TARIFF 2 926
SEE TWO 8 26
primary 2 25
maybe belated, art'l of faith free mkt gop}:
SEE INFLATION
see navarro spinning madly 6 25
SEE BRIBE CORRUPT 3 COOK APPLE SWISS
SEE SCOTUS 2 26
SEE FAIL
SEE MFG
INGRAHAM
SEE CORRUPT 3 MUSK STARLINK
see kudlow NAVARRO FOX BS moore bad trinity ben stein award
see voodoo three
see outsourcing
see biz man great negotiator BS
see homeless cda lumber tax 7 25 mass deport labor
see reductionism, transaction, retaliation, sinophobe earth2
see family farm rural
BAK 11 25
-=-=
-=-=
-=-=
-=-=-
FACTUALLY
Executive summary
Reporting shows that Cantor Fitzgerald — the firm Howard Lutnick chaired before joining the Trump administration and now run by his sons — marketed deals to buy legal claims to potential tariff refunds, offering importers roughly 20–30% of any recovered refund in exchange for those rights [1]^ ^[2]; however, public reporting and firm statements stop short of proving widespread, completed purchases by the Lutnick family’s firm, and Cantor has publicly denied executing transactions that took risk on the tariffs’ legality [3]. Congress has opened inquiries and Capitol Hill Democrats have demanded records to determine whether the marketing of those “tariff receipt” claims translated into purchases that now entitle the Lutnicks to refunds after the Supreme Court struck down the levies [4]^ ^[5]^ ^[6].
AccurateInaccurate
1. What reporters actually documented: marketing a secondary market, not a cashier’s check
Multiple outlets documented a nascent secondary market in which Wall Street firms — and Cantor Fitzgerald in particular — offered to buy companies’ legal claims to future tariff refunds, pitching to assume the legal risk in exchange for 20–30% of any recovered duties [2]^ ^[1]; Wired and other reports described internal programs that allowed traders to acquire the rights to “hundreds of millions” in potential refunds, which triggered public scrutiny because of Howard Lutnick’s prior leadership of Cantor and his role as Commerce Secretary [7]^ ^[8].
2. What advocates in Washington flagged: appearance of insider advantage and formal records requests
Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren publicly probed Cantor for potential conflicts and insider dealing after press reports that the firm marketed these deals while the former boss (now Commerce Secretary) had been instrumental in designing those tariffs [1]. Representative Jamie Raskin demanded records from Secretary Lutnick and his son Brandon to investigate whether the family’s transactions create an appearance of profiting from policy the elder Lutnick helped craft [4]^ ^[5].
3. What Cantor and other reporting actually deny or confirm — the evidentiary gap
Cantor Fitzgerald has told at least one outlet that it “has never executed any transactions or taken risk on the legality of tariffs,” pushing back on claims that Lutnick’s sons personally profited from a bet against the tariffs [3]. News coverage and fact-checks note that while the firm marketed the opportunity to buy claims and allowed traders to express interest, public reporting does not supply a ledger of completed purchases or identify specific refund claims now held by the Lutnicks [8]^ ^[6].
4. So: did the family pay companies to buy their tariff receipts?
Available public reporting establishes that Cantor Fitzgerald marketed and offered to buy tariff-refund claims and that traders had the capacity to buy such rights [2]^ ^[6], but does not provide conclusive, documented proof that the Lutnick family paid companies to transfer those claims in completed, traceable transactions; the firm’s denial and the absence of transaction records in reporting leave that question unresolved in the public record [3]^ ^[8].
5. Are they benefitting from tariff refunds now?
Because the Supreme Court’s decision created the possibility of large refunds, outlets and commentators have warned that any firm holding purchased claims could profit, and some coverage describes a potential windfall for Cantor if it holds claims [7]^ ^[9]; but without verifiable disclosure of executed deals or public filings showing claim ownership, there is no confirmed public evidence that the Lutnick family is receiving refund payouts today — only plausible exposure and ongoing congressional scrutiny [6]^ ^[4].
6. What to watch next and why agendas matter
Congressional records requests and any mandatory disclosures from Cantor or the Commerce Department are the clearest avenues to move from plausible exposure to documented fact; meanwhile, political actors and some outlets have incentives to amplify worst-case narratives about corruption given the partisan stakes, while Cantor has clear reputational incentive to deny trades — readers should treat both denunciations and denials as motivated until primary documents are released [1]^ ^[3].
-=-=-
-=-=
MMA 10 26
-=-=
mma
Fox pundits egg on Trump’s trade war with Canada
09/02/26
-=-=
-=-=
TRUMP SAID EXXON AND CHEVRON IN VENEZ?
9 26
President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war with Canada just took a major turn — and it was not in the president's interests.
