Trump is a globalist now

While you were distracted by Syria and Russiagate, President Trump was busy walking back everything he promised during his campaign regarding trade.

NAFTA:

Donald Trump says he’s willing to “renegotiate forever” on Nafta, a threat that comes as his trade office again softens its marquee demand for changes to the auto sector.
...Despite his bluster, the U.S. has softened its negotiating position on the crucial issue of automotive content. American negotiators are now proposing that as much as 75 percent of car components be sourced from the three countries to quality for tariff exemptions under Nafta, down from its initial proposal of as much as 85 percent, according to three people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The development was first reported by Inside U.S. Trade.
It’s the latest concession by the Americans on the auto sector. The Trump administration is also said to have proposed tiers that allow more foreign content, while also dropping a demand for 50 percent U.S.-specific content.

TPP:

President Donald Trump appears to be reversing course on a major multilateral trade deal.
GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, a staunch free-trade advocate, told reporters Thursday that during a White House meeting on Thursday, Trump directed two top economic advisers to reenter negotiations to get the US into the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
...Trump originally trashed the TPP during the 2016 campaign, calling it "a rape of our country." But in January, the president suggested that the US could get back into the deal if terms were improved. But many TPP nations said the White House never engaged in serious talks regarding the deal.

TTIP:

President Donald Trump is willing to reopen negotiations with the European Union over the stalled Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement, which stalled following his election, according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
...Trump has lashed out at market-opening initiatives such as TTIP, and during his inauguration speech last year pledged to follow an “America First” economic policy. But as Washington seeks to rewrite its trade relationship with the world, it may have to do so within those same multilateral deals the president loathes.

And the moment he starts bombing Syria, Trump will be a neocon.
By 2020 the Rust Belt states will be back in play politically.

Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

The Aspie Corner's picture

...you know, except all the incredibly racist rhetoric he spewed during the campaign. Fuckin' coward.

up
0 users have voted.

Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

@The Aspie Corner
I don't think Trump cares about anything at all except himself.

Which doesn't mean much to you and me, but it does mean something to swing voters in the Rust Belt.

up
0 users have voted.

@The Aspie Corner

This is just 3rd-hand news reports saying (from anonymous sources, or some congressman) that negotiating points are being changed. We also see similar types of things reported such as Trump is going to fire Mueller, Trump is going to fire Jeff Sessions, etc. These stories are constructed stories ("Fake News") just to bait the public, and force a narrative upon the public. It really doesn't mean much.

The true negotiating terms and agreements take place privately of course, behind closed doors - until final agreements are made. When Trump really has something to announce then (and only then) we will all know directly, and I'm sure he will even rush to tweet out the major benefits, highlights, or changes.

So that's when we'll see.

Some patience is warranted here. He clearly wants to change NAFTA, and I'm not worried about a re-entry into TPP at all ( that's "Fake news"). Trade is an ongoing work in progress, not a sprint. He's already changed trade terms with South Korea, China, and Mexico to be more fair to U.S. Industry (and U.S. workers), along with many changes to regulations and tax policy --- and we now see U.S. manufacturing jobs have been increasing, and have moved up to a 16-year high.

--

"Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama. We already have BILATERAL deals with six of the eleven nations in TPP, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, Japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years!"

-President Trump, April 12 2018

up
0 users have voted.
The Aspie Corner's picture

@FreeSociety so do us all a favor and take your true believer shit elsewhere.

up
0 users have voted.

Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

up
0 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@gjohnsit

My favorite... "it's your fault that Trump is president."

No one but Her should have been allowed to run for president, don't ya know? If she hadn't run then her votes would have gone to Hillary for sure, right? Not one of them would have gone to Trump in their world. And if Her was president then the Syrian gas attack would never have happened. Or something. But it's good to see some people questioning the attack. I've seen lots of people who think that this was a false flag. Glad to see that not everyone has drunk the punch.

The TPP will probably never die. Too many oligarchs want it.

up
0 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg
Which proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that both Putin and Stein eat food.

I think the morons are a minority, but they are a very loud minority.

up
0 users have voted.
thanatokephaloides's picture

The 2016 Presidential elections were a near-perfect example of Morton's fork. We had a choice between a lying pro-labor-class populist (Trump) or a lying "liberal" whose real allegiance was and remains to the Wall Street crowd (Clinton). Either way, what we actually get is endless war and endless selling-out of our industrial base via "free trade". The one major party candidate with even the slightest whiff of genuine concern for the American non-college-graduate working class, Bernie Sanders, was the first one to be eliminated from the race by both fair means and foul.

If one considers Hillary Clinton as merely Donald Trump in a girl suit as I do, this would make the 2016 Presidential elections an Hobson's Choice as well!

In all cases, gaaacckkkk!! Bad

up
0 users have voted.

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides
days is less and less likely to ever have a job that:
a. couldn't be done by a high school graduate
and
b. pays enough to compensate for the cost of college.

"a" doesn't bother me too much, because I don't think that post-secondary education should necessarily be viewed as vocational -- though i do like the idea of having an economy in which a lot of the work that needs to get done will get done better by someone with a decent liberal arts education.

"b" on the other hand is a real problem. if an intelligent well-educated citizen can't get a job that pays enough to offset the cost of becoming well-educated, then we're not going to have a whole lot of well-educated citizens.

up
0 users have voted.

The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

TheOtherMaven's picture

@thanatokephaloides

People are starting to learn what it means, and that it is not a synonym for "Hobson's choice".

Morton's Fork is where you get the illusion of a choice but you wind up with the same result anyway.

up
0 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

The democrats favor all those policies that Trump is backtracking to. Why attack Trump on TPP which might cause some to ask the dems where they stand on the issue.

up
0 users have voted.

@MrWebster
He'll be the only anti-TPP candidate.

up
0 users have voted.

@MrWebster for Schumer to be all bipartisan, for NAFTA, for TPP, for Israel, for Wall Street, for war without end, and because of the deficit maybe a new cat food commission.

up
0 users have voted.