I want to take a second to talk about the new trade deal that is taking the place of NAFTA. USMCA, which is an infinitely less impressive abbreviation and all around title was unveiled on Monday and….no one talked about it. Now, listen, when it comes to economics and trade deals, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole heck of a lot, but based on the limited coverage it got, I guess it’s alright? I mean, I guess Canada is being less stingy about it’s milk which is…fine? I dunno. But it’s limited coverage, ESPECIALLY on Monday, the day this deal dropped, kind of blew my mind. I actively sought out information on the deal on Monday, and couldn’t find much more than descriptions of it, and all of that was buried under the Brett Kavanaugh situation. And that HAS to grind Trump’s gears. It HAS to. On the day that Trump presumably didn’t completely screw up a significant trade deal (I think he didn’t?), all anyone wants to talk about is Kavanaugh. And when Trump spoke up on Kavanaugh on Monday…I feel like the things he chose to speak on reflected that. I mean yeah, he did TECHNICALLY defend the man, but only after basically calling him an alcoholic and saying that he’s allowing the FBI to conduct a thorough investigation, where days ago, it seemed like it was going to be pretty limited. Maybe I’m reading a bit too much into it, but maybe, just maybe Trump doesn’t like people talking about another rich white guy on the day that he’s the rich white guy who should be getting the attention.
I really love how Trump spent Monday desperately trying to be relevant. It’s like he saw John McCain passing away as some act that was showing him up, and he just couldn’t decide how to deal. First he basically ignored the whole thing, hoping McCain’s death would just stop being the subject of conversation. He tried to hasten that process by putting the flag up to full mast at the White House, only to get shamed into putting it back down to half mast. Trying to steer into that skid he finally said something nice about McCain, even though by this point it seemed half hearted and bored. Finally he decided to try and bring the news back to him by touting trade discussions between Trump and Mexican President Pena Nieto as some major victory in Trade Agreements. The hilarious part was that it almost seemed like Nieto didn’t know he was going to be on speaker phone, addressing the press. The whole slap dash press conference didn’t cement any new agreement, just that the US and Mexico might have come to some consensus. Weirdly, I feel like Trump would have had a better day if someone else offered to testify against him. At least then he could should wildly into Twitter about a witch hunt, instead of trying to pump everyone up over a non-existent Trade deal. Certainly Pena Nieto had better things to do on Monday.
I will freely admit that I’m not an economics expert. Not even kind of. So when it comes to predictions regarding the economy, it’s my instinct to trust the analysis of people who understand that stuff. Now, when I say people who understand that stuff, I don’t mean self professed “deal makers”. That would be like listening to an actor’s political opinion: They might know what they’re talking about, but just as realistically, they’re trying to put on a show. So when the grand consensus by economists, both employed by the government and independent, seems to conclude that isolating the country from trading partners, imposing unnecessarily aggressive tariffs on them, and starting and escalating trade wars will ultimately kill more jobs and companies than help them, I’m inclined to believe them over the one loudmouth “Dealmaker” who is assuring everyone that he’s just playing hardball.
So, Trump is trying to sell his hasty tariff proclamation by playing the victim card again. I forgot that great businessmen whine about how they’re being taken advantage of on trade deals. But he says he won’t get rid of these tariffs unless a new, fairer NAFTA deal is put together. I dunno. I can’t seem to figure out what his idea of fair is. But I’m willing to bet the builders and construction companies who rely on Canadian imports for materials don’t think things are terribly fair at this point. Did you know that 40% of frame building lumber for Texas comes from Canada? Eddie Martin from the Tilson Housing Corp. does.
Mind the Exit 