President Trump’s America First trade strategy will likely gain momentum as 2018 gets underway. Originally appears on The Hill The promised “renegotiation” of NAFTA is in full swing. And America’s solar panel, steel, and aluminum manufacturers are eagerly awaiting decisions in trade cases involving heavily subsidized imports from China. Many domestic manufacturers are reporting increased…
President Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday and “expressed disappointment” that the U.S. trade deficit with China is increasing, the White House said. [January 16, 2018 | Inside US Trade] In a statement on the call, the White House said that in addition to discussing issues related to North Korea, the two…
Editor’s Note: While the CPA Research section of our website is generally reserved for CPA’s original research and analysis, we are cross posting this outside article due to its importance to understanding the dynamics of trade and capital flows. The furor over recent comments by Chinese officials that they may reduce their purchases of U.S.…
BEIJING—China reported its largest-ever annual trade surplus with the U.S. last year while its overall imbalance with the world shrank, potentially strengthening the Trump administration’s case for tougher penalties and other trade actions against Beijing. [Lingling Wei | January 12, 2018 | Wall Street Journal] A global recovery led by the U.S. provided a shot in the…
DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Thursday it will shift production of Ram heavy-duty pickup trucks from Mexico to Michigan in 2020, a move that lowers the risk to the automaker’s profit should President Donald Trump pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. [January 11, 2018 | New York…
Robust trade restrictions sought by U.S. aluminum producers in the Section 232 investigation into the national security implications of aluminum imports will not harm the economy or downstream users, aluminum executives argued on Wednesday. [January 11, 2018 | Inside US Trade] The Commerce Department is expected to submit its report on whether aluminum imports threaten to impair…
The Commerce Department has submitted its Section 232 report on the national security implications of steel imports to the president, but steel industry sources and other observers are still wondering whether the administration will take action immediately or wait up to three months, as the law allows. [Isabelle Hoagland and Jenny Leonard | January 12, 2018…
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explicitly warned Thursday that the U.S. would pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement if the administration doesn’t get what it wants in current renegotiations. [Sean Higgins | January 12, 2018 | Washington Examiner] “We expect that will be renegotiated, or we’ll pull out,” he told reporters during a Thursday White House briefing. It was…
Editor’s note: Yet another article showing that free trade only exists in economist fantasies, not the real world of strategic competition among countries. India will not allow for an investment without a guarantee of buying a substantial percentage of Indian goods. [Vindu Goel and Suhasini Raj | January 10, 2018 | New York Times] MUMBAI,…
If Canada succeeds in a new World Trade Organization challenge of six U.S. trade remedy practices, it will harm itself — reducing U.S. trust in Canada as a trading partner — and help China by undermining U.S. rules designed to prevent Chinese products from surging into the U.S., U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in…