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Trump's trade war is economic suicide


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53 minutes ago, bostonangler said:

 

I'm sure I didn't mention swapping flags, I'm sure I said they have the right to protest... But sadly, I have seen neighbors take down their American flags to raise their sports team flag... We need to deport them too... Heck I have a neighbor who is a Yankees fan... Can you believe that idiot lives in my neighborhood????

 

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Now your being a troll. Everyone has the right to do what they want with THEIR property. Did they remove the flag and throw it on the ground? Did they burn it or disrespect it in some way? 

 I never called any sports fan an idiot. 

No one has the right to go on to government property and remove a U.S. flag and replace it with another.

If you believe that then that's says a lot about you loyalty to America. 

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20 minutes ago, nstoolman1 said:

 

Now your being a troll. Everyone has the right to do what they want with THEIR property. Did they remove the flag and throw it on the ground? Did they burn it or disrespect it in some way? 

 I never called any sports fan an idiot. 

No one has the right to go on to government property and remove a U.S. flag and replace it with another.

If you believe that then that's says a lot about you loyalty to America. 

 

Come on nstoolman, I never said they had the right to destroy property. I said the right to protest... Protesting doesn't include destroying property... As far as my joke about Yankee fans, it sounds like you might be one!!! LOL

 

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1 hour ago, md11fr8dawg said:

Oh NO BA, not a YANKEE!! Might think about moving. If we had built The Great Wall of China type wall along the Mason Dixon Line, we could have kept the Yankees out of the South and wouldn't be having all the problems we encounter in our country today!!!😜

 

You sound like my wife.... LOL She's a rebel too!

 

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  • At least 2,500 truck drivers have lost their jobs in 2019 as the transportation 'bloodbath' unfolds — here's the full list of bankrupt trucking companies
  •  
  • Six trucking companies have folded in 2019.
  • That's left more than 2,500 truck drivers unemployed.
  • After a hugely profitable year in 2018, this year has seen retailers and manufacturers moving less, according to the Cass Freight Index.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Truck drivers are suffering in 2019 — especially those who own or work at small businesses.

Rates in the spot market, where retailers and manufacturers buy trucking capacity as they need it, rather than through a contract, sank by around 18% year-over-year. That's caused truckers like Demetrius Wilburn, a Georgia-based driver, to find themselves unemployed.

Wilburn bought his semi-truck four years ago after years of working as a company truck driver. But, due to rock-bottom rates, Wilburn wasn't able to make a payment one month — and they repossessed his truck.

"I was only 6 months away from paying it off," Wilburn told Business Insider. "I'm trying to transition back into law enforcement now — don't want to ever drive trucks again. Definitely not worth it."

Read more: The pilots who fly your Amazon packages were getting paid way below industry standards. Then they started calling in sick with little notice.

Lexington, Kentucky-based owner-operator Chad Boblett told Business Insider that some truck drivers are seeing a "bloodbath" in just how low rates are. 

Here are the trucking companies that have gone bankrupt in 2019, and how many truckers who are now out of a job. We used the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's company snapshot tool to measure how many truck drivers worked at each company.

Are you a truck driver who has been suffering in 2019 from low rates? Contact the reporter at rpremack@businessinsider.com.

Starlite Trucking — 28 truck drivers

ede8c2da06caace39b928d3b18e7097e David McNew/Getty Images

Starlite Trucking, which was in business for 40 years, announced on July 12 that the company was closing down. The company was based in Ceres, California — about 100 miles southeast of San Francisco — and mostly hauled livestock feed, nuts, and other products for the agricultural region.

CEO Colby Bell said in a statement on Facebook that the rising compliance costs of California regulations gutted the company — particularly as rates have stagnated.

Read more: 'I don't know how long I can stay in business': Truckers' fears have soared to recession-level highs

"We tried to provide a healthy work environment for our employees and give them the best wages and benefits we could, but in the end, the rates that were available did not support the cost structure needed to compensate our employees appropriately," Bell said.

