The NYT gave us yet another piece telling us that Donald Trump is right about his growth projections and that the Congressional Budget Office is wrong. The piece, by Kai-Fu Lee, the chairman and chief executive of Sinovation Ventures, a venture capital firm, and the president of its Artificial Intelligence Institute, tells readers that we are about…
Fear of retaliation against U.S. producers should not deter the Trump administration from defending America’s interests by using every “legitimate” tool available — including Section 232 investigations into the national security impact of imports, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the House Ways & Means Committee on Thursday. [Jenny Leonard] June 22nd, 2017 [Inside Trade]…
HONG KONG — After years of predictions that cars sold in the West would bear the “Made in China” label, the time has finally come. [KEITH BRADSHER] June 21st, 2017 [The New York Times] Ford Motor’s plans to build its popular Focus compact cars in China, rather than Michigan or Mexico, is a milestone in China’s…
Billings, Mont. – R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard issued the following statement following Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s announcement that he is halting imports of fresh Brazilian beef. June 22nd, 2017 [R-CALF USA] “We applaud Secretary Perdue’s decision to halt imports of fresh Brazilian beef but we question why the Secretary did not also halt imports of…
WASHINGTON –The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the suspension of all imports of fresh beef from Brazil due to food safety and animal health concerns. [Hannah Packman] June 22nd, 2017 [National Farmers Union] The announcement came on the heels of a scandal in which Brazil’s largest food-processing giants JBS and BRF were raided by…
Washington~ Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA testified today at the Trump Administration NAFTA hearings and charged Mexico with devaluing American workers through its low wages and border-adjustable taxes that unfairly favor Mexican production, and said the US should not be afraid to “walk away” from NAFTA. However Stumo added that because Mexico and Canada are…
President Trump declared that China’s efforts with North Korea have failed. Tesla, despite Elon Musk’s prior commitment to USA made electric cars, announced that it is in talks to build a plant in Shanghai. It may be time to shift America’s China strategy away from diplomacy towards actions we can take without negotiations. After campaigning…
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer believes the World Trade Organization dispute brought by China against the U.S. over the Commerce Department’s treatment of China as non-market economy in trade remedy cases is a top litigation priority for USTR, telling lawmakers a loss in the dispute would have serious consequences for the WTO. [Jack Caporal] June…
Washington ~ The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) released a paper today addressing common but misleading economic arguments that America’s low savings rate causes trade deficits. Authors Michael Stumo and Jeff Ferry show how deliberate action by trade surplus countries like China and Germany transmit to the US in the form of trade deficits that kill…
In most administrations, lower-ranking officials make the incendiary comments, while the president rises above to offer the calmer, more soothing explanations of his policies. [Gerald F. Seib] June 19th, 2017 [The Wall Street Journal] In the Trump administration, the opposite is true. That’s especially the case on foreign affairs—and in particular on trade policy. President…