By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director After opposing tariffs on imported solar cells and modules for years, and claiming the US manufacture of solar cells would never be profitable, San Jose, California-based SunPower Corporation announced last week plans…to become a leading US manufacturer of solar cells and modules. Last Wednesday, SunPower said it’s buying SolarWorld…
China unveiled its plan to dominate the world’s most crucial technologies with little international fanfare, another vague, guiding principle in the labyrinth of Communist Party bureaucracy. [Jessica Meyers | April 24, 2018 | LA Times] Three years later, it’s at the core of a trade dispute with Washington that threatens to upend the global economy.…
There are a lot of moving pieces in the trade situation between the U.S. and China. [April 20, 2018 | AG Web] Earlier this month, the U.S. and China announced tariffs on more than $100 billion on goods between the two countries. Lists of items on both lists continued to grow, and soybeans are one…
SHANGHAI — Want to avoid American tariffs? In China, a company called Settle Logistics says it knows a way. [Keith Bradsher | APRIL 22, 2018 | NY Times] Specifically, that way goes through Malaysia — a 4,600-mile diversion compared with sending a shipping container from China straight across the Pacific to the United States. But…
In recent years, U.S. manufacturers have been competing, and often losing, against government-owned Chinese companies intent on taking market share at any cost. Thankfully, President Donald Trump is fighting back with tariffs to protect domestic industries against China’s economic aggression. Op-ed originally appears on LifeZette In response to the president’s tariffs, naïve free trade pundits…
TOKYO—There’s a big reason why Japan doesn’t want to talk about a trade deal with Donald Trump: Its auto exports are booming. [Sean McLain | April 19, 2018 | WSJ] Japanese auto makers exported nearly 10% more cars to the U.S. in the first three months of this year compared with the same period a…
President Trump has made reducing the large US trade deficit a priority. However, he has delegated responsibility on this objective to officials who lack any useful tools to affect the trade balance. Meanwhile, the agency that has traditionally been responsible for trade imbalances—the Treasury Department—just issued another semiannual report(link is external) that bemoans the problem without giving…
For years, Buffalo manufacturers have been competing—and often losing—against government-owned Chinese companies. US manufacturers are among the most productive in the world, but they simply can not overcome the hurdles posed by China’s longstanding predatory trade practices, including dumping, subsidies, intellectual property theft, and forced technology transfer. President Trump’s tariff plans will confront and deter…
HONG KONG — One hammer and sickle at a time, the Communist Party is making its way deeper into everyday Chinese life — and that includes the foreign companies doing business there. [ ALEXANDRA STEVENSON | April 13, 2018 | The New York Times] Honda, the Japanese automaker, changed its legal documents to give the party…
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is seeking to blunt domestic opposition to its trade policies with a relief package for farmers affected by the U.S. trade spat with China, say officials involved in the discussions. [Bob Davis, Siobhan Hughes and Jesse Newman | April 12, 2018 | WSJ] The aid package, which could climb into the billions of dollars, is…
