Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross appears on Lou Dobbs show to discuss the ongoing trade initiatives against China and the issues of intellectual property theft.

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Additionally, CNBC is reporting on possible retaliatory trade action by China in response:

CNBC – China’s commerce ministry proposed a list of 128 U.S. products as potential retaliation targets, according to a statement on its website posted Friday morning. The U.S. goods, which had an import value of $3 billion in 2017, include wine, fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts, steel pipes, modified ethanol, and ginseng, the ministry said. Those products could see a 15 percent duty, while a 25 percent tariff could be imposed on U.S. pork and recycled aluminum goods, according to the statement. The statement did not go into greater detail. U.S. agricultural products, particularly soybeans, have been flagged as the biggest area of potential retaliation by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s administration. (read more)

Wait, China bought out Smithfield Foods, the U.S. #1 pork producer, back in 2013. So big panda is going to tax themselves…. priceless.

And, as we have mentioned, China purchases a tremendous amount of our steel and aluminum products for recycling into their own finished products. A 25% tariff on U.S. aluminum recycles would mean increased aluminum remains available within the U.S. for our own manufacturing – at a lower price. Another win.