Chad P. Bown and Alan O. Sykes’s “The Trump Trade Team’s Vocabulary Problem” (op-ed, May 15), while arguing to the contrary, points out exactly why the Most Favored Nation (MFN) clause at the World Trade Organization impedes free trade, rather than fostering it. [Wilbur Ross] May 25th, 2017 [The Wall Street Journal] The authors admit…
A Wall Street Journal analysis shows that since the 1990s, sparsely populated counties have replaced large cities as America’s most troubled areas by key measures of socioeconomic well-being—a decline that’s accelerating. [Janet Adamy and Paul Overberg] May 26th, 2017 [The Wall Street Journal] At the corner where East North Street meets North Cherry Street in the small…
Executives from the Coalition for a Prosperous America, which bills itself as a pro-domestic manufacturing organization, are lauding the administration’s early trade actions after meeting last week with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to discuss trade opportunities in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. May 31st, 2017 [Inside Trade] “Already we…
Gregg Doud, president of the Commodity Markets Council, is expected to be tapped as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s chief agriculture negotiator, sources told Inside U.S. Trade. [Jenny Leonard] May 26th, 2017 [Inside Trade] Those sources said Doud is still being vetted by the Presidential Personnel Office and that it’s unclear when his nomination…
HONG KONG — Sören Schwertfeger finished his postdoctorate research on autonomous robots in Germany, and seemed set to go to Europe or the United States, where artificial intelligence was pioneered and established. Instead, he went to China. [Paul Mozur & John Markoff] May 27th, 2017 [The New York Times] “You couldn’t have started a lab…
President Trump, in a meeting with EU leaders on Thursday, complained about Germany’s “bad, very bad” trade surplus with the United States, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. May 25th, 2017 [Inside Trade] According to an informal translation of the news report, Trump made clear the reduction of the U.S. trade deficit is an “absolute priority” for…
President Donald Trump had harsh words for Germany at a NATO meeting in Belgium this week, where he reportedly referred to the Germans as “bad, very bad.” Gary Cohn, the president’s top economic adviser, later clarified that Trump was referring to Germany’s trade practices. [DANNY VINIK] May 26th, 2017 [Politico] The criticism of a close…
Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) leadership met last week with United States Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to discuss the Trump administration’s plans on trade. “We are very happy with the leadership of Secretary Ross and Ambassador Lighthizer who are focused upon reducing the trade deficit and enforcing trade laws,” said Dan…
After a series of angry tweets from President Donald Trump directed toward Germany over trade, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Tuesday he is open to continuing talks on a proposed trade pact with the European Union. [Lori Ann LaRocco | May 30th, 2017 | CNBC] After a series of angry tweets from President Donald Trump directed toward Germany over trade, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Tuesday he is open…
China’s central bank is effectively anchoring the yuan to the dollar, a policy twist that has helped stabilize the currency in a year of political transition and market jitters about China’s economic management. [Lingling Wei & Saumya Vaishampayan] May 25th, 2017 [The Wall Street Journal] The yuan weakened more than 6% against the dollar in…
