Trade deficit with China continues to decline By Steven L. Byers, PhD, CPA Senior Economist The US international trade deficit in goods and services fell 7.6 percent in October, to $47.2 billion, as imports declined more than exports. This is the lowest monthly trade deficit figure since May 2018. The October decrease is due to…
Editor’s note: This article is another example of fake trade news falsely raising fears of consumer price hikes on cheese and wine. The US produces cheese, wine and other products targeted by the administration’s proposed tariffs against France. We are not seeing price hikes from the China tariffs and won’t see them from any French…
Editor’s note: Curtis Ellis makes a fundamental point. Trade policy should be about building investment in production as well as employment. The cheap consumer goods pursuit is the wrong path to national greatness, as the Asian economies have shown us. It’s well past time to ask whether procuring cheap imported consumer goods should be the…
Editors note: Brian O’Shaughnessy, CPA Vice Chairman, recently was keynote speaker at a North Dakota Cattle association conference . On Nov. 15-16, the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota (I-BAND) held its 14th annual meeting at the Ramada Wyndam in Bismarck. Dozens of cattle producers from across North Dakota and surrounding states participated in a…
Excerpt. “Congress and trade experts have ignored exchange rate moves in crafting trade policies for too long,” said Michael Stumo, the chief executive of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a trade group that supports the metal tariffs. “The president’s action is a next step, after declaring China a currency manipulator earlier this year, to connect…
Editor’s note: Very good to insert currency into trade strategy actions. Exchange rates are the big issue. Ignored too long. Baldwin-Hawley Competitive Dollar for Jobs and Prosperity Act can fix trade and job quality. President accuses both countries of manipulating the real and the peso to devalue them, saying they are hurting U.S. farmers, but…
Editor’s note: Curtis Ellis lays out the mechanics of why the tariffs are not raising prices. Exclusive: Curtis Ellis explains ‘myriad (illegal) subsidies’ China continues to use [Curtis Ellis | November 29, 2019 | WND] Today we witnessed a central rite of one of the world’s great and growing state-sponsored religions. We saw frenzied acolytes…
Editor’s note: The Fed quietly admits, in this recent blog post, that tariffs are not increasing import prices. This is a big admission, which counters the assertions of Princeton economists who released a study claiming the opposite. [Matthew Higgins, Thomas Klitgaard, and Michael Nattinger | November 28, 2019 | Liberty Street Economics] Tariffs are a…
Editor’s note: More evidence that the EU is not a free trading Economic Bloc. Panel Rejects EU’s Latest Claims that it Removed Illegal Subsidies [December 2, 2019 | Office of the United States Trade Representative] Washington, DC – A World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel today rejected the European Union’s (EU) latest claims that it complied…
Editor’s note: Secretary Ross departs from the “we’re close to a deal” messaging of other administration officials with a more aggressive statement. Time is running out for the U.S. and China to make a trade deal before the U.S. increases tariffs on Chinese goods. [Jonathan Garber | December 2, 2019 | Fox Business] “Well, you…