Protecting and revitalizing American industry has not only been the 'topic du jour' this week; but a backbone of Trump's entire legitimization, as related to his candidacy; and even he knows it. The assault on once gullible manufacturers (or manipulated steadily even by a US Chamber of 'foreign' Commerce as I used to call it years ago) is being faded out. It is not an easy task, given how many decades the erosion persisted.

And it's trickier than ever; as exemplified by a Chinese reporter sadly in trouble now, as Police harass her for exposing Beijing's 'steely-held' top secret. That's China reducing capacity to comply with US demands for at least a token Billion move to improve the Trade Deficit, while everyone it seems forgot that the US and EU both imposed high taxes on cold-rolled steel (yes during Obama); and China simply lied.

They claimed 'compliance' but all they did was shift a promised 8 million metric tons cut in steel production, and the 10 million tons of iron ore, to export. It's rather evident in the accompanying chart. Reuters exposed firms doing this; with pollution on the rise again being a tip-off that restrictions weren't being followed.

The Steely Charade-Plot Thickens

So China ordered an 'investigation' (hah; they planned the transition) as a charade; although in a domestic sense for them, they had to allocate a chunk of production somewhere, or millions of steelworkers would lose their jobs. Hmmm... the USA never seemed to worry enough about steel workers here; until now. In fairness; the business was improving since a recalcitrant President Obama made an effort (262% tariff) on cold-rolled steel back in 2015. That's the inflection point where China started heavy closeted efforts to shift production, not only abroad, but within China.

So now, a CNBC (World) reporter, visiting one such 'said' steel-free town, found workers saying how they moved production and so on. Not new of course, but that the TV crew was harassed, interrogated and then driven (escorted) out of town, is typical of heavy-handed Chinese responses to 'truth-telling'.
 

Back to the Future of Trade

As I mentioned earlier; US Steel was the symbolism, by announcing the reopening of a plant (Granite City I believe) that was long shutdown, as a community became a ghost town and its people turned to Opioids (or 'crystal'; a nickname for a drug that is epidemic in rust-belt America). It's my view that prosperity (or getting-by better) for average Americans isn't just a migrant or safety-net issue; but a way of fighting drug wars too. 

So this move by the President may seem to be symbolic, may not have a triggering mechanism as it was so hard to get our politicians to actually look-out for our workers, rather than pander to excess globalist themes; or accept guidance (or funds?) from foreign entities or their lobbyists. At least this is all front-and-center and it's shocking so many Republicans, who worked hard to cull favor among working class, risk squandering at least some of that political capital, by doing what the Democrats did for a number of years; cater to global companies and less so to Americans.

The problem overall is 'displacement' (jobs and factories); or shuffling our money and intellectual property abroad, in a very unfair manner. To a degree it's clear I blame Washington (as I have for 40 years) for these overly permissive trade policies and no backbone to do what needed to be done. Even now; you can see how tough it was to get anything done.

I do wish they would clarify that Canada has a currency, not wage issue, with us; and that the form of what may be agreed next is the substance of the situation, that results from acknowledged overcapacity (China and Canada); and as the President said, if needed reciprocal taxes. That is a topic I mentioned the other day; and he did at the signing ceremony. He also mentioned India as a country that hoses our imports while freely up to now exporting to us. These things mattered after World War II; but as mentioned before; the issue was nothing had a timeline on it; nobody in the past stuck to their guns on trade policies (Regan tried; GW Bush did too; but everybody backed-off for one reason or another). 

In my view Trump (a closet Democrat on some issues) primarily in-office on this issue, even taken alone; has his finger on the pulse of what's for sure needed. I mentioned the other day that Jared Kushner was down in Mexico (not seeking asylum as some media talking heads would prefer), but working on the NAFTA deal; and bilateral issues with Mexico. Based on the President's references today, I suspect he has made progress. 

Bottom line: this should be seen by more politicians and all of media as a 'proud moment' for a still-beleaguered American working segment (full employment at lower than historical wages is also a charade covering a loss of quality mass jobs). Regardless of interim impacts on those in a variety of industries that may have short-term disruptions, we must get at least the attention of other countries who have had lots of growth from our markets; while denying equivalent entry to theirs. I say this less for the stock market; and more for the Nation's future; regardless of whether it's bearish or not with respect to disruptions of the much-heralded global 'synchronized recovery' we hear about. Most of the world is stronger and able to trade without the USA being on the loosing end of relationships.