Environmental inspectors in northern China have found that nearly 14,000 companies, or 70 percent of the businesses they examined, failed to meet environmental standards for controlling air pollution, according to a state news agency report. [EDWARD WONG] June 13th, 2017 [The New York Times] The inspectors working for the Ministry of Environmental Protection came up with those results…
Two Democratic senators on Tuesday said they hope a traceability requirement U.S. meat packers must meet to ship beef to China will lead to practices that will allow the U.S. to re-implement a country-of-origin labeling law that is compliant with World Trade Organization rules. [Brett Fortnam & Jack Caporal] June 14th, 2017 [Inside Trade] During a…
According to multiple sources, the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is set to publish on Friday a proposed amendment to a rule that will allow China to export poultry products to the U.S. from birds slaughtered in China, a move the U.S. committed to as part of the 100-day plan the Trump…
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is “very worried” about the semiconductor industry for reasons akin to those cited by the Trump administration in pursuing Section 232 national security investigations into steel and aluminum imports, he said Monday night. [Isabelle Hoagland] June 12th, 2017 [Inside Trade] Ross, speaking at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal, called the…
President Trump on Monday said “major legislation” on steel, aluminum and dumping is coming “very soon.” June 12th, 2017 [Inside Trade] “We’ll be having some major legislation very soon on the dumping of steel in our country – which is absolutely killing our workers and our steel companies,” he said during a cabinet meeting, offering…
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross expressed confidence that the Trump administration can achieve better trade terms through negotiations with trading partners, rather than immediately turning to tariffs or other punitive measures that could generate retaliation or other economic repercussions. [William Mauldin] June 12th, 2017 [The Wall Street Journal] President Donald Trump, who repeatedly warned in his 2016 campaign…
WASHINGTON – As the Trump Administration navigates a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), National Farmers Union (NFU) is urging the administration to establish a new, fair trade framework for international trade deals that benefits family farmers, ranchers, and rural residents. [Andrew Jerome] June 12th, 2017 [National Farmers Union] In public comments…
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday that a national security review of the U.S. steel industry will be completed “very shortly” and will seek to protect the interests of both domestic steel producers and consumers. [David Lawder] June 8th, 2017 [Reuters] Ross told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he believes there is…
The United States this week refused to agree to language in a statement on international trade at the OECD ministerial in Paris, instead opting to issue a separate statement focused on trade enforcement. Without having the support of the U.S., the chair of the OECD ministerial opted to issue another statement that endorsed numerous aspects…
It has become an article of faith that workers today are experiencing almost unprecedented levels of labor-market disruption and insecurity: Robots are automating factory jobs, kicking lunch-pail workers into the unemployment line. Taxi drivers are being displaced by Uber. Artificial intelligence is even taking over some of the tasks that lawyers and doctors used to…
