DJT: “We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and hire American.”

Yay,  Wahoo: No more foreign imports

(Jobs, Jobs, and Jobs for Everyone Here at Home)

Psst: That pledge doesn’t apply to you Sweetheart

Extracted from Beijing (AFP report):

My take and emphasis re: Mr. Trump actions prior to and after his inauguration day speech and this pledge: “We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and hire American.”

1. He has defended the licensing of the Trump name for goods made in China (shoes, ties, dress shirts) as simply “smart business.”

2.  He has accused China of stealing “our jobs through unfair trade practices and currency manipulation.”

3.  He slammed American firms (e.g., Ford and Nabisco) for their off-shore business.

4.  He has kept up that kind of pressure vowing to punish domestic and foreign companies that manufacture abroad with threats of massive tariffs as much as 45 percent.

5.  His fusillades (and tons of tweets) have led some American companies to second-guess decisions to build production facilities overseas.

Now, reality and from my point of view and I’m just surmising but this is how I picture him holding a family business confabs to talk business strategy: “Okay here’s what’s going to happen. You will continue to do as much as possible and as fast as possible and make as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. We don’t know when this ride will wear thin. So stick to the plan. It’s really a great plan, a really great plan, and it can get greater. It has not failed us in the past except when they try to sidetrack us and we are Trump’s and can’t allow that to happen, so keep on track.”

Specifics about “We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American.” First, bullshit, Mr. Trump – that should suffice as a starting point, and then this:  Apparently, Ivanka Trump Kushner, his daughter is the exception to that rule, cite:

Even as he spoke that January 20, 2017, at least eight shipments of her “Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, bags, and clothes — more than 59 tons to be precise — were steaming towards American ports from China. That is according to U.S. Customs bills of lading examined by AFP.

As Trump uses the presidential pulpit to censure manufacturers — both domestic and foreign for using overseas labor to make goods for American consumers stuff with Ivanka’s name keep rolling in.

For example: More than 2 tons of ladies' polyester woven blouses, 1,600 cowhide leather wallets, and 25 tons of “Made-in-China” footwear were among at least 82 such shipments that passed U.S. Customs (almost one per day) since November 8 when he was elected right through February 26 (Customs records show).

The three U.S. companies holding Ivanka licenses to manufacture her products for the “Ivanka Trump fashion line” are: Garment maker G-III, Mondani Handbags, and Marc Fisher Footwear. (Note: Marc Fisher told AFP it had no comment, while the others did not respond to requests for comment).

(I note: Why should they comment. They are making tons of money with those tons of shipments – besides, it’s just “Smart business,” right Mr. President)?

Background: Invanka’s business deals have come under scrutiny since Nordstrom announced in February it would stop carrying her products, citing poor sales, and that provoked a scathing attack from Trump and his advisers and even prompted senior counselor Kellyanne Conway to state on FOX TV during an interview that urged Americans to go out and buy Ivanka’s stuff.

Conway W/H Commercial for Ivanka Stuff (via FOX)

FYI: More than 1,200 shipments of Trump-branded products have flowed into the U.S. from China and Hong Kong over the past decade (according to an examination of U.S. import data last year by the anti-Trump PAC: Our Principles).

In February, Japanese firm Nisshinbo Holdings (a leading global maker of automobile brake parts) dropped plans to open a factory in Mexico, saying it was due to Trump's trade policies. But Trump has been notably silent on his daughter's products, which are sold in American retailers like Macy's, Lord & Taylor, and TJ Maxx. For example: G-III alone sold $29.4 million of the goods in 2015. Their sales in the first nine months of 2016 were up $13.3 million over the same period the previous year (re: The company's public filings).

The president in typical response has tweeted: “My daughter has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom.”

No, Mr. Trump: It is the public who been treated unfairly by you and your gang of greedy hypocritical con-artist slicksters. And, it’s far more than just “smart business” as you say. It’s the kind mobs associate with, called “A shakedown.”

Thanks for stopping.