By Charles Benoit, CPA Trade Counsel U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer recently published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal detailing a five-point plan for reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO). Lighthizer’s plan received superficial criticism from all his usual detractors. But what he proposed is genius. Lighthizer’s plan will expose the hypocrisy of so-called…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst Joe Biden wants a Green New Deal and that means installing around 500 million solar panels nationwide. Where will the majority of those solar panels be made? In the USA, or China? If Joe Biden wins, solar is expected to play a large role in fossil-free energy over his…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst From H&M to Heinz, companies are now on notice if they are sourcing from Xinjiang, home of the Uyghur Muslim detention facilities Beijing refers to as re-education centers. Disney might be okay with filming Mulan in Xinjiang, home to hundreds of thousands of Uyghur Muslims held in detention facilities…
By Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst The US needs a “whole-of-government” approach to re-shore production if Americans are ever going to produce what we consume. The trade deficit hit $63.5 billion in July, its highest monthly total since July 2008 ($67.0 million), though much of the deterioration is due to continued lockdowns and demand suppression…
By Kenneth Rapoza, Industry Analyst, CPA The latest Chinese company additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List shows the growing influence of national security in the fight with China. The Chinese company that was made famous for its 2017 “X-6 Skywalker” drone was put on the Commerce Department’s Entity List on Wednesday along with 23…
By Kenneth Rapoza, Industry Analyst, CPA Joe Biden’s trade team has the right ideas on China. Here are some standouts we note in his Made in All of America trade policy. We are pleased to see that Joe Biden has come to grips with the fact that China is a problem for U.S. manufacturing and…
By Kenneth Rapoza, Industry Analyst, CPA Washing machine prices rose in 2018 and we are all reminded that tariffs are to blame. But they’ve been coming down ever since, inflation data shows. When President Trump put 20 percent tariffs on imported washing machines in 2018, there were howls of anguish from free-trade economists. They attacked…
By Ken Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst Major pharmaceutical importers have pushed back against the White House’s proposal to support domestic labs. But on Thursday, American manufacturers got a break. We think there is more to come. If there really is a “new normal” spawned by the global coronavirus pandemic, it’s the localizing of critical supply…
By Ken Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst The pandemic has curtailed exports and imports and today’s trade numbers showed a slight decline in the trade deficit. The June deficit came in at $50.7 billion, 7.5 percent better than the $54.8 billion deficit in May, based on the Bureau of Economic Analysis data. From January to June,…
By Kenneth Rapoza The Senate Subcommittee on Security held a hearing on China this week. This is what we learned. Ladies and gentlemen, we have consensus. Senate Republicans and Democrats on the Subcommittee on Security’s China Challenge hearing chaired by Dan Sullivan (R-AK) all agreed on Thursday that the threat posed by the world’s No.…