Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who last week played a role in convincing President Trump not to withdraw from NAFTA, said the threat of doing so sent a “strong signal” to Canada and Mexico — as well as to Congress. May 2nd, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade] In an interview with AgriPulse this week, Perdue recounted an Oval Office…
The Commerce Department reported the deficit on international trade goods and services in March was about $43.7 billion, indicating the United States is on track to another trade gap in excess of $500 billion for 2017. [Peter Morici] May 4th, 2017 [economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist] For decades,…
The president’s favorite numbers guy, Peter Navarro, says buying from China strengthens a potential enemy. [Peter Coy] May 2nd, 2017 [Bloomberg Business Week] As he stepped onto the stage at the annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics, Peter Navarro knew he was facing a tough crowd—or what passes for one in the…
The media was aghast last week that some Trump administration drafted a proposal to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as well as a proposal to renegotiate it. Later reports said the White House was not going to advance the proposal to end NAFTA, after powerful business interests called in to object.…
Administration officials are divided over a draft executive order to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement and butting heads on whether to issue a notification to withdraw at the same time the White House formally notifies Congress of its intent to renegotiate the deal, multiple sources tell Inside U.S. Trade. [Jack Caporal & Jenny Leonard]…
The Commerce Department is expected to report the U.S. deficit on trade goods and services in March was about $44 billion, indicating the United States is on track for another trade gap in excess of $500 billion for 2017. [PETER MORICI] May 1st, 2017 [Market Watch] For decades, the trade deficit has been a source of…
President Trump, on his 100th day in office Saturday, signed an executive order establishing “the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy” — an entity to be run by Peter Navarro, who was originally named to head the White House National Trade Council. [Jenny Leonard] April 29th, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade] The executive order says the White House…
The United States will scrap agreements suspending antidumping and countervailing duties on Mexican sugar and re-impose those trade remedies on June 5 unless the two governments agree on a renegotiated version of the deal, the Commerce Department announced on May 1. [Jack Caporal] May 1st, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade] “While I regret that such measures…
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Monday today outlined several issues that should be addressed in a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement — including services, rules of origin, digital trade and dispute settlement — while downplaying a West Wing debate over whether to withdraw from the agreement. [Brett Fortnam] May 1st, 2017 [Inside…
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross discusses U.S. trade with China and the renegotiation of Nafta. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Jason Kelly at the Milken Institute Global Conference. (Source: Bloomberg)