A.L.A. Trucking — 32 truck drivers

10b1d159cbb1793d20a370dab7584882David Goldman/AP

Effective June 26, Anderson, Indiana-based trucking company A.L.A. Trucking Inc. shut down after 31 years in operation. Along with 15 other employees, 41 truckers with A.L.A. lost their jobs. 

Williams Trucking — 48 truck drivers

f7b3adee6f3f79b7f730fe40c3dfe923Scott Olson/Getty Images

Alabama-based Williams Trucking abruptly shut down on May 1, telling its employees to finish up deliveries, bring their trucks back to the headquarters, and go home. 

LME — 424 truck drivers

45cf63f56d36d53b2b8c12d2cebfba4eWorkday Minnesota/YouTube

On July 12, LME posted on its website that it was no longer accepting loads and was shutting down immediately. The company employed more than 400 truck drivers.

Read more: Who developed the Boeing 737 Max's flawed software? Low-paid temp workers and recent college grads, according to report

Based in New Brighton, Minnesota, LME was a less-than-truckload (LTL) trucking company in the US. LTL is a type of trucking where multiple shippers share a truck space to ship packages.

Last month, a federal judge ordered the owners of LME to pay out $1.25 million to its former employees. LME's owners ran a trucking company called Lakeville Motor Express that abruptly shuttered in 2016, leaving nearly 100 workers without back pay. 

Falcon Transport — 585 truck drivers

4770e556f308abc047863c598657aeb6WKBN27/YouTube

More than 550 truck drivers at Youngstown, Ohio-based Falcon Transport learned in late April that their employer was going under — effectively immediately.

CounterPoint Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, bought the 116-year-old company in 2017.

CounterPoint has not stated why it shut down Falcon. However, some speculate that the end of Youngstown's General Motors plant, which shuttered in March, contributed to Falcon's closure.

"It was like a bolt of lightning on a clear day and I wasn't expecting that," Falcon trucker Ed McCormick told WKBN, the local Youngstown CBS affiliate. 

New England Motor Freight — 1,472 truck drivers

ddcf2eb339079caab7528ea0e92fb840Timmy Shigley/YouTube

On Feb. 12, New England Motor Freight "stunned" the rest of the industry when it announced it was filing for bankruptcy and shutting down operations. 

NEMF generated $402 million in revenue in 2017, ranking it as the 19th-largest less-than-truckload (LTL) trucking company in the US. LTL is a type of trucking where multiple shippers share a truck space to ship packages. It employed more than 1,300 truck drivers.

Read more: A top trucking company just declared bankruptcy — and Amazon may have helped usher its downfall 

Thomas Connery, president and COO of NEMF, told Business Insider that high labor costs and other costs of business in the trucking industry were the leading reasons for the company's bankruptcy filing. "Excessive regulation, significant toll increases, and the high cost of insurance were also among contributing factors," Connery said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/least-2-500-truck-drivers-152550919.html

 

 

Here's an idea.....     Trump Trucking!!! LOL

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7 hours ago, bostonangler said:

Only LGD thinks I'm a woman... 

Yes or No would have done the trick

 

7 hours ago, bostonangler said:

You guys shouldn't believe everything you hear

I don't especially if coming from you, don't take it personally the Hate blurs your thought process...

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On 7/14/2019 at 11:23 AM, bostonangler said:

 

 

 

 

On 7/14/2019 at 3:47 PM, yota691 said:

 

 

On 7/15/2019 at 9:36 AM, bostonangler said:

 

 

 

You're a loving wonderful and caring person. Politics and lifestyles do not override who you truly are.

 

 

 

 

 

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J.B. Hunt Jumps as Outlook Shows ‘No Doom, No Gloom’ in Trucking

(Bloomberg) -- J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. surged the most in six months as a company forecast eased investor concerns about a prolonged recession in the trucking industry.

