The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has issued the following news release today: Expenditures by foreign direct investors to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses totaled $420.7 billion in 2015, an increase of 68 percent from 2014, when expenditures were $250.6 billion. In 2015, as in 2014, the majority of the expenditures were to…
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday cast deep doubt on winning approval for President Obama’s trade agenda during his last weeks in office, suggesting that it will be up to the next occupant of the Oval Office to determine the direction of trade policy. [Paul Kane| July 12, 2016 | Washington Post] Acknowledging…
BEIJING — An international tribunal in The Hague delivered a sweeping rebuke on Tuesday of China’s behavior in the South China Sea, including the construction of artificial islands, and found that its expansive claim to sovereignty over the waters had no legal basis. [Ane Perlez| July 12, 2016 | The New York Times] The tribunal also said that…
Statement of Lori Wallach, Director, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch The Democratic Party has repeatedly rejected requests that it support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — on the floor of Congress, among the base and, now, in the party platform. Both Democratic presidential candidates have clearly stated their opposition to the TPP as have the vast…
The Republican Party appears to be taking some of the bite out of Donald Trump’s fiercest trade criticism, crafting a platform closer to its traditional trade views but taking a neutral position on President Barack Obama’s signature trade achievement, the TPP. [Megan Cassella| July 12, 2016 | Politico] “It’s always better to have calm words…
In January, Thomas J. Donohue, the feisty chief executive of the United States Chamber of Commerce, noted — without naming names — that there were “loud voices” this election season who talked about walling off America from talent and trade. He called that position “morally wrong and politically stupid.” [Julie Creswell| July 11, 2016 | The New…
Barack Obama, the Anti-NAFTA Democratic Candidate, sunk in Hillary Clinton in 2008. A recent Poll shows unaffiliated voters by a 52% to 24% margin think NAFTA needs to be renegotiated and voters overall are more critical of U.S. free trade agreements than voters eight years ago. [Hugh Campbell| July 9, 2016 |OpedNews] In general, men…
Amid boos from the sidelines, allies of Hillary Clinton and President Obama on Saturday beat back an effort by the Bernie Sanders campaign to have the Democratic Party officially oppose a congressional vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. [Patrick Healy| July 9, 2016 |The New York Times] At a sometimes-raucous meeting in Orlando, Fla., of the party’s platform committee, which is drawing…
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman invoked Trump’s ubiquitous Twitter feed in signaling his approval for the Republican presidential candidate’s get-tough-on-China trade policy. The former U.S. Trade Representative has taken a defensive stance on trade, including opposition to the TPP, as he tries to retain his seat in a state not too fond of free-trade agreements. [Adam…