In President Trump’s second term, his opinion outranks everyone. The only problem is his opinion is hard to pin down because one day he is for something, the next day he is against it. This makes for unknown policy making.

In an article by Rita Trichur of the Globe and Mail, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for talks at the White House. This was a regularly scheduled event which allowed President Trump to meet with stakeholders and ensure the American posiiton.

One of the groups that met with President Trump is the trade groups for autos in the US including the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the American Automotive Policy Council and the National Automobile Dealers Association. This a collection of trade groups representing Ford, GM, Stellantis, and foreign manufacturers such as Toyota, VW and Hyundai that build cars in America.

There biggest point was to maintain the prohibition of Chinese automakers from assembling, importing or selling their cars in the US.

Then President Trump went on Fox News and said, if the Chinese were to build cars in the US, I would be okay with it. Japan does it. Then he said he would be against Chinese car companies going to Mexico and exporting to them to the US.

President Trump has also said that Chinese vehicles represent both an economic and national security threat to the US and vowed to unleash a golden age of American manufacturing.

President Trump killed federal incentives for American companies making electric vehicles and has waged trade wars with both Mexico and Canada which has driven up prices up American vehicles.

Washington maintains tariffs of more than 100% on Chinese EVs and a prohibition on the use of Chinese software that is capable of collecting user data.

In June of this year, the administration banned Polestar, which is owned by a Chinese company from selling in the US.

In June, Volvo which is owned by the Chinese company Geely Holdings, to continue sell vehicles with its connected car technology.

In Europe, Ford is doing a joint venture with Chinese battery manufacturer CATL and Geely in Spain. Ford’s CEO James Farley received a letter by US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy which scolded him.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in prior administrations, the Cabinet through a more detailed analysis approved position. In that process various trade groups and associations had important input, and the Cabinet made political decisions. Under the second term, President Trump makes the decision but on many issues, he is not tied to anyone position which means he is often all over the place and the last voice he hears is the one he talks about. Perhaps in the next administration, things will go back to what was considered normal.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.