Tariff Talk and more talk tariff.

Responses to Facebook chats.

[ ] ALL THE BLAH. As though tariffs are new. Examples: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Reciprocal Tariff Act of 1934 enabled him to liberalize U.S. trade policy around the globe. LBJ's tariff spikes per trade quarrel with Germany (chicken and vans). 

       Fast forward: When China joined the WTO in 2001 (Russia in 2012) tariff tactics had to be reworked. China and Russia and their BRICS partners got the raw materials and APIs. (The BRICS trade bloc was formed in 2009.) The Chinese are the shrewdest of these BFFs. The merchant who talks less but deals more. 

       Meanwhile, Japan is the #1 FDI country in the U.S. and #1 host of US troops overseas (#3 is South Korea). Recently, Taiwan's TSMC and SK's Hyundai expressed willingness to upgrade investments here; Japan's SoftBank as well. Etc etcetera. 

       These are giant corporations playing mahjong on a weekend as they talk business. Tariff talks. But the media wants our clicks so here we go. 

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[ ] THE PHILIPPINES. The U.S. has controlled Philippine economics since 1898. Why is this so big a deal now? Yet as the 21st century strode in, China loomed as the Philippines' top trading partner. So why don't Filipino farmers and workers turn to the BRICS bloc in the case of Washington's Donald Trump “messing things up.”

       The (Western) media tells us that because of Mr Trump's tariffs (which is not new in history) the world now suffers. Because of the U.S.? So whatever the U.S. does, the Philippines and the world simply abide? Or crashes like domino tiles? 

       Donald Trump's reasons are Very American Reasons per its economic competition with China. But China's global trade expansionism isn't about to stop. So why not sit with the Chinese, Russians, Indonesians, Brazilians etcetera? We got leverage. The Philippines' strategic position in the South China Sea is integral to Washington's military/security paranoia. We once junked the U.S. bases, we can do that again. 

       But then again, the Philippines' hatred for Trump almost equals its hatred for China. What do we really want? Weird kind of colonial mentality? LOL! 💸🏢💸