Widening Trade Deficit Contrasts with Strong Jobs Picture, as China Trade Deficit Sets Another Record The federal government’s employment report for October showed the US economy continues to perform strongly, with job growth of 250,000 in the month, including 32,000 added manufacturing jobs. Unemployment continues to be low and the labor force participation rate…
Editors note: this article details why the US trade Representative‘s office is the most effective agency in the administration. As announced earlier, I spent the last two weeks or so traveling about. Most of that was in Washington and its environs. While in DC I had the opportunity to brunch, coffee break, and do all…
Editor’s note: Labor unions will be important as to whether the Democrats support the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. There will be significant jockeying as this deal comes up for a vote next year. Labor provisions in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, while an improvement over the original NAFTA, are unlikely to make a “meaningful difference” for North American workers,…
Editor’s note: Even more Chinese commercial espionage. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Chinese intelligence officers and those working under their direction, which included hackers and co-opted company insiders, conducted or otherwise enabled repeated intrusions into private companies’ computer systems in the United States and abroad for…
Excerpt: “The dirty secret of globalization-driven cheap-labor offshoring is that it has boosted profits by much more than it has lowered consumer prices. The claim is that consumers will be hurt, but in the first instance, it is likely that the huge profit margins of the offshoring firms get whittled down first. They’ll still make…
Excerpt: “Jinhua poses a significant risk of becoming involved in activities that are contrary to the national security interests of the United States,” the Commerce Department said in a statement announcing the new restrictions. [Kate O’Keeffe | October 29, 2018 | WSJ] The U.S. has raised the stakes in a battle with Beijing over intellectual property…
Editor’s note: This news is very big. It brings the dollar overvaluation issue closer to the fore. The wrongheaded “strong dollar” stance of the US may soon give way to a competitive dollar position. China guided the yuan to its weakest official level in a decade on Tuesday—a move that could fuel expectations of a…
Editor’s note: CPA believes that in 2019 the US will impose tariffs on all Chinese imports. The US-China skirmish now goes beyond trade and intellectual property theft to a great powers rivalry. It is unlikely that Trump and Xi will come to an agreement. The U.S. is preparing to announce by early December tariffs on…
President Trump’s decisive actions on trade with China are a long time in coming because U.S. manufacturers have struggled for years against heavily subsidized competition from China. Op-ed by Michael Stumo originally appeared in LifeZette on October 27, 2018 And whether it’s hefty industrial subsidies, currency undervaluation, intellectual property theft, or the dumping of steel…
Excerpt: Backers of the administration’s trade policies say the turnabout is good news. “The U.S. had the job of eating global steel overcapacity for many years. [Trump’s] tariffs meant we quit that job. EU, Canada, and India now are candidates for that job. They don’t want that job. EU and Canada are now using measures to keep out…