The Deputy Secretary position did not go unfilled for a long time because of Mnuchin's "micro-managing." It was offered to several people who turned it down. Probably because they did not want to join this train wreck of an Administration.
2
This is just another swamp creature who knows what side its bread is buttered on. So, you say "he has learned to appreciate Mr. Trump’s use of the threat of tariffs as a negotiating tool". Well - there's news for him: bullying one's way through trade negotiations buys nothing more than retaliation; retaliation will destroy American businesses and jobs because exports will decline, sales revenue will decrease more than costs, wiping out the profits of many affected businesses which rely on exports for part of their income. That's why corporate America is so furious over this. Remember - profits are a residual that make up only a share of total revenue - wipe out some revenue and the profits are gone. Those are the real consequences of idiotic policy and reach well beyond what a refurbished drug addict calls a "family feud"; there is no family. This government has destroyed any notion of "family". It's "America First". The targeted countries are more than ever incentivized to diversify their trade and insulate themselves from the perils of ignorance and unreliability from any one source.
1
Since when did being a sychophant become a desired skill. Munchkin will never cross his boss, much as he pretends of otherwise.
3
"Last year, the Treasury secretary was scoffed at by economic policymakers from across the political spectrum for insisting that the $1.5 trillion Trump tax cuts would pay for themselves. Nearly every independent economic analysis found otherwise, and the analysis produced by the department was mocked for its lack of rigor. "
Say no more. Mnuchin , as a member of the 1%, got his huge personal tax cut passed at the expense of the 98% and health care for the bottom 60%. His money will be in untraceable offshore accounts when eventually the USA has to face its national debt and taxes must be raised.
America , what have you done to yourself !
14
Trump is scheduled to attend the Quebec G7 meeting this week. Mnuchin just got back from the (G7) Finance Ministers meeting in BC where he got more than ear full from other attendees re US tariffs.
I suggest that Trump , if he shows up in Quebec , go golfing and avoid getting a dose of reality from the rational world. The G6 can add China & India to the group and make progress without the USA, at least until Trump & the GOP are gone.
4
Our business just saw the first effects of the trade war. THe tariffs on Chinese quartz countertop slabs went up 300%. It has effectively put one of our vendors totally out of business because they cannot begin to be competitive with suppliers who get their slabs from Brazil, Mexico, Israel or Vietnam.
8
Probably his pay packet influences his decisions, as well as looking at what has happened to past government officials who had a different opinion than Trump, makes him toe the line and become another 'yes' President Trump, employee.
China most probably couldn't believe it's luck when the Republicans decided to punish it's allies, with the exception of Australia, when Trump added tariffs to their imports. Why the inconsistency in rewarding and punishing some of USA's loyal allies needs to be looked at more closely.
Fear of free trade policies is caused because of weak government law making and negotiating skills in free trade agreements. Our new government in NZ has shown you can have free trade agreements and put strict laws in place, within your own nation, to protect your own infrastructure, jobs and citizens, from a flood of new immigrants. There needs to be tougher laws at central and local government level to protect your nation from exploitation. USA needs to do the hard yards and toughen up its laws to protect it's people and infrastructure from exploitation from countries that are part of the free trade agreement. You need to say 'no' and get the feeling of being in control of your own nation and protect your own people by passing new laws to counteract free trade agreements. You don't just let every tom, dick, and harry from countries you have free trade agreements with waltz into your nation and become carpetbaggers.
Comparing the USA and NZ is absurd. We have 320 million people. California alone is the sixth largest economy in the world.
Well we both agree to disagree. USA has more people in government to work through these issues. The present NZ government has less employees and determines what the laws of this nation are through the Parliamentary legislature. So what are your politicians doing to earn their wages? Maybe the media needs to start addressing waste in government and overpaid USA politicians who aren't earning their wages. For a start USA politicans could catch the same planes as the general public do. No need for taxpayers to fork out for their egos.
Here are my thoughts on the agriculture aspect. China said publicly a few months ago that it doesn't need to buy the $16 billion of soy beans from the US. It can buy them from other places like South America & smaller countries in Asia. That's true. In Argentina for several years farmers have been converting large amounts of the great Pampas to soy bean growing. And they have been buying up farmland across the river in Uruguay for the same purpose. And Brazil has been boosting its production too.
