The Year in Trade 2020

By Steven L. Byers, PhD, and Jeff Ferry Last year the US registered its largest trade deficit in 12 years and its largest-ever deficit in goods trade. In this article, we review the main trends in US international trade in 2020. The US trade deficit continued to deteriorate in 2020 as it rose to a 12-year…

CPA Suggests Improvements to Buy American Executive Order

CPA sent the following letter to President Biden asking that he take into consideration three suggestions to ensure the strongest Buy American provisions possible.  Dear President Biden: The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) would like to reiterate our thanks following our press release last week supporting your Buy American Executive Order (EO).[1] Your emphasis…

Industry and Union Coalition Outlines Policy Recommendations in Letters to President Biden, Congressional Leaders

WASHINGTON—A broad coalition of industry organizations and labor unions, representing a broad spectrum of manufacturers and workers who stepped up to make essential PPE and other products throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, sent a letter today to President Biden and congressional leaders outlining recommendations on specific policy initiatives that must be adopted to re-establish a permanent…

CPA Reshoring Index Shows Manufacturing Import Penetration Hit New Low in Q1 2020

By Steven L. Byers, PhD, and Jeff Ferry The CPA Reshoring Index (CRI) rose to +173 in the first quarter of 2020, indicating that US manufacturers gained 1.73 percentage points of market share in the US market for manufactured goods. Import penetration in US manufacturing in the first quarter fell to 28.9%, its lowest level…

Supercharging Infrastructure Spending With Strict Buy America Rules

According to a new CPA analysis, a Congressional five-year $1.5 trillion infrastructure investment plan could create 2.5 million jobs by 2025 while bringing sorely needed improvement to the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure. However, the analysis finds that a quarter of the spending would go on imported materials and supplies. The same infrastructure plan implemented under a…