"In Texas and New York, big oil and big money are placing their bets on the future of the energy industry," reported The Globe and Mail's Andrew Willis on Monday. "Major American oil companies and asset managers are lining up to invest in Canadian infrastructure. They seem to have missed U.S. President Donald Trump’s weekend Truth Social post declaring 'I don’t want Canadian anything.'"
Describing the companies in question as ExxonMobil Holdings Corp., ConocoPhillips, KKR & Co. Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc., The Globe and Mail added that they are also steering clear of Venezuela, which Trump set his sights on earlier this year.
"The American economy runs on Canadian energy," Willis pointed out. "Last year, the U.S. imported $160-billion of oil, gas and electricity from its northern neighbour. Mr. Trump’s attempt to position Venezuela as a counter to Canada’s strongest suits is a bad bluff."
He continued, "The President’s anti-Canada policies are undermined by the actions of the largest U.S. oil companies and biggest asset managers. They are all investing in a robust long-term Canadian relationship. The larger lesson from Mr. Trump’s recent Truth Social postings on Venezuela and Canada is what they say about the President’s declining relevance."
This is not the first report to indicate that Trump's attempt to bully Canada into winning a trade war against the United States has spectacularly failed.
“As Carney prepared to walk away — a rare example of a foreign leader telling the president ‘enough’ — Trump was retreating on another trade front,” reported The Washington Post's David J. Lynch earlier in August. “On Friday, after insisting for more than a year that tariffs do not affect consumer prices, he lifted tariffs on beef imports, saying the move would lead to lower grocery prices.”
Lynch added, “The two developments, coupled with legal challenges to Trump’s tariffs, leave the president’s signature economic policy in a state of flux.”
Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and currently senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, also told the Post that Trump's Canada trade war has reached “a juncture where other countries may be very closely watching how this plays out as they also are becoming increasingly frustrated with the demands the U.S. is placing on them in these largely one-sided trade agreements.”
Trump is also failing on the PR front in his trade war against Canada, most recently in trying to retaliate against Canada by renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.
"Throughout his political career, Trump’s signature skill has been to drive the conversation where he wanted it to go. He declares victory when things have not been won," wrote Slate's Ben Jacobs on Monday. "He ducks attribution with the rhetorical tic 'many people are saying,' frequently followed by things that people are decidedly not saying. He posts outrageous graphics on social media. And, of course, he renames things: Political opponents get nicknames, buildings get Trump’s name, and bodies of water get America’s name."
Yet that has not worked with the Lake Ontario gambit, indicating that Trump's "superpower" with PR may be waning.
-=-=
-=-=
AN 8 26
TARIFF MIZZOU
At a time when the Republican Party is fighting for life under an unpopular president, an economic analysis reveals the red state of Missouri is looking at serious problems as President Donald Trump escalates his prolonged trade war between the U.S. and Canada, according to the Kansas City Star.
Trump may have tried to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” in his latest sleight to Canada, but there’s nothing symbolic about the impact of the 50 percent tariffs the Trump administration levied on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. There’s also nothing symbolic about the pain of the retaliatory tariffs Canada plans to impose on roughly 700 American products beginning Sept. 8.
“The Kansas City metro area exports about $4 billion in goods to Canada annually, including vehicles, plastics, chemicals and agricultural products," according to a 2025 study by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“Any variation in tariffs may be sensitive,” said Ariel Dvoskin, who studies trade theory and teaches economics at the University of Missouri Kansas City, “and the [50 percent] variation that we are talking about right now … would substantially affect the exports from KC.”
Dvoskin pointed out that a whopping 37 percent of Kansas City’s exported goods go to Canada, which puts this Trump-voting state in a nasty bullseye. “When you increase tariffs, of course, those who suffer first are workers because prices go up and their real wages go down," Dvoskin said.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce study identified Kansas City as one of the U.S. cities that would take the hardest hit in a trade war between the North American allies, with Kansas City the third-most vulnerable city in a prolonged trade dispute because of its dependence on Canadian demand.
The info was based on 2023 data, but Andrew DiCapua, the chamber’s principal economist and the study’s author, told the Star that the results still apply today.
“Kansas City really is at the center of this trade war,” DiCapua said. “ … It raises costs for businesses. I mean, someone needs to pay for this. Even if it’s not passed on to consumers right away, someone still needs to pay for the tariffs. So smaller businesses that rely on these supply chains are going to have to eat those costs.”
Frank Lenk, director of economic research at the Mid-America Regional Council, told the Star that Kansas City’s auto industry is among the clearest targets because vehicles are one of the region’s largest exports and much of that trade is tied to Canada. Lenk added that Trump’s trade war can also hike manufacturing costs for companies like Ford and General Motors because parts and materials move back and forth across the border before final assembly.
They can either absorb those costs and threaten their financial integrity and workers or pass the costs down to customers in a colossal wallop.
-=-=
-=-=
AN 8 26
President Donald Trump's latest tariff "scams" are once again confirming his "disdain for his own voters," the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman told The New Republic, showing how little regard he has for their intelligence.