China has the capacity to increase soy bean production too. But its farmers are better off growing wheat, while soy beans are bought from overseas. That's what trade is all about (read Adam Smith).
Mexico too, anticipating problems with NAFTA, is dealing with S. America for corn & soy beans.
US agriculture is more or less frantic about the outcomes of NAFTA & trade with China.
1
how did he become Treasury Secretary in the first place? Mr. "Munchkin" worked at Goldman, financed couple of movies?
3
Germany is worried about its car exports. Britain is dealing with Brexit. Italy’s government is in flux. Greece may still fail any day.
Europe is in turmoil and Trump is taking advantage of it to renegotiate deals to our favor. This would be great even if the current deals are fair.
But it is all the more necessary because the current deals aren’t fair - we are paying through the nose for Europe’s defense (barely any of them hit the 2% NATO threshold) when they are the ones who got invaded by Russia. They tax our cars at 10% while we tax BMWs and Audi’s and Benzs at merely 2.5%. The list goes on.
Same for Canada and Mexico. I’m Canadian but it makes sense for the bigger neighbor to leverage its size. Just amazing prior administrations haven’t done the same.
2
The reason that the US gets upset that some NATO members don't spend as much as the US would like is that the US is unable to sell as much military equipment as it would like.
It is too bad that the Chinese seem to be as dumb as the Americans when it comes to trade as it seems that their trade approach is combined with their military focus. They could be sitting on a gold mine if only they could move away from their silly human animal survival instincts where they must have improved killing tools which are found in their current versions of the bows and guns used in the past for survival. China does not need to have a military machine like the USA. No one is ever going to attack them. If they were to move away from their current military buildups, stop using their created islands for military aggression, give up on claiming title to the independent nation of Taiwan and then open up their borders to a real fair-trade system they could immediately have economic partnerships with the European Union, as well as Canada, Mexico and for that matter every other nation, except the USA, where all of them can win. With the world’s business investments spreading across multi-nation borders the successful nations in the future will be those who have greater and more complex economic relationships across most nations than those who want to go back to 1900 when global trade was still a child. Parts of the current Chinese government system seem to want to move forward while others cannot move into the current world and seem to even want to regress even farther back to when they were a military giant, even knowing that a military focus will always lead to failure.
1
Mnuchin is like all the rest of the Trump team of deplorables, an expert at deception. No one gets super rich without this character trait.
9
The economy looks ready for a crash to dwarf the 2008 crash. Trade wars aside, the real problem lies in sovereign debt across the world. Only the NY stock exchange offers profits so the rich from across the world have invested in it. Margin investing today dwarves margin investing in 2008. Should creditors call margins the market will crash like nothing seen before. Banks look shakier today than in 2008. Deutsche Bank stock has plummeted more than 40% in 2018. The dollar survives only because people have no where else to go. Trump has continued Obama's policies of increasing debt with war fare and government spending across the board. Despite superficial differences, Obama and Trump walk in lock step on all the big issues affecting the economy. Don't worry, the rich will make the working class pay to fix their problems, as they always have.
1
Mnuchin is a brilliant Secretary of Treasury. President Trump made a brilliant choice. Another triumph for the President. Thank you.
1
What makes him brilliant?
3
Mnuchin seems your typical Trump fat cat. His moderation seems to have gotten nowhere. He's dishonest and his testimony can be generally disregarded.
7
“You have an intellectual slugfest going on in the White House,” said Stephen Moore. Well slugfest sure, but intellectual?
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I beg to differ. It may look like a slug fest, but as with World Wide Wrestling, it's all for show.
4
Like practically every other Goldman alum, Mnuchin would sell the US to China in a New York minute, finance the deal, and stick around for the carve up, collecting fees along the way.
There is no way this guy should be near these negotiations.
The only Goldman alum I'd trust on this team is Steve Bannon. Sorry, Times readers.
