The George W. Bush Presidential Center offers this summary of Donald Trump’s unnecessary replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. As might be expected of anything Trump, the USMCA offers short-term gain and long-term loss:
The short term: The opening of additional market access for some U.S. agricultural products is welcome news in farm and dairy states. It will offset some of the pain that our agricultural sector is feeling as other markets, especially China, erect their own tariff barriers.
The medium term: There may be some movement of auto and parts manufacturing – and jobs – back to the U.S. as the increased cost of importing cars and parts makes it appear more cost-effective to manufacture here.
The long term: Those higher costs of auto and parts imports will create higher costs of production. Such that there is a real risk that our auto industry will lose global competitiveness, which could threaten jobs throughout the supply chain [Matthew Rooney, “Two-Minute Take: NAFTA vs. USMCA,” George W. Bush Presidential Center, 2018.10.02].
Prime Minister Trudeau, President Peña Nieto, and our guy still have to sign the revision. Then the Canadian Parliament, the Mexican Congress of the Union, and the United States Congress need to ratify it. If it gets all those ayes, NAFTA 2.0 will not take effect until 2020.
Ruh oh, Steel workers, will strike. Their contract expired on 09/01/2018. Interesting..
“Two of the country’s biggest steelmakers, U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal, have contracts with their 30,000 or so union members that just expired on Sept. 1. The United Steelworkers Union is in the heat of negotiations with both companies on a new contract and steel’s still coming off the line. But, in a sign of how contentious this could get, Steelworkers’ locals nationwide voted over the last week to authorize a strike against U.S. Steel if negotiations don’t deliver. What are the workers looking for, and why now?” https://www.marketplace.org/2018/09/11/economy/steel-workers-press-steel-makers-wages-and-health-care-costs-strike-authorization
Now, if farmers could strike for higher prices and healthcare guarantees, wouldn’t that be a hoot?
Don’t worry ag producers, Old Wilbur Ross has your back…with a knife in it.
“Most American businesses aside from the steel industry oppose the new tariffs.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for example, warned tariffs could do enough harm to “put at risk the economic momentum achieved through the administration’s tax and regulatory reforms.” The group urged the White House not to proceed, saying the tariffs would damage the economy, harm relationships with longstanding partners and undermine U.S. leadership.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dismissed those worries, saying all the countries involved “will get over it in due time” after a compromise is eventually reached.” Old Wilbur Ross is quite the statesman, NOem approves of him ever so greatly. Both are dirty dirty dirty birds.
Farmers, get on those tractors like you did in 1979 and head for Washington…that is, if you believe that you have been wronged. Inflation was the issue in 1979 that drove farmers to bankruptcy, today, it is NOem/trumpflation. NOem is too damn busy trying to convince you that she thinks farming is a real business. NOem is only concerned with matters that are related to her insurance business. Anyway, a little history.
“By the end of the first week in February 1979 thousands of farmers had descended upon the National Mall to lobby Congress for a new farm bill to increase crop prices and influence in agriculture policy. They barreled into the city, at a whopping 15 miles per hour, from as far away as Texas, Michigan, and Colorado.
Organized by the American Agriculture Movement, the protest really had no semblance of a plan. Ken Lane at the American Agriculture Movement’s DC headquarters told reporters, “They’re coming to town. That’s all we know.”
President Carter, being a farmer himself, offered a sympathetic word of support saying, “I don’t know of any other group that has suffered more from inflation than farmers.”
While the President was supportive of the plight of the farmers converging on Capitol Hill, much of Congress did not feel the same way, even the farmers among them. Freshman Democrat from Texas and farmer, Charles W. Stenholm was worried about the effectiveness of a tractorcade. “The farmers’ story is still valid. Their income levels are still not adequate, but I question the advisability of a tractorcade. I don’t feel a tractorcade will be helpful this year.” https://blogs.weta.org/boundarystones/2016/08/29/tractorcade-1979
Sounds familiar doesn’t it farmers. Remember the mess you are in when as you vote this time around and remember who put you in your situation.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “economic momentum achieved through the administration’s tax and regulatory reforms.” It’s nice to see the Chamber (pot) has a sense of humor.
Farmers tractorcaded to Madison when Gov. Snot Wanker began tanking Wisconsin’s economy by shredding the unions. Working people in that state recognized it as the Koch/Wanker attack on everyone who works hard for a living. There was a lot of video on Minnesota news and it was remarkable: Teachers, welders, farmers, nurses. I don’t think they’re finished with Wanker yet. I believe he’s no better than even in the polls right now. Don Pay would probably know.
Snot Wanker, brutal…I like that very much Ms. Debbo. You and mfi come up with some good ones.
Thank you Jerry, but I must admit, though it pains me to do so . . . I stole that from a commenter elsewhere. The real author is Polite, Kool Marxist, aka, PKM. He’s very good at the names.
Meanwhile GOP’s useful idiots, paid to cry wolf, have left us with ELEVEN years to act, pivoting away from fossil fuels NOW to keep global warming from changing the climate 1.5 degrees warmer. It is still doable, like defeating Nazis like FDR did. Or a moonshot in a decade, and Trump “is no Jack Kennedy”. Elect Democrats in 30 days.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/410448-ford-planning-layoffs-after-trump-tariffs-cost-company-1-billion
Ford is downsizing thanks to Drumpf, stoopid wingnuts and OldStumpjumper’s whining.