By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst Katherine Tai inches closer to being confirmed as new US Trade Representative. While she spoke cautiously about the direction tariffs will take on China and some products like solar, she understands their purpose. Here’s an overview of her hearing on Thursday. After Thursday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing with Katherine…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst If the Biden Administration is going to restrict polluting industries at home, what about those who pollute overseas, and then import the goods they make to the United States? If the US and Canada are at all serious in their latest threat to treat high polluting countries differently from…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst New York-based manufacturing firm Optimation is an example of the unsung, anonymous tooling companies in the middle of the American supply chain that are needed to make everything from peanut butter factory equipment, to giant concrete bases for windmills. Without them, it would make more sense to build elsewhere…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst Katherine Tai reportedly gave the Business Roundtable some clues as to where Biden’s tariff policy is heading. Potential new US Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, reportedly told the Business Roundtable that lobbying for tariff removal won’t work, at least for the time being. She said companies keen to keep the…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst What countries and what products helped lead to an historic trade deficit in the middle of a global pandemic. The biggest takeaway from 2020 trade: Vietnam is now China’s offshore lovechild. And Switzerland’s currency maneuvers gave it the biggest jump in its trade gap with the US, ever. Demand…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst The US says there will be no new vacancy slots filled at the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body due to a number of “systemic” problems. Biden sticking with Trump’s policy for now. In continuing with the Trump administration’s hard tack against the World Trade Organization, the Biden administration said…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst Worried about China and the US policy towards our biggest strategic rival? Then Tom Cotton’s office has the perfect weekend reading. The 84-page Beat China: Targeted Decoupling and the Economic Long War looks in the rearview at China-US policy, and lists some strategies to deal with China going forward.…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst US chip makers have a commanding lead when it comes to sales worldwide of the chips in our X Box controllers, laptops, and — increasingly — our cars. But mostly all of it is made in Asia. The recent chip shortage has executives from Intel, AMD and elsewhere asking…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst China threatens to withhold some key rare earths used in navigational equipment on American fighter planes. But that’s not all. For at least a decade, Washington has been aware of China’s growing dominance in mining and processing of rare earth metals. These metals might not be household names like…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst President Biden makes first call to Xi Jinping since winning the White House. By the looks of things, we have a continuation of the previous government’s take on China. President Joe Biden spoke with his China counterpart on Wednesday evening, and after wishing him a Happy Lunar New Year…
