During the often loud and attention-getting display of global trade wars, China quietly announced a new directive to the world, telling the US, Japan, and Europe they are not willing to be the world’s garbage dump any longer.

With the enactment of higher tariffs for steel and aluminum, President Trump has many economists speculating how far he is willing to push his populist agenda and what will the short and long-term ramifications lead to.

The blossoming trade war that President Trump has insisted has been going on during the last three presidential administrations, albeit a one-sided trade war with China winning all the battles, is reaching a fever pitch with both countries unveiling their lists of items projected for 10-25% tariffs.

Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, the United States Secretary of Commerce and Director of the White House National Trade Council respectively, have stayed mostly out of the hectic news cycle that has been a mainstay throughout the first year of President Trump’s tenure, so far.

With the potential for an expanded trade war with China, the U.S. needs to consider some of the less obvious economic and national security risks that could come into play. China holds a secret weapon that could cripple us instantly. Let’s call it, Trade War Option “57 – 71”.

I’ve been amazed that the Federal Reserve (and those who run it) have seemingly had their collective heads in the sand regarding the effects of keeping the interest rates low and their systematic employment of quantitative easing to help bring our economy out of this quasi-recession.

In a previous post, I made reference to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico where the nutrient runoff from the upper Mississippi river system has introduced millions of tons of leached fertilizers into an area of the gulf roughly the size of Connecticut.