By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director Business Roundtable (BR) and others have published economic forecasts that purport to show that the US withdrawing from or substantially modifying NAFTA would lead to US losses in GDP and jobs. We analyze the BR study and show that it is essentially a biased or “rigged” economic model, overlooking…
By John R. Hansen, Advisory Board, Coalition for a Prosperous America Yogi Berra once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” That’s undoubtedly true in the complicated world of global trade. But a look at America’s trade flows—and growing trade deficit— clearly indicates that a “strong dollar” has been a significant factor. Case in point:…
President Trump on Monday promised the U.S. would soon institute a “reciprocal tax” against countries that take advantage of the U.S. [February 12, 2018 | Inside US Trade] At a White House meeting with governors and business executives to discuss his infrastructure plans, Trump diverted to trade to say “we are going to charge countries, outside of…
KOLWEZI, Democratic Republic of Congo—Miners push bicycles piled high with bags of a grayish-blue ore along a dusty road to a makeshift market. There, they line up at wholesalers with nicknames such as Crazy Jack and Boss Lee. [Scott Patterson and Russell Gold | February 11, 2018 | WSJ] Most of the buyers are Chinese.…
An ironic aspect of the #MeToo movement is the revelation that mandatory arbitration clauses in women’s employment contracts have sometimes helped to keep sexual harassment claims secret. But in our daily lives, we all “agree” to similar mandatory arbitration clauses when downloading software, for example, or accepting a new credit card. This op-ed first appeared…
Senate Finance Committee Republicans held what several termed a “constructive” meeting with President Trump on Wednesday, focusing on trade policy and NAFTA in particular and pleasing the panel chairman, Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who emerged saying he now liked the president’s trade approach. [Jenny Leonard and Dan Dupont |February 7, 2018 | Inside US Trade] Hatch, who has not…
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the annual U.S. trade deficit in goods and services increased from $504.8 billion to $566.1 billion from 2016 to 2017, an increase of $61.2 billion (12.1 percent). The rapid growth of the overall U.S. trade deficit reflects the failure of Trump administration trade policies to materially affect trade flows in…
American schools that coordinate with the Chinese Ministry of Education should end their agreements because they are trying to teach a warped version of history that benefits the government, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., warned Monday. [Joel Gehrke | February 5, 2018 | Washington Examiner] Rubio asked several schools in his state to shutter the Confucius…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director The US trade deficit last year surged 12.1%, rising at three times the rate of nominal GDP growth, hampering US economic performance, employment levels, and incomes. The Department of Commerce reported this morning that the US trade deficit in goods and services came in at $566.0 billion, an increase…
by Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA The big news this week is that the annual US trade deficit increased in 2017 by 12% over 2016. Here are five reasons you should care. 1. Your stock market gains could be at risk – The economy that really matters—the jobs and industries that support middle class families across the…