Intermodal cargo volume will improve in the second half of 2019, reversing a slide in truckloads during the first six months of the year, J.B. Hunt told analysts on a conference call late Monday. That soothed concerns that the trucking industry’s slump would get worse.

“No doom, no gloom and a glimmer of hope,” Cowen & Co. analyst Jason Seidl said Tuesday in a note to clients about J.B. Hunt’s second-quarter earnings.

The results also buoyed J.B. Hunt’s rivals after months of rising worry over truckers. Freight haulers have struggled this year from sluggish demand, after U.S.-China trade tensions last year prompted shippers to build up inventories of Chinese products ahead of potential tariffs. Truckers have also suffered from weakness in factory output, despite a better performance in that gauge last month.

J.B. Hunt jumped 8.4% to $100.39 at 10:44 a.m. in New York, the biggest gain on the S&P 500 Index, after surging as much as 9.3% for the most intraday since Jan. 18. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc., Ryder Systems Inc. and XPO Logistics Inc. also advanced, as a Standard & Poor’s trucking index posted the biggest intraday gain in three years.

Truckers still face plenty of uncertainty. Truckload rates from a year earlier have declined every month since January. Truck tonnage fell 6.1% in May, cooling off after a large gain in April, according to the American Trucking Associations.

The earnings of Lowell, Arkansas-based J.B. Hunt results were “not bad, but not all that good either,” Allison Landry, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, said in a report. She said she wasn’t convinced that trucking rates have bottomed.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/j-b-hunt-jumps-outlook-151630651.html

 

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US manufacturing sinks into recession amid trade wars

Washington (AFP) - US manufacturing sunk into recession in June after two consecutive quarters of declines amid President Donald Trump's bitter trade wars and a slowdown in China and other trading partners.

The decline comes as the United States enters its 11th year of economic recovery and occurs despite Trump's constant pledges to restore America to manufacturing greatness -- even though services now drive three quarters of the US economy.

Despite jumping in June, manufacturing fell by a 2.2 percent annual rate in the April-June period, and total industrial production lost 1.2 percent, in both cases the second consecutive quarterly decline, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday.

"Manufacturing has borne the brunt of tariff uncertainties and slowing in global economic activity," RDQ Economics said in an analysis.

The retreat comes even as American consumers are sustaining their appetite for spending, pushing retail sales higher for the fourth straight month, as shoppers in June took home more new autos and furniture and dined out more frequently.

Manufacturing jumped 0.4 percent compared to May, while total industrial production showed no change, according to the Federal Reserve report, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.2 percent gain.

However, economists said that uptick was unlikely to be sustained in coming months.

"Manufacturing is enduring a mild recession, but it probably won't deepen much further," Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said in an analysis.

- Lower interest rates -

The downturn in manufacturing is "not news; it's a consequence of China's cyclical slowdown and the trade war," he said.

He predicts Washington and Beijing will find a deal to end their bitter trade dispute -- following the resumption of talks by telephone this month -- meaning that by the end of the year "China’s economy will be turning up."

Meanwhile, retail sales rose 0.4 percent in June, double the expected gain, meaning sales are up a solid 3.4 percent compared to June of last year, according to government data.

The contrary data cast a bit of a cloud over growth figures for the second quarter and could confuse the Federal Reserve's interest rate strategy.

However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell doubled down on the case for a cut in the key borrowing rate this month, given weak manufacturing and business investment and concerns about lagging inflation.

Powell said inflation expectations "are near the bottom of their historical ranges," and despite the Fed's confidence that the US economy will continue to grow, many officials feel "the combination of these factors strengthens the case for a somewhat more accommodative stance of policy."

Shepherdson, however, said a rate cut would be premature given his expectation for a recovery in the second half of the year.

"To cut rates now because of the recent weakness of manufacturing is a mistake, in our view, because monetary policy works with long lags, and easing in H2 will be supporting growth next year," he said.