Krugman appeared as a guest on the latest edition of the outlet's "Daily Blast" podcast, where host Greg Sargent pressed him about Trump's latest moves regarding tariffs, including the announcement that 300,000 metric tons of imported beef would be allowed into the U.S. without a tariff rate in order to combat soaring prices. He also claimed to have reached an agreement to sell the beef at 25 percent below the market rate to theoretically lower prices even more.
Krugman noted several issues with this plan, which he called "really weird" and "incoherent," including the fact that the White House would not confirm where the beef is being imported from. It is also unclear who the market rate discount has been negotiated with and how supermarkets are supposed to know which beef is the discounted import product.
Beyond those issues, Sargent also noted that the move seemed to be another tacit admission by Trump that his tariffs raise prices for U.S. consumers, despite his past insistence that the exporting countries pay the price for them. Krugman agreed, arguing that the move showed both the president's "contempt" for his supporters, as well as his own fundamental misunderstandings about tariffs.
"I mean, every bit of the policy from the beginning has been contempt—belief that people will not understand what I’m doing, which is helped by the fact that he himself doesn’t understand what he’s doing," Krugman said. "How can you say, 'foreigners pay the tariffs, and, by the way, I will help you by making them not pay the tariffs?' This does not sound to me like any kind of thought-out policy. This is thrashing. And I would ask, by the way — even if I don’t see how this actually helps consumers — but, you know, what is it, nine weeks till the midterms? The idea that this is going to change people’s views about Trump economic policy, aside from the fact that you’re going to have a few thousand really pissed-off beef producers — how does this even work politically?"
He continued: "He’s trying to claim that he’s doing something for consumers. And there’s a lot of hamburger-eating MAGA voters, who he hopes won’t remember that he’s talking out of two sides of his mouth on what tariffs do to prices. And then there’s also—he’s, I guess, taking for granted — I mean, this is not good for the farm sector, which is very, very Trumpy, or was — and he’s basically saying, 'you’ll vote for my people regardless.' And, you know, he might be right, but at this point I’m starting to wonder about that."
-=-=
an 8 26
A Connecticut manufacturing company that has operated for more than a century is finally closing its doors after being sent over the edge by President Donald Trump’s economic policies.
Its longtime owner cites “soaring business expenses and tariffs as key reasons for the decision,” reports NBC Connecticut.
“Leed-Himmel Industries, a custom aluminum manufacturing company based in Hamden, has been winding down operations after decades of serving customers,” NBC CT reports. “The closure did not come as a surprise to owner Howard Goldfarb.”
When NBC Connecticut visited the plant in 2024, Goldfarb was already warning reporters that rising expenses were biting an expanding hunk out of his business and putting pressure on it.
"It could get to the point where I just say, 'It's not worth doing anymore. All we're doing is working to pay the electrical bill,'" he told NBC Connecticut at the time.
Two years later, that prediction became reality, with Goldfarb declaring that costs had climbed too high as he walked through a largely empty factory floor.
"If our costs were where they were, say, eight years ago, I wouldn't have shut it down," Goldfarb told reporters.
Goldfarb’s factory was not only a stable source of jobs but also a considerable spring of revenue. The business paid about $160,000 annually in local property taxes. But Goldfarb said health insurance for workers kept rising, as did insurance for buildings, vehicles, and workers' compensation. The company's power bill topped $500,000 despite reduced operations
.
But Goldfarb said the final blow came from the White House.
"Tariffs was the final nail in the coffin, if you will," he said, adding that tariffs increased the cost of aluminum and other materials while forcing him to tie up more cash in inventory purchases before customers paid their invoices.
The Supreme Court has already rejected Trump’s tariffs, calling them illegal because they lacked congressional authorization. But the president has continued to levy them despite not receiving legislative approval.
“President Trump’s repeated attempts to impose tariffs have become an encapsulation of his second term,” wrote the Times Editorial Board. “They have hurt the American economy and his own popularity. They also range from legally dubious to blatantly illegal.”
Goldfarb had almost managed to salvage some jobs by selling the company to a European buyer, but he said the buyer backed out after Trump unilaterally declared war on Iran. He said he is still trying to find a buyer for the Hamden facility and hopes it will remain a manufacturing site rather than being converted to storage space.
-=-=-=
Trump’s manufacturing promise backfires: Data shows 75,000 lost jobs
AN
-=-=-=
MMA
Fox News barely covered latest waves of Trump tariffs
07/24/26
AN 5 26
Trump’s 'Golden Age' killed another American company's factory in a red state - Alternet.org
...
Costs from Trump's tariffs, Iran war fallout, and benefit cuts amount to much more than the roughly $350 average Americans reportedly receive from his signature legislation
Written by Zachary Pleat
Published 04/16/26 mma....