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Reposted by Matt Peterson

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 12h

BTW let's appreciate the sheer bathetic comedy of Trump's threats sliding from WE'RE GOING TO BAN ALL CRITICAL SOFTWARE WE WILL BRING YOUR ECONOMY TO A HALT down to WE'LL MAKE OUR OWN COOKING OIL SEE IF WE DON'T.

Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 14h

Don't look now but Trump just freaked out the market again by continuing to escalate the trade war.

I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act. We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution. As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 13h

I asked the White House if the president was talking about used cooking oil, and they haven't answered. (Trump often gets ahead of his comms staff.) But UCO imports from China—used for biofuel—hit a record last year, prompting some domestic complaints. Brooke Rollins was talking about it midyear.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 13h

Currently learning more about used cooking oil than I ever wanted to know

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 13h

There was a senior US-China staff meeting yesterday, USTR Greer said earlier. Escalation is still happening. Where's the off-ramp? www.barrons.com/articles/tru...

Trump’s Tariff Threat Depends on China’s Next Move, Trade Rep Says

Last week, Beijing unveiled sweeping export controls on rare earths, prompting President Donald Trump to threaten 100% tariffs on China on top of the average effective tariffs of 55% already in place.

www.barrons.com

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 14h

I don't know the economic stakes of banning Chinese cooking oil imports. (Surely not fun!) The market hates this because China has the ability to hit big tech companies hard, and Trump doesn't appear to have a plan to get out of this cycle other than to keep raising the costs to all involved.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 14h

Don't look now but Trump just freaked out the market again by continuing to escalate the trade war.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 15h

“If he loses, we are not going to be generous,” Trump says, again suggesting he doesn’t understand Milei is not personally up for election this month.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 15h

“This aid is predicated on robust policies. Going back to the failed Peronist policies would cause a US rethink,” Bessent says, strongly implying that an adverse election result for Milei will lead to an aid shutoff.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 15h

Is the US asking for dollarization? Bessent: “We’re very happy with the current currency arrangement.”

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 15h

Trump undercuts Bessent’s claim that Argentina is systemically important. “It’s not going to make a big difference for the United States,” Trump says of the assistance package. (Deleted a typo—he was taking about the US not South America.)

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 15h

Bessent says US assistance to Argentina isn’t predicated on Argentina closing its swap line with China.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 15h

Trump, meeting with Milei says he would consider a free-trade agreement with Argentina. “We want to help Argentina, but we always want to help ourselves,” Trump says.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 20h

The "administration was not concerned that Trump’s new proposed tariffs on China would trigger the kind of market turmoil that followed his sharp escalation of levies to 145 per cent in April," an anonymous senior US official says

Scott Bessent slams China: ‘They want to pull everybody else down with them’

US Treasury secretary tells FT that Beijing’s export controls are ‘a sign of how weak their economy is’

www.ft.com

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 1d

WSJ edit board is disappointed that Bessent isn't pushing Argentina to dollarize www.wsj.com/opinion/arge...

Opinion | Argentina: Right Country, Wrong Rescue

Javier Milei needs U.S. help, but his country really needs dollarization.

www.wsj.com

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 1d

Trump en route to Israel said new +100% China tariffs are still planned for Nov. 1. "Let’s see what happens. For me, you know what Nov. 1 is? An eternity. For somebody else, it’s right around the corner. For me, when I hear Nov. 1, it’s an eternity.”

(Market will hear TACO)

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Reposted by Matt Peterson

Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 3d

The Trump admin is in the midst of laying off 1,100-1,200 HHS staff. The CDC's outbreak responders, gone. The office producing CDC's weekly journal MMWR is gone. CDC staff securing sensitive data, gone. Worker safety, gone. Immunization group, gone.

Instead, Congress watches RFK "make the proof"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 3d

Trump on Friday: Layoffs will be "Democrat-oriented"

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

Hey he got oil down today. Also stocks and the dollar. But cheaper gas!

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

Great qs, to which I say 🤷

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

China put Trump in a corner. Every way out hurts. www.barrons.com/articles/chi...

China's latest threat to clamp down on exports of rare earths appears to have blindsided President Donald Trump. The Chinese plan "came out of nowhere," Trump said Friday in a social media post.
"Nobody has ever seen anything like this."
Beijing's escalation of the trade fight has put the Trump administration on the backfoot at a moment of weakness. China's actions show that the U.S. is vulnerable to economic pressure, and China has forced the administration to choose between further escalation or a humiliating climbdown.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

We're back to Liberation Day vibes as tariff suck value out of stocks. That bled over into the Treasury market last time, and it very nearly required the Fed to intervene. That more than anything prompted Trump and Bessent to back off. Are they more prepared this time?

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

Yeah I had seen Dec. 1, so no, I'm not sure

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

100% *additional* tariffs. 155%!

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 4d

Trump proposing 100% tariffs on China

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

Nasdaq was at a record high Wednesday. Now down >2%. This is another way China can hit Trump. Its export controls can hurt US tech leaders directly, and Trump has been backed into escalating rather than finding a way out for them.

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 4d

China knows it can hurt Trump. Look at soybeans. US farmers are shut out of a critical market in retaliation for tariffs. With the government shut down, Trump can’t easily pull funds for farmers and is attempting to blame Dems for the lack of farm aid.

Any climb down here admits defeat.

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