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Trump Economic Policy Tag

The gross domestic product (GDP) hit 4.1% in the second quarter, up from 2.2% in the first quarter. This is the fastest rising GDP since 2014! The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the growth comes "from positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment and residential fixed investment."

A few months ago, President Donald Trump instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to start organizing a package to help American farmers after they expressed concern over tariffs from China and other countries in response to those tariffs Trump imposed on them. Now that plan is about to come into fruition. The White House will announce a plan that will provide $21 billion in aid to the farmers.

All in all, it's not a bad jobs report to kick off the summer. The Labor Department's report shows the economy added 213,000 new jobs in June even though experts predicted only 190,000. This means job growth has happened 93 months in a row, which is a record. Unemployment went up to 4% from 3.8%, but that probably went up because of the rise in labor participation.

When I taught high school English, I realized that education is best handled as locally as possible and developed a hatred for the Department of Education. I've often said I would abolish that department immediately if I ever became president. This may be the first step in the right direction. The White House has proposed merging the Department of Education with Labor after officials spent months reviewing different agencies to figure out how to downsize the government.

President Donald Trump will approve a plan that will impose a 25% tariff on Chinese technology products, which is worth around $50 billion. From The Washington Post:
Although the import levies affect less than 10 percent of the $505 billion in Chinese goods that Americans buy each year, Trump’s new trade barriers mark a historic change after three decades of deepening ties between the world’s two largest economies.

The economy is moving in the right direction, with the unemployment rate the lowest it's been for 18 years and consumer confidence at "a 17-year high."  This is not good news for Democrats who are watching their midterm blue wave potentially dwindle into a sad little ripple. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is in a tough spot.   Not only is she too moderate for the Bernified Socialist Democratic Party and too radical for moderate Democrats running in red states, but she can't seem to figure out how to talk to or about an American people who are going back to work and who are experiencing growing consumer confidence.

President Donald Trump's move to impose tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Europe has triggered sharp response from the EU, Germany and France. President Trump's decision to apply the duties of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum was in response to long-standing European customs duties on U.S. imports.

The U.S. has trumped Hong Kong to retake first place among the world’s most competitive economies, thanks to faster economic growth and deregulation that is promoting innovation. The Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center, which conducted the analysis, had Singapore, the Netherlands, and Switzerland rounding out the top 5 spots.

President Donald Trump promised big changes to Dodd-Frank shortly after his inauguration. He may have the opportunity to do just that this week. In a rare instance of bipartisanship, the House passed a bill that will rollback portions of the financial law for smaller banks.

We've been covering the Trump administration's trade talks with China, and now both nations have reportedly agreed to halt the trade war, including the imposition of tariffs, until a deal has been reached. The AFP reports:
Washington and Beijing have agreed to abandon any trade war and back off from imposing tariffs on each other, Chinese state media reported Sunday.