Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area.

Financial data time:

Durable goods orders drop 1.7% in July, vs 0.5% decline expected https://t.co/gWZUUuyb3z

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) August 24, 2018

This is entirely consistent with companies shifting purchases to avoid the Trump trade war tax. https://t.co/hsAIxjCNbd

— lawhawk (@lawhawk) August 24, 2018

Yeah, the Trump trade war is having an effect. As I have said, companies would shift purchasing patterns to try and avoid the Trump tax (tariffs = taxes that Americans are paying on imports; taxes are slapped on by foreign countries on American imports in retaliation).

So Americans are paying for Trump’s trade war coming and going.

None of this enriches Americans. American businesses are the ones getting hurt.

Heck, even the tariffs on steel and aluminum are screwing American businesses because Trump doesn’t have a clue how the global supply chain works.

Slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and you might give a temporary boost to American steel and aluminum manufacturers, but they produce (and have capacity for) only a fraction of American manufacturing needs that everyone from durable goods manufacturers to car and motorcycle manufacturers are now paying 25% more for the raw materials critical to their production processes.

That 25% is getting passed on to the consumer. That means Trump’s tax is now a tax on your purchases. We’re paying more and Trump still thinks we’re winning.

Meanwhile, Trump’s still going on about conspiracies and how media is out to silence conservatives.

Stop lying.

The only fake news is the lies you spew and are regurgitated by Fox and right wing echo chamber.

— lawhawk (@lawhawk) August 24, 2018