No more promises from Beijing. They never keep them. Trump may be all the bad things people say he is, but taking it to Beijing is one thing he's got right. Don't fret yourself about tariffs, recessions, or any other detail. The whole free world is finally addressing this potentially mortal problem. Keep the sell outs like Mnuchin out of the process and it will resolve itself.
8
I love the strategy of trying to stay on Trump's 'good side', as if he had one. Everyone who has answered the garbled, contradictory, myopic and narcissistic call to join Trump on his adventure will find out what it costs to dance with the devil. Welcome aboard the ship of fools. Don't forget to count the life-jackets.
27
If you volunteered to join the Trump team, it means one thing, you are a cut of the same cloth. Maybe you play the game differently, but for sure you are playing the same game.
4
May we assume that "Steve" Mnuchin is the lamb-of-the-week at The Times slaughter house? Why not? Let's ignore alt-facts like the $576 Billion trade deficit [hey, there is no trade war because the US surrendered decades ago in the grand style of Vichy France - we are in the looting phase of the defeat cycle], and pit free-trader "Steve" against the isolationist nationalist populist Trump. Of course Trump is against "free trade" - he thinks America should come first for Americans. That's just treason talk from a traitor. In a social justice world, the US would produce no more Goods. We would import everything and the only people with jobs would be the already bloated government over-employed sector. American liberals would be delirious (you can't subsist on denial and dementia alone) and our trading "partners" would happily spend their new found loot on condos in Manhattan and Frisco. Win-Win. So, haul "Steve" into the sacrifice chute, but remember to practice humanistic slaughter.
3
Any sane negotiator would build his coalition before confronting China and Russia.... but NOT Trump. According to NYT, “The White House strikes a conciliatory tone one day and a militant one the next....”.
Trump’s tactics seem to depend upon his mood swings. It’s gotten so bad that 7 of our former allies “...issued an unusual rebuke over America’s trading practices and the use of tariffs against allies.”
But despite Trump’s erratic, illogical, and destructive performance, our republican led complicit congress & feckless democrats lead by the Three Stooges Schumer, Pelosi, and Feinstein, stand by idly while Trump tramples partnerships that took world wars to forge.
Trump’s inept management has created advantages for China every step of the way.
Consider that China agreed to provide Brazil with needed infrastructure so Brazil can replace the US as China’s soybean supplier.
Bye Bye US farmers.
Second, after Japan invaded Mongolia during WW II, China and Japan remained hostile... but NO longer. They are working together to offset the seemingly insane policy offered by Trump.
I can think of only two reasons for this active destruction of the US economy. Question: Is Trump experiencing unreported medical/mental problems or is Trump receiving compensation for the erratic behavior that’s harming the US?
The survival of our nation comes down to a special prosecutor and a porn star.
Chester Riley said it best: What a revolting' development this is!".
2
Good job! Trump's already started the trade wars. Too bad Mnuchin's grip wasn't around Trump's neck.
11
Still more articles from a reputable newspaper like the Times so focused on the personalities at the White House.
How about an article on how China has been ripping off the USA for years particularly in intellectual property.
I'm glad we are finally standing up to china and addressing the trade deficit.
1
So how is putting tariffs on Canada making it hard on China? My GOD; is there anything Trump does ever going to make people wake up and realize what an international pariah your dear Liar-In-Chief already is. If you want to have NO FRIENDS left; keep it up!!
21
Putting tariffs on Canada is part of Trump's NAFTA game. He wants access to the dairy products market, which would destroy an important sector of our economy. For Trump tariffs are a weapon against free trade.
As for intellectual property rights, The Chinese already have what they need. Tariffs will only bring about a trade war where the US will lose.
Donald Trump is working to make both Vladimir Putin's Russia and Xi Jinping's China great again.
Trump's primary trade concern is enhancing the profit of his personal and family business interests. Which is why Trump is hiding his personal and family income tax returns and business records from the American people.
Steve Mnuchin is distracted by looking at the what is best for the economic interests of the United States. When what really matters to President Trump is what is best for the House of Trump.
5
The interesting thing is not what Mr. Trump will do, but what could the U.S. do and does the rest of the world want to be reduced to a grovelling vassal. If not, what long term strategy can they develop to avoid that.
