The trade deficit caused first quarter US GDP growth to be basically zero – specifically 0.2%. Exports were down 7.2% while imports were up 1.8%. The Bureau of Economic Analysis news release says: The increase in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and private inventory investment…
John Hansen is president of the Nebraska Farmers Union and served as a U.S. Trade Representative trade adviser for three administrations for 14 years starting in 1994. He also sits on the Board of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Reposted from the Omaha Daily Herald | John Hansen | April 29, 2015] The House…
Finally, public debate around the Trans-Pacific Partnership has moved beyond the question of being for or against trade. We’re now for it. The real question is what kind of trade policy will express our values as a country? [Reposted from The Seattle Times | Stan Sorscher | April 16, 2015] Former Govs. Chris Gregoire and…
Eamonn Fingleton thinks any Japanese TPP commitments will be seen as optional, based upon past performance. [by Eamonn Fingleton | April 26, 2015| Forbes] In reality, of course, the TPP deserves to be assessed on its own merits, not on how effectively Abe assuages resentments about Japan’s imperial past. The reality is that the…
In a March 2015 speech, former Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that trade agreements, on net, have destroyed jobs. He says that economists increasingly agree that exports create jobs and imports destroy jobs. The question is what NET result, which of course has been negative. Export opportunities are fine if you can access…
Imports surged in first quarter, depressing GDP growth. Bloomberg reports that exports are tepid in relation to imports, especially after the West Coast port labor dispute ended. The chart above is stark. Congressmen that represent districts with port cities often say – “we need free trade agreements to keep our ports busy.” And, they may…
WASHINGTON — In the early 2000s, after Michael Froman decamped from the Clinton Treasury Department for Wall Street, he called his old law school colleague Lori Wallach, now an anti-globalization activist, with an unusual proposal. [Reposted from The New York Times | Jonathan Weisman | April 27, 2015] Would she fly to Citigroup’s training center…
NEW YORK — On the heels of Mayor Bill de Blasio criticizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as a “raw deal” and “huge mistake,” the New York City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution declaring the city a “TPP-free zone” and urging Congress to reject “Fast Track” legislation for the trade deal. [Reposted from the…
Thirty one Democratic Congressmen sent a letter to President Obama listing demands for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The letter demands that TTIP exclude an investor-state dispute mechanism; that the deal preserve Buy American and other buy local provisions; that the U.S. and EU’s consumer, labor and environmental protections are not lowered through…
Business groups are defending the dispute settlement boards that would be included in trade agreements being negotiated by the Obama administration. [Reposted from The Hill | Kevin Cirilli | April 20, 2015] In a letter to lawmakers on Monday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and more than 60 other groups voiced…