Tea at Trianon: Markets Soar as Trump Clinches Major Tariff Reduction Agreement with China

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Markets Soar as Trump Clinches Major Tariff Reduction Agreement with China

From The Vigilant Fox:

Story #1 - Markets are SOARING after Trump clinched a major tariff reduction agreement with China.
President Trump stood before reporters and announced what he called a “total reset” in U.S.-China relations, marking a seismic shift in global trade.
The deal: both countries will reduce tariffs imposed after April 2 to just 10% for a 90-day cooling-off period while negotiations continue on deeper structural issues.
Trump made it clear: this isn’t about decoupling from China. It’s about leverage, fairness, and smart diplomacy.
The result? A dramatic rally on Wall Street.
The Dow surged over 1,050 points. The S&P 500 jumped 3%. Tech stocks exploded—Meta, Amazon, and Starbucks soared more than 7%, and Tesla climbed over 6%. Even Best Buy, which had warned of tariff-induced price hikes, popped 5%.
Once again, Trump proved he’s the master of negotiation. His bold, high-stakes tactics may look chaotic at first, but in the end, he keeps delivering undeniable results.
Watch as Maria Zeee breaks down the full story. (Read more.)

From Tierney's Real News:

Each network, and talking head, is spinning this their own way - and I admit I haven’t spent much time on it - but it sounds to me like China caved and came to the table and Trump gave them a way to save face.
GORDON CHANG: “Trump has given China an historic opportunity to step back from a collision with much of the world. Will a hostile Xi Jinping take advantage of what could be his last off-ramp? President Trump traded relief from our tariffs for China’s promise to open up its economy. The only way Xi Jinping can honor the promise is to give up most elements of communism because predatory trade practices are inherent in that system.”
Let’s see how this plays out.
HOWEVER, what NOBODY is reporting is what I just learned today about an old default in China that Trump is likely using behind the scenes as leverage.
I need to study it more but here's what I just learned about the huge debt that Communist China DEFAULTED on years ago and still owes the American people. I didn't know any of this - did you?
I’m guessing the Trump administration is leveraging this old default to renegotiate our trade agreement with China when no previous US administration has even tried.
Communist China currently owes American investors over one TRILLION dollars. The Chinese government doesn't like to talk about it and the US government apparently doesn't want to raise it, until now. But decades ago, Beijing defaulted on debt owed to Americans, as well as investors and governments around the world.
The story begins nearly 100 years ago, in 1913, when the old government of China began issuing bonds to foreign investors and governments for infrastructure work to modernize the country. As the country fell into civil war in 1927, paying these debts became increasingly difficult and the Chinese government eventually fell into default.
In April 1938, the Republic of China (ROC) issued a large volume of long-term sovereign gold-denominated bonds, secured by Chinese tax revenues, to private investors and governments to finance the war against Japan. These "gold bonds" specified repayment in gold or its equivalent value, which was a common practice to assure investors of value stability during times of currency instability.
There were also U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by the ROC, but these were more prominent in the early 1940s, notably the "American Dollar Bonds" of 1942, which were intended to absorb excess Chinese currency and were to be repaid in U.S. dollars after victory over Japan.
The China we know today would not have been possible without these bond offerings - which are now in default. (Read more.)

From Newsmax:

Investor and "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary applauded the work of the Trump administration on its negotiations with China on a trade deal, saying the finished product will "become the hallmark" for every other country's negotiations with the U.S.

O'Leary made the comments during a panel discussion on CNN on Monday night. His remarks came amid trade talks between the Trump administration and Chinese officials in Geneva.

President Donald Trump dropped tariffs on China from 145% to 30% while China dropped its reciprocal tariffs from 125% to 10%. The countries gave themselves another 90 days to get a trade deal done. (Read more.)

Also from Tierney's Real News:

Inflation has fallen to the lowest level in more than four years as April’s Consumer Price Index smashed expectations for the third straight month. Instead of raising prices, Trump’s tariffs have already LOWERED prices - as he predicted.
Overall, consumer prices increased 2.3% year-over-year, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index. That’s the lowest annual increase in over 4 years.
You can see that during the third term of the Obama-Biden-Kamala presidency - hyperinflation kicked in (on purpose) - to destroy our country and enslave us with massive debt and interest payments. Trump has to lower prices and inflation again, while spurring growth and prosperity, to Save America! (Read more.)