But Oxford Economics expects "manufacturing activity and overall industrial production to remain under pressure from these headwinds," and predicts the Fed to produce "three 'insurance' rate cuts over the next nine months."

Along with higher manufacturing, mining output rose 0.2 percent, while petroleum and coal jumped 2.5 percent. Mining surged 8.9 percent in the latest quarter, its 11th consecutive quarterly increase.

But with milder temperatures in June easing demand for air conditioning, utilities output fell 3.6 percent in June.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-manufacturing-sinks-recession-amid-trade-wars-150625948.html

 

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Manufacturers Move Supply Chains Out of China

U.S. manufacturers are shifting production to countries outside of China as trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies stretch into a second year.

Companies that make Crocs shoes, Yeti beer coolers, Roomba vacuums and GoPro GPRO -0.91% cameras are producing goods in other countries to avoid U.S. tariffs of as much as 25% on some $250 billion of imports from China. Apple Inc. also is considering shifting final assembly of some of its devices out of China to avoid U.S. tariffs.

Furniture-maker Lovesac Co. is making about 60% of its furniture in China, down from 75% at the start of the year. “We have been shifting production to Vietnam very aggressively,” said Shawn Nelson, chief executive of the Stamford, Conn., company. Mr. Nelson said he plans to have no production in China by the end of next year.

Trade TiesU.S. factory activity is slowing as importsfrom China drop and suppliers in other nationspick up some of the slack.U.S. manufacturing purchasing managersindex
2010’12’14’16’18464850525456586062
Imports, change from a year earlierSources: Institute for Supply Management (PMI);U.S. Census Bureau (imports)Notes: PMI figures above 50 indicate expansion,below 50 contraction; imports data through May
ChinaNetherlandsIndiaFranceSouth KoreaTaiwanVietnamMexico-$30 billion-$20-$10$0$10$20

The moves by U.S. companies add up to a reordering of global manufacturing supply chains as they prepare for an extended period of uneven trade relations. Executives at companies that are moving operations outside China said they expect to keep them that way because of the time and money invested in setting up new facilities and shifting shipping arrangements. Companies said the shifts accelerated after the tariff on many Chinese imports rose to 25% from 10% in May.

“Once you move, you don’t go back,” Mr. Nelson said.

Yeti Holdings Inc. YETI 1.64% said it plans to move most production of soft-sided coolers out of China by the end of this year. iRobot Corp. said it would start a new Roomba production line in Malaysia this year. Crocs Inc. CROX 0.80% said it expects less than 10% of U.S.-bound products to be made in China by next year, down from 30% in June. And diesel-engine maker Cummins Inc. said it has avoided $50 million in tariff expenses by moving some production to India and other countries.

Imports from China fell 12% in the year through May, compared with a year earlier, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the biggest decline since the financial crisis a decade ago.

The biggest beneficiaries of that decline have been other countries in Asia where production costs are low, such as Vietnam, India, Taiwan and Malaysia. Many of those countries have recorded sharp increases in exports, although there have been allegations that some of the added traffic stemmed from goods made in China that were routed through those countries without significant alterations to avoid tariffs.

U.S. imports from Vietnam are expected to reach $64.8 billion this year, up 36% from 2018, according to consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

 

“We’re moving production to other parts of the world,” Marvin Edwards, CEO of CommScope Holding Co. , said in June. The Hickory, N.C., company is making antennas for sale in the U.S. at its plant in India instead of China.

There is little evidence, though, of U.S. manufacturers bringing production from China back to the U.S., a move the Trump administration hoped the tariffs would encourage.

While imports from other Asian countries have climbed, U.S. manufacturing output has declined 1.5% through May from a recent peak reached in December, according to the Federal Reserve. The Institute for Supply Management said earlier this month that its manufacturing index slipped again in June to the lowest level since 2016.