3
"Strain", honest disagreement is an integral part of any negotiation. HYT should review Trump's best seller, THE ART OF THE DEAL
From wage earners to entrepreneurs, farm communities to industrial strongholds, we all deserve so much more. Trump and cohorts, including Mnuchin, are blowing up markets and our foreign trade system that so many have worked so long and deliberately to establish. Remember this when it's time to vote: No one in the Republican-controlled Congress or within the out-of-touch Trump administration is dedicated to defending and protecting rural communities or small business owners. Make them pay!
3
Saw what one will about the present administration, it seems to have brought to light many trade inequities between the US and other nations. Why, for instance, does the US import aluminum and steel from Canada? Why did Bethlehem Steel become a casino owned by Sheldon Adelson. Looking beyond the typical left-right paradigm, there remain many unanswered questions about trade and manufacturing here in America. America would do well to have more knowledge about why the manufacturing base of America has eroded over the past 40 odd years. As for Steve Mnuchin, he’ll do whatever he needs to do in order to maintain a profitable pipeline of information which can used to profit off of what ever short term and long term events may take place. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr Mnuchin remains in close contact with his cronies at Goldman Sachs. In short, follow the money.
1
Why does the US import so much aluminum and steel from Canada?
It's called "comparative advantage" or Economics 101. For example, producing aluminium requires a lot of electricity. Canada's aluminium production takes places in areas of the country (e.g. Quebec and BC) where hydro-electricity is relatively cheap. This means that aluminium is produced in these locations for a much lower cost than it can be elsewhere.
It's also no secret that American manufacturing has been eroded over the past 40 years because it is cheaper to produce goods elsewhere. Given their primary emphasis on short-term profits, American companies outsourced their production around the globe.
While Canada still produces steel, it makes far less than it used to. Although the transition was painful, our 'steel towns' diversified their economic base through a mixture of policy and investment. There are myriad ways to address the problems caused by outsourcing, but the present administration seems intent on exacerbating them.
4
Mercantile system: a system, developing with the rise of the modern station state, which aimed at the acquisition of an ever increasing amount of precious metals by establishing a favorable balance of trade and exporting far more goods than those imported, and by setting up colonies as a source of needed goods and revenue and as a market. (Source: The Lexicon Webster Dictionary) That was the policies pursued by the great powers of the XVI-XVII-XVIII Centuries when the bourgeoisies were building their national economies in their respective countries. The best exemple is Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister of Louis XIV, who was practicing mercantilism with a nationalist touch. That was the "Colbertisme". After their national economies was build then they started practicing free trade. The first to do it was Great Britain, they wanted to export their manufacturing produces and have access to natural ressources they did not have in their own country.
Some aspect of the economic policy of president Trump are directly borrowed from mercantilism: protectionism, increasing exportation to eliminate the trade deficit, economic nationalism. Now the question is: Can you solve problems of the XXI Century with solution of the XVII Century?
5
Mr. Mnuchin told members of Congress to “vote for the debt ceiling for me.”
That sums it up. For Mnuchin, Trump, and too many in Washington, it’s about ME – not US.
We must find a way to hold self-interested and self-enriching Politicians and their staffers, from both parties, personally liable, responsible and accountable for the lies they have told US, their gross mismanagement of our county, our $21T and growing national debt (106% of GDP), and approximately 80T in future, unfunded liabilities jeopardizing our economic and national security, while benefiting themselves, their party, and special interest donors.
http://www.usdebtforum.com
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When is the NYT going to come out with a clear article on what the US trade situation really is? The facts are these: There is no such thing as "free trade". Most countries have tariffs. President Trump is instituting tariffs on goods from countries that have high tariffs on US manufactured goods and have - - and expect -- low tariffs on their goods imported into our country. This costs American jobs and destroys American industries. Anyone want to make the case that that is "fair" or "free"?
The NAFTA agreement is its own problem. The issue that is preventing a revised agreement is that Canada and Mexico allow countries in the EU and China to send unfinished goods to their countries, finish them and then send them to the US duty-free. This is a backdoor way that the EU and China avoid US customs. Is that fair?
Let's get the facts before the American people, the real facts. An in-depth article spelling out the details is long overdue.
