Trump May Change the Way Trade Deficit Calculated

[riversedge]

Source: political wire






February 19, 2017 By Taegan Goddard

36 Comments
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“The leading idea under consideration would exclude from U.S. exports any goods first imported into the country, such as cars, and then transferred to a third country like Canada or Mexico unchanged… A larger trade deficit would give the Trump administration ammunition in arguing that trade deals need to be renegotiated, and might help boost political support for imposing tariffs.”




Read more: https://politicalwire.com/2017/02/19/trump-may-change-way-trade-deficit-calculated/?utm_content=buffered2c6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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Change the rules to the way you like them.

Link to tweet

[Ford_Prefect]

1. ...And Ketchup IS a vegetable! Newspeak 2.0 strikes again! Tweets on the half hour.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Behave and eat your Freedom Fries. NT

[IronLionZion]

7. the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.

so stop whining and do as you're told

[Ford_Prefect]

8. This was OUR Country long before it was His. Let Him leave first! I'll even provide the boat.

[elleng]

3. 'New Math,' I guess.

[old guy]

4. How very Republican of him.

Move the goal posts.

[Cryptoad]

10. GOP has never owned up to the 12 Trillion$ of Defict spending

they have given us.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. The figures for the sale and export of weapons systems and ammo to our NATO alllies

is NOT currently included in the trade totals. I'm not sure, but I don't think weapons sales/exports have EVER been included in the trade totals. If these sales, through the Department of Defense and have always been okayed beforehand by the State Department (hence all the "Hillary sold weapons to donors of the Clinton Fund" - it was her duty as Sec of State to approve these weapons sales by the Department of Defense) okayed by the State Department (were included, there might not actually be much of a trade deficit, but this is purely speculation on my part...

[Ford_Prefect]

6. When those weapons are paid for by US tax money granted as foreign aid it is still a deficit.

[Progressive dog]

18. Yes they are and always have been

Even when weapons are given away (which is a small percentage of weapons sales), the cost is foreign aid but the weapons are still exported.

[Cryptoad]

9. Gotta remember that the GOP doesn't believe in Math...

just make up numbers that suite ya, heh?

[George II]

11. That's how Reagan "reduced" unemployment and inflation - he changed the way they were....

...calculated.

[tenorly]

14. Exactly.

Nixon, we now know, tried to strong arm the BLS to do the same with CPI data when inflation hit double digits in 1974; luckily Watergate intervened.

The most egregious such manipulation took place under Bush though.

There's was the policy of putting the two wars "off budget" of course (which shaved around $170 billion a year from the headline deficit figure). And who can forget the perennial "3.3%" inflation readings - all the while prices for food, gas, rent, insurance, etc. were rising by leaps and bounds.

My guess is that, like with all of Dubya's more crafty ideas, Turd Blossom Rove had a lot to do with that.

[Demsrule86]

12. I don't see how importing cars into this country made

abroad and then counting them as a US export if they are sent elsewhere has ever been a good thing...I hate Trump. He is not the man to fix trade as American companies like Ford or GM will suffer but trade needs to be fixed.

[tenorly]

15. True that.

You might recall that when NAFTA was being negotiated under Poppy Bush (who truly deserves the blame for it, not Clinton), they almost snuck in a provision that would have allowed Canadian and Mexican cars sold in the U.S. to be counted as "domestic."

Oh boy.

[Demsrule86]

23. There is no question our screwed up

trade situation lead to the election of ass hat Trump who promised much but will deliver nothing...if he goes after American cars without some sort of Tariff on Korean, Japanese and European cars...he will drive the American autos out of business. He is a light weight and stupid...my son is laid off in Ohio...cars are not selling...autos are the first to show signs of recession and the first to show signs we are getting out of a recession...get ready, it will be a shit show...as an auto wife, I have seen it all. Hubs works for parts plant now...so far he is employed. He is an engineer.

[tenorly]

24. Thank you for the insight.

All the Best to you and your husband, Demsrule86.

[bornskeptic]

25. They are counted as imports when they are brought in.

If they are counted as exports when sent out, the overall effect on the balance of trade is nothing, as it should be. If they aren't counted as exports when shipped out it artificially increases the trade deficit, which, apparently, Trump wants to do.

[jmowreader]

13. This seems like a way to punish California for not voting for him

If this action causes tariffs to be implemented on goods imported from MX, the resulting trade war will cause companies currently trans shipping through Long Beach to use Mexican ports. (Goods trans shipped through MX will incur no tariff.) This will lead to layoffs at California ports.

Expect every state he didn't win to feel the brunt of his wrath.

[George II]

16. He's so freaking stupid he'll probably punish New York, too!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. The US runs a trade surplus with Canada, its biggest trading partner.

More trade (both ways) crosses the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor than there is trade with Japan.

One bridge. And there are many other routes between Canada and the US.

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. And a big part of the reason we have trade deficits is the strength of the dollar

The dollar strengthened 25% between 2014 and 2015. The good news is we can buy more stuff with our bucks. The bad news is that it makes our goods more expensive as exports.

But the deficit is coming down. In 2006 it was at its highest - around $750 Billion. Now it's around $500 Billion. So the trade deficit dropped by 1/3 during the Obama administration. Exactly how much faster do people expect it to drop?

Most folks would agree that our average standard of living is higher than it is in China and India. So, on average, China and India will buy less of our consumer goods than vice versa. That may change as China and India's economies grow, but to do that, they need us to BUY THEIR STUFF.

[turbinetree]

20. Just like his "empire" when they went into bankruptcy, just change the books

[AC_Mem]

21. We should all be chanting

WHERE ARE THE JOBS????

[Sunlei]

26. USA imports a lot of foods grown/slaughtered cheap & ships it right out to other countries at..

huge profits. So now they want exclusion from their corporate secret?

[Doreen]

27. Odd, didn't Bush do something like that?

With Bush I remember literally going to bed being below low income level and the next morning I was middle class. I was bringing in the same amount of income and no longer qualified for some types of help...overnight!! Prices on everything also went up. Is this what he is planning?