 

“If we were to try to do a factory in the U.S., it would be enormously expensive,” said John Hoge, co-owner of Sea Eagle Boats Inc., which makes 85% of its inflatable kayaks, canoes and fishing boats through contract manufacturers in China. Mr. Hoge said the network of manufacturers and suppliers in China that makes boats for Sea Eagle and many of its competitors isn’t as comprehensive in any other country.

“It took us 20 years to build up the supply chain in China,” he said. Mr. Hoge estimated the 25% duty on his products that took effect in May would double the Port Jefferson, N.Y., company’s tariff expenses to about $500,000 a year.

Crown Crafts Inc. analyzed manufacturing costs in a half-dozen countries before deciding to keep making its baby blankets in China despite the tariff costs. “It’s very difficult to find a country that can do it competitive with China,” Randall Chestnut, CEO of the Louisiana company, told analysts in June.

 

More than 100 companies have asked the Commerce Department to waive the latest 25% tariff on their imports because they said they can’t find suppliers outside of China.

One is Zoom Telephonics Inc., which said it lost $1.1 million during the first quarter and likely more in the second as a result of the tariffs on the cable-television modems it imports from China and sells through Amazon.com Inc., Best Buy Co. and other retailers. “I don’t think anybody makes them in the U.S.,” said Frank Manning, CEO of the Boston-based company, in an interview. “We’re bleeding.”

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/manufacturers-move-supply-chains-out-of-china-11563096601?mod=itp_wsj&yptr=yahoo

 

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Worked for Sony a couple times. After 5 1/2 years got laid off due to NAFTA, work was going down to Mexico. Then, again about a 1 1/2 yes ago due to teriffs. Now, the company Im working at now if feeling the pinch as most of the products made in China. Lol. Build it here in the USA. Winning. 

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White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow believes the U.S. economy is booming under Donald Trump and the data supports it. Kudlow appeared on Fox Business where he expressed frustration that the mainstream media and certain “individuals running for higher office” were attempting to paint the economy as being in a recession.

How Right Is Kudlow?

Larry Kudlow is exactly right on most of what he said. There’s only one element of his claim that needs to be examined in more detail.

He said that the distribution of economic benefits helps the lower half of the American population and, in some cases, the lowest 10% the most.

 

On the broader issues, there is no question about Larry Kudlow’s accuracy. The economy has averaged a growth rate of 2.9% since Donald Trump took office, crushing the 1.9% average annual rate under Barack Obama.

Virtually every important economic indicator has been on the rise since Donald Trump took office and substantially so.

The Economy Is Booming

The consumer confidence index is one of the more important metrics, as it indicates how confident households are about their future financial situation. A score above 100 signals a boost in confidence toward that situation.

The score didn’t break the 100-mark until 2015 under Obama and soared under Trump to 100.9. It is presently at 100.5.

A related metric, the consumer sentiment index, measures consumer confidence about the overall economy. The index was mired below 80 until 2015. It closed out the Obama era at 89 and has since hovered at about 100.

Screen-Shot-2019-07-15-at-5.14.49-PM.png Consumer Sentiment | Source: Univ. of Michigan

While the president does not control the stock market, his administration’s economic and other policies heavily influence it.  The stock market has soared 30% since Donald Trump’s election, which reflects the entire country’s optimism about corporate earnings. If earnings are rising, that means consumers are spending.

There are metrics that will allow us to test Larry Kudlow’s claims regarding who is being helped in this economy the most.

Larry Kudlow Is Right

The labor force participation rate shows the percentage of the work-eligible U.S. population that is in the market and either has work or is actively looking for work.

Screen-Shot-2019-07-15-at-5.15.40-PM.png LFPR | Source: BLS

This metric was at 65.7% since that statistic began being kept in 1948. And 62.9% was also the lowest rate since Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

We can’t view that number in a vacuum, however. We must compare the unemployment rate to the labor participation rate.  The labor force participation rate has been stable, and the unemployment rate has declined under Donald Trump from 4.7% to an astonishing 3.7%.

