The November trade deficit numbers returned to a more normal figure, with the services surplus still in the $20s to low $30 billion range, and the goods deficit jumping from the October lull.
Clothes are labeled. Most food is labeled. Even your car has its manufacturing country of origin stamped onto the door panel. Pharmaceuticals on the other hand, one of the biggest import items and certainly one most critical to our daily health safety and security, usually do not come with any labels at all.
Few economic policies generate as much conversation as tariffs. Supporters see them as a way to rebuild domestic industry and rebalance supply chains. Critics argue they are little more than a tax on American consumers. For years, economists have tried to settle the question of who actually pays – and they have not all come to the same conclusion.
Once year-ending 2025 trade data is released in February, we will be looking at another $1 trillion deficit. Assuming the monthly goods deficit for November and December looks like the low October goods deficit of $58.5 billion, the U.S. will record a minimum $1.17 trillion goods gap for 2025, the second largest trade deficit since 2024’s $1.2 trillion barnstormer.
China’s trade surplus has crossed a dangerous threshold. In 2025, it exceeded $1 trillion for the first time, surpassing the previous record of $993 billion.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) turns 50 years old this year, and it still has lots to learn. The main disruptor – China – has ultimately added new layers to CFIUS oversight, but this oversight is in its infancy.
U.S. drugmakers are rapidly shifting the front end of America’s pharmaceutical ecosystem (e.g. discovery, early-stage-development, and the IP engine) to China through a surge of licensing deals and cross-border partnerships.
CPA this week applauded the acquisition of Nivagen Pharmaceuticals by member company, PAI Pharma (PAI), of Greenville, SC and Sacramento, CA.
AGOA, first enacted in 2000, provides qualifying sub-Saharan African nations with tariff-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products and was intended to support economic development, democratic reform, and stronger geopolitical ties to the United States.
We must stop importing more goods than we export, leaving us deeply indebted to our trading partners. I urge Congress to urgently pass a bill that would implement the Market Access Charge. Call your Congressman and Senator today to urge them to support the introduction of such a bill.