8
Low tariffs also mean that US consumers are able to purchase goods and services at lower prices than they would be able to if tariffs were high. That other countries wish to harm their consumers is their choice. I don't see any reason why I should have to pay higher taxes under TCJA and higher prices with tariffs placed on products using TRUMPED up national security arguments.
If national security were really the motivation, the US could stockpile these metals purchased from domestic producers.
The purpose of trade is to increase the overall welfare -- not to protect inefficient producers.
8
The US collects upward of 35 billion a year in tariffs. Most countries, including the US collects tariffs. These tariffs are passed along to consumers of these products.
NAFTA requires a certificate of origin in compliance with the agreement.
Fair trade is in the eye of the beholder and isn't a rational for tearing up agreements without going through agreed upon trade complaints.
Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs aren't based on trade negotiations, they are based on protecting key industries for National defense purposes. Fair trade and free trade are irrelevant when National security protection is invoked as a reason for tariffs.
2
Trump is complaining that Canada is not fair to American dairy farmers because Canada uses a system whereby they don't overproduce. There is no good argument to suggest a country should not retain the right to feed it own people. Now that's fair.
6
Mnuchin probably sees how completely irrational tariffs are, and it's hard to implement something so counterproductive. Mnuchin is not directly working for Vladimir Putin, so you can imagine how confusing it must seem to take those orders from the president of the United States. When and how, one wonders, is Putin relaying his game plan to Trump? Because it sure seems like Trump is getting his orders straight from Putin, who is no doubt delighted that he's been successful in maneuvering Trump to break the bonds of trust and viability with our closest allies. This seems like a treasonous act to me.
14
Tariffs are not hard to implement at all. Mr. Mnuchin should just study how our trading "allies" China, Germany and Japan have been so effective in blocking the import of American goods while flooding our markets with their goods. If the playing field were level, the US would not have an $811 Billion deficit in Goods.
1
This non argument is straight out of a trump,playbook. Why is everyone so mean to America? All countries have deficits in some goods. That is WHY they need to trade. Try looking up trace surpluses in the USA.
The trade deficit is more due to the fact that we Americans can—and do—import more goods than we make. We especially like to buy from Mexico and China, because these goods are inexpensive and we can afford to purchase them. It's a pie that must be divided equally.
Of course. "Free trade" is desired by the oligarchs so that they may exploit people worldwide, and never pay a shred of duty. Social fabric be damned, too!
4
By oligarchs, I assume you mean consumers?
What an optimistic lede—but I don't think anybody in the Trump administration has a "firm grasp" on the issue of trade. Trump is following a policy that has its origins in his own political hype (sounds good; results may not turn out so well). Mnuchin has failed to promote any kind of rational economic policy when we treat friendly democracies (the EU, Britain, Canada, Mexico) as we treat our authoritarian foes (China certainly does not trade fairly and we need them to open their markets without punitive conditions). For one thing, we don't run a trade deficit with Canada, and they also don't fit under a law that punishes them in the name of national defense. The fact is, nobody in the administration has control of the "boss." Presumptions of some sort of brake in the White House, let alone rational economic policy, are therefore not given.
18
The President is using National security as the reason to put in place tariffs. If the reason to have tariffs is to protect industries for national security reasons, there is no legitimate reason to get rid of the tariffs. National security Trumps free or fair trade. That's why the President can tear up these agreements. When it comes to national defense Presidential power is almost unlimited.
Good faith trade negotiations and national security aren't the same thing. Munchin might well believe in free trade. If National security is at stake what difference does it make.
We are either negotiating trade agreements in good faith or we are protecting critical industries for National defense. The question for Mnuchin and the President is which is it?
If we are using National Security to bully allies into better trade agreements what does that say about good faith trade negotiations, respect for the law and alliances?
24
Trump is creating far more damage to the friendships between us and our allies than any good that could ever come from these ridiculous tariffs.
11
At 75 years old, this is by far the worst Administration and Congress in my lifetime. They not only can't come to agreement within their own circles, they can't even agree with themselves without shifting gears a day or two later.
They also express a dislike for one another both publicly and privately. Not exactly a cohesive group!
23