That means all of the people who were actively looking for work but couldn’t find it have now found jobs. This is confirmed by the number of employed people in the country.

Sure enough, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 152.1 million people were employed when Donald Trump took office, and today that number is 5 million higher.

Screen-Shot-2019-07-15-at-5.15.13-PM.png Employed Persons | Source: BLS

Larry Kudlow is correct about where those jobs are being distributed. They are going to the bottom half of Americans whose employment situation has not only improved but is expected to continue to improve. The icing on the Larry Kudlow cake is wage growth. It rose modestly under Obama’s second term but has skyrocketed to nearly 3.5 percent under Trump.

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, ladyGrace'sDaddy said:

 

 

 
 
White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow believes the U.S. economy is booming under Donald Trump and the data supports it. Kudlow appeared on Fox Business where he expressed frustration that the mainstream media and certain “individuals running for higher office” were attempting to paint the economy as being in a recession.

How Right Is Kudlow?

Larry Kudlow is exactly right on most of what he said. There’s only one element of his claim that needs to be examined in more detail.

He said that the distribution of economic benefits helps the lower half of the American population and, in some cases, the lowest 10% the most.

 

On the broader issues, there is no question about Larry Kudlow’s accuracy. The economy has averaged a growth rate of 2.9% since Donald Trump took office, crushing the 1.9% average annual rate under Barack Obama.

Virtually every important economic indicator has been on the rise since Donald Trump took office and substantially so.

The Economy Is Booming

The consumer confidence index is one of the more important metrics, as it indicates how confident households are about their future financial situation. A score above 100 signals a boost in confidence toward that situation.

The score didn’t break the 100-mark until 2015 under Obama and soared under Trump to 100.9. It is presently at 100.5.

A related metric, the consumer sentiment index, measures consumer confidence about the overall economy. The index was mired below 80 until 2015. It closed out the Obama era at 89 and has since hovered at about 100.

Screen-Shot-2019-07-15-at-5.14.49-PM.png Consumer Sentiment | Source: Univ. of Michigan

While the president does not control the stock market, his administration’s economic and other policies heavily influence it.  The stock market has soared 30% since Donald Trump’s election, which reflects the entire country’s optimism about corporate earnings. If earnings are rising, that means consumers are spending.

There are metrics that will allow us to test Larry Kudlow’s claims regarding who is being helped in this economy the most.

Larry Kudlow Is Right

The labor force participation rate shows the percentage of the work-eligible U.S. population that is in the market and either has work or is actively looking for work.

Screen-Shot-2019-07-15-at-5.15.40-PM.png LFPR | Source: BLS

This metric was at 65.7% since that statistic began being kept in 1948. And 62.9% was also the lowest rate since Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

We can’t view that number in a vacuum, however. We must compare the unemployment rate to the labor participation rate.  The labor force participation rate has been stable, and the unemployment rate has declined under Donald Trump from 4.7% to an astonishing 3.7%.

That means all of the people who were actively looking for work but couldn’t find it have now found jobs. This is confirmed by the number of employed people in the country.

Sure enough, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 152.1 million people were employed when Donald Trump took office, and today that number is 5 million higher.

Screen-Shot-2019-07-15-at-5.15.13-PM.png Employed Persons | Source: BLS

Larry Kudlow is correct about where those jobs are being distributed. They are going to the bottom half of Americans whose employment situation has not only improved but is expected to continue to improve. The icing on the Larry Kudlow cake is wage growth. It rose modestly under Obama’s second term but has skyrocketed to nearly 3.5 percent under Trump.

 

 

 

 

Good for Larry... when he was on CNBC he was wrong most of the time...

 

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6 minutes ago, bostonangler said:

 

Good for Larry... when he was on CNBC he was wrong most of the time...

 

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Yep....someone does something helpful in this administration and your comment sums up the left and the MSM......You should apply for a job at CNN.......BTW...how are thier ratings lately?

