President Donald Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement “the worst trade deal” ever signed by the United States. After threatening to withdraw from the agreement this week, he has announced that he will attempt to renegotiate it instead. The pact can be improved in ways that will help working people throughout the hemisphere,…
What does “Hamilton” have to do with trade policy? More than you might think in the case of acting U.S. Trade Representative Stephen Vaughn, who counts himself among the hit Broadway musical’s legions of fans. [DOUG PALMER] April, 27th 2017 [Politico] Vaughn, a history buff as well as a trade lawyer, says he has…
by Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA The media was aghast last week that some Trump administration personnel had 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,…
Editor’s note: CEO of CPA, Michael Stumo, was interviewed by Inside US Trade to discuss Trump’s first 100 days. Michael Stumo, the CEO of the Coalition for Prosperous America — which includes members from various industry and labor groups — said he is generally pleased with the direction of Trump’s trade policy so far,…
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross — after announcing preliminary countervailing duty rates for softwood lumber from Canada this week — on Tuesday said “one of the problems” with NAFTA is that lumber and an unrelated dairy dispute with Canada are two key areas not covered by the trilateral agreement, which he said is stalled in Congress. [Jenny Leonard]…
President Donald Trump again leveled criticism about NAFTA in an interview with the Associated Press, promising to either renegotiate the trade deal or terminate it. [CHARLIE SPIERING] April 24th, 2017 [Breitbart] “I am going to either renegotiate it or I am going to terminate it,” he said. “If they don’t treat fairly, I am terminating NAFTA.” Trump…
House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday released a report on President Trump’s “broken promises” to American workers, included the administration’s decision not to label China a currency manipulator, its failure to date to launch NAFTA renegotiations and a lack of action on various “Buy American” proposals. [Charlie Mitchell] April 25th, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade] The…
Chinese media reports questioning the ownership and funding of big-spending conglomerate HNA Group were pulled suddenly after publication from mainland websites and social media on Monday. [He Huifeng] April 24th, 2017 [South China Morning Post] One of the missing reports, by The Beijing News, questioned how HNA, Hainan Airlines Group, was able to evolve from…
U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer was unanimously approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, sending his nomination to the Senate floor. [Dan Dupont] April 25th, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade] The panel also approved a statutory waiver to allow him to serve as USTR. The quick approval followed weeks of debate among Republicans and…
HANGZHOU, China — China’s vast steel industry is a major target of President Trump. But this hulking shell of a mill here shows why China is likely to keep pumping out more and more steel, inflaming trade tensions between the two countries. [KEITH BRADSHER] April 20th, 2017 [The New York Times] The Hangzhou steel mill,…