On Monday, Larry Kudlow told Maria Bartiromo that when it comes to the trade talks between the US and China, he’s not really the guy to ask.
“I don’t know that my predictions are any better than anybody else’s”, Larry admitted, after feebly attempting to field a series of questions about whether Beijing has tied the consummation of Donald Trump’s “Phase One” trade agreement with a promise from the White House that tariffs scheduled for December 15 will be taken off the table.
At one point, Larry couldn’t even remember the specifics around the October escalation that Trump delayed last week.
Fast forward to Tuesday and, while speaking at an infrastructure event in Washington, Larry underscored just how farcical this situation really is.
“What may not get done in Phase One may spill over into a Phase Two”, Kudlow explained. “And this is to some extent a new approach”.
Don’t kid yourself, nobody is clear on precisely what was agreed in “Phase One”, other than that China has tentatively indicated a willingness to scale up farm purchases to between $40 and $50 billion annually, but even that is said to be subject to tariff relief due to logistical constraints.
“We are both sides now recognizing that it may not be necessary to do everything all at once”, Kudlow went on to muse, before delivering the final punchline: “What’s not done in Phase One can spill over into a Phase Two and conceivably a Phase Three”.
Larry threw up his hands at the end, effectively miming “Don’t shoot the messenger” or maybe “I don’t know, I just work here”.
Clear as mud. Another stellar day at Shitshow, Inc.