CL

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The Trump tariffs aren’t working

A year and a half into President Donald Trump’s aggressive experiment with tariffs, it’s worth assessing whether they’ve accomplished what Trump said they would.

The answer, unsurprisingly, is no.

Before explaining why, it’s worth asking a question: Does anybody recall the point of the tariffs Trump has imposed on imports from major trading partners — worth hundreds of billions of dollars?

It’s not to hurt the Chinese economy, or to boost the economies of other low-cost producers such as Vietnam or Mexico. Both of those things are happening, and Trump is bragging about them— but neither development does anything to help Americans.

The stated purpose of Trump’s tariffs is to force more production in the United States, by making imported products more expensive. And with a meaningful amount of data now available, there’s little evidence the Trump tariffs have spurred substantial U.S. production.

‘Paltry’ job creation

Moody’s Analytics recently analyzed the effect of the Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum, which went into effect Jun 1, 2018.

Trump levied a 10% tariff on about $17 billion worth of aluminum imported annually, and a 25% tariff on $33 billion worth of imported steel. Trump hoped that making imported metals more expensive would boost U.S. production and employment in the protected industries.

It didn’t. U.S. steel production was rising before the tariffs, and it rose by about the same rate after the tariffs went into effect, before flattening out in recent months. Aluminum production ticked up after the tariffs hit, but then flattened out as well.

Employment in the protected industries was rising before the tariffs, and those industries have added 16,730 jobs during the 13 months’ of tariffs. Yet Moody’s Analytics calls that number “paltry,” in a total labor force numbering 151 million.

In Gary, Indiana, the city most dependent on steel, only 250 jobs were gained during the 13-month period. Owensboro, Ky., which is most dependent on aluminum, gained just 60 jobs.

An Alcoa aluminum plant in Alcoa, Tennessee, U.S. is seen in this April 8, 2014 file photo REUTERS/Wade Payne/File Photo An Alcoa aluminum plant in Alcoa, Tennessee, U.S. is seen in this April 8, 2014 file photo REUTERS/Wade Payne/File Photo

Industry stocks tell a more troubling story, with Nucor (NUE) down 15% during the last 12 months, AK Steel (AKS) down 52% and US Steel (X) down 59%. The S&P 500 Index (^GSPC) was up 6% during that time. As for aluminum producers, Alcoa (AA) and Century Aluminum (CENX) are both down 52%.

“The tariffs did not do much for protected industries,” Moody’s Analytics economist Maria Cosma wrote in the July 17 report. “The largest impact has been retaliation from U.S. trading partners, which has particularly hurt agricultural producers.”

China, in particular, has slashed purchases of U.S. soybeans, pork and other farm products, with that trade dispute escalating this year. That has hurt US farm income and threatened Trump’s political support in key rural states.

Trump has boasted about all the revenue taken in from the tariffs. But government figures show the Trump administration has dispersed more in aid meant to compensate farmers for trade difficulties than the government has taken in from tariffs.

There’s a bit of better news. The tariffs also have not dramatically harmed industries that have to pay more for materials because the Trump tariffs have pushed costs up. That includes automakers, who must pay higher prices for steel, aluminum and other newly tariffed products.

Tariffs have also not generated higher than normal inflation, as some analysts predicted. So on the whole, the Trump tariffs have hurt U.S. farmers, who have gotten federal bailouts, without causing much additional harm or good, so far.

When does the winning begin?

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/the-trump-tariffs-arent-working-214208092.html

 

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Nice, now dig a little deeper and you will see many business are doing well.  Yes there are many undercurrents that could derail the economic progress (China Trade War) but that was something that needed to be done. To have done nothing would have destroyed the economy as well.  500 B a year trade imbalance was unsustainable.  It was a slow bleed out of our resources and economic power.  I’m glad Trump is going after them and he has bilateral support to do so.  

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