central to this crime against the economies of the world and in particular detrimental to the people of the U.S.A.

Free trade and its attendant globalism are the two cornerstones of the unparalleled growth and prosperity of the U.S., China, Canada, Mexico, the EU, the Pacific Rim, South America and other economies for the last twenty-five years.

A tariff on international suppliers of the two most important metals in construction and manufacturing can only hurt everyone.

It’s that simple.  You do not need to be an expert on economics, business or industry.  Steel is the most important durable metal.  Everything from suspension bridges, freeways, skyscrapers, office buildings, automobiles, office furniture, agricultural equipment, bicycles, wheelchairs, hospital and medical equipment, street signs, fencing, armor, concrete reinforcement and plumbing is made with steel.  An attack on the global steel trade is an attack on humanity.

Aluminum has always been a valuable, lightweight metal that is every bit as useful as steel.  Steel is better for cars in that it absorbs a crash more reliably.  But automobile companies such as Ford Motor Company have pioneered integrating steel and aluminum on the same chassis to provide a safer, lighter version of tradition automobiles that gives better fuel economy without sacrificing safety.  I know.  I own a 2014 Ford Expedition.

Aluminum bicycles are incredibly popular for their light weight.  But real bike people know that a lightweight steel frame is the best because of the way it flexes and bends.  My point is that an assault on the steel and aluminum industries is about the single most counter-productive that any president could even be imagined to propose.  Alcoa has also been doing so well in the last few years that they split their company into two publicly traded companies. Mrs. Junior had a hunch to buy Alcoa about five years ago. I told her to go for it. Aluminum was being used in automobiles, bicycles and manufacturing more than ever before.  We made money. Explain to me why we have to protect U.S. aluminum interests from harmful importers?

I have been seeing red over this abusive threat for five days now. It finally occurred to me today. I had heard that Trump's associate, Carl Icahn, had divested his interest in the Manitowoc Company just days before the fatal announcement on Thursday. Carl Icahn, a billionaire financier and longtime pal of Donald Trump’s, sold more than $30 million of stock in a steel-dependent company days before new tariffs on steel imports were announced.

I finally put two and two together. Trump and his fellow conspirator/cohorts are simply using his muscle as POTUS to set up various killings in the stock market. Think about it.  This is from the company website of the Manitowoc Company:

Founded in 1902, The Manitowoc Company, Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of cranes and lifting solutions with manufacturing, distribution, and service facilities in 20 countries. Manitowoc is recognized as one of the premier innovators and providers of crawler cranes, tower cranes, and mobile cranes for the heavy construction industry, which are complemented by a slate of industry-leading aftermarket product support services. In 2016, Manitowoc’s net sales totaled $1.6 billion, with over half generated outside the United States.

Why would anyone dump stock in a company that was doing this well? Sell high, right?  These are the type of global leading companies that will be hurt by Trump’s insane proposition should he actually go through with it.  The economic ripples are unpredictable.  Who can say who or which industries will be hit the hardest.

Silver lining.  Fawning sycophants that they are, the nincompoops at NPR actually located a U.S. company that is thrilled by the news.  The last manufacturer of steel beer kegs in the U.S.  Good news, everyone.

Trump is fucking up to something. His ignorant minions no longer even question his motives for his insane public and trading policies. He truly is a charismatic dictator with a lemming following that would gladly jump to their deaths if that was what was required.­­

Industries, companies, employees and people will be directly hurt by this misguided tariff, here at home and across the world. It's one thing to fuck up the tax base with a tax plan that features a seven year payday loan for ignorant Trump supporters. Anyone old enough to retire will probably be dead before the shit hits the fan.  It's quite another problem to sabotage a global manufacturing economy.

So, White House economic adviser, Gary Cohn, intends to resign.  Mr. Cohn had actually drafted his letter of resignation after the monster’s comments on Charlottesville.  But he stuck around long enough to promote the tax cuts.  That’s right. He headed up the team that drafted this attack on the government and the economy of the United States of America.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/white-house-economic-adviser-gary-cohen-to-resign-after-tariff-dispute/

The White House told the New York Times there was no singular cause behind Cohn’s departure, but the decision comes after a high-profile skirmish between Cohn, his fellow free-trade advocates, and proponents of the heavy steel and aluminum tariffs President Donald Trump announced Thursday.

Here is the article about Cohn’s failed battle with his conscience last summer.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/us/politics/gary-cohn-trump-charlottesville.html

Let’s hear some pushback from the reasonable and intelligent conservatives.  How could Trump possibly get away with this?  Well, the answer probably lies somewhere in his stock portfolio. Remember this guy is the ethical nightmare president who refused to divest himself of any of his holdings no matter what the potential conflict of interests may or may not have been or will be.
Didn’t he hand over Trump enterprises to his children so the he could send business their way as POTUS?  SS paying for a floor at Trump Tower.  Foreign dignitaries staying at Trump hotels?  Why do I even bother to go on.

This tariff thing really woke me up to what is happening now.

What really just about made me jump up to my feet this morning was the public statement from White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro on Trump's decision to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel imports.

Navarro came up with the two stupidest, most simple-minded and erroneous examples possible of potential reverberations of the proposed tariffs.

"Aluminum beer cans contain about three cents worth of aluminum.  So a 10% tariff on aluminum would raise the cost of a beer by about three tenths of a cent."

"If a car contains around 400 pounds of aluminum, that would raise the price of a $35,000 automobile by about $40."

Captain Obvious reminds us, "What about the 25% tariff on steel?"  I only say this to point up the ignorance and naïveté of Navarro's analysis.

My blood just about boiled out of my eyeballs.