Trump Backs Down on Mexican Import Taxes. Declares Victory by Solving His Self-Created Crisis for American Workers

AutoInformed.com on Commerce Dept. Hearings July 2018 with Autoworkers Protesting Job Destroying Trump Tariffs

Commerce Dept. Hearings July 2018 with Autoworkers Protesting Job Destroying Trump Tariffs.

By now the Trump Administration playbook is all too familiar. Faced with a report last Friday by his own Labor Department that that just 75,000 jobs were created*, and wages increased by 0.2% in May, he declared victory in his Mexican tariff war by cancelling them before they went into effect this week. (Trump Tariffs on Mexico – Job Destroying Taxes on Workers, David Schwietert on Trump Tariffs on Mexico – Job Destroying Taxes on Workers)

Automakers, farmers, the equity markets and his normally sycophantic Republican party were all protesting the reckless move. Thus adding  to the need to reverse the very course that Trump had set.

Never mind that Mexico had already promised to deploy its national guard several months ago. Trump dictated his own victory speech that conveniently ignored the fact that it was a defeat. Another part of his faux victory – a program to keep asylum seekers in Mexico as legal processes slowly unfolded – was agreed to last December by Mexico.

We’ll skip the nuances of the deal and resort to Trump Tweet mode: Everybody knows that this was a defeat for the narcissist in chief.

*The U.S. economy added 75,000 jobs in May notes the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center and the Carnegie-Knight Initiative. “But those numbers are based on surveys, not counts. In fact, the BLS says it is 90% sure the actual change in the number of jobs for May is somewhere between a gain of 185,000 jobs or a loss of 35,000 jobs. And some of the data are preliminary — final estimates for employment changes in May won’t be out for another two months.”

 

About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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One Response to Trump Backs Down on Mexican Import Taxes. Declares Victory by Solving His Self-Created Crisis for American Workers

  1. Pingback: US Deficit and Government Spending Grow in Q2 | AutoInformed

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