The House GOP’s border adjustability plan to rebate taxes on exports but not allow deductions for imports — a proposal staunchly opposed by retailers and other industries that have formed a coalition to fight the plan — could garner sufficient support on Capitol Hill and among the business community if transition periods and “phase-ins” for…
Wait for it. Here comes the Tokyo delegation — with lots of shiny trinkets and flattering words for President Donald Trump. [Kevin Kearns| February 9, 2017 |LifeZette] Yes, Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is coming to the White House on Friday to present a five-point plan explaining how his county can work with the United States to…
SAN FRANCISCO — Intel, the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer, will invest $7 billion to finish a factory in Arizona, adding 3,000 jobs, the company’s chief executive said on Wednesday after meeting with President Trump at the White House. [VINDU GOEL| February 8, 2017 |The New York Times] The completion of the factory, which will complement two other…
“The virtuous cycle of capital has broken down,” says Dan Alpert, Managing Partner at Westwood Capital in this new edition of Real Conversations. [Dan Alpert| February 09, 2017 |HedgeEye] That’s not hyperbole. Alpert wrote the book, “The Age of Oversupply.” In it, he argues that a global labor glut, excess productive capacity, and a rising ocean of cheap capital…
FRANKFURT—Germany’s exports exceeded its imports by the widest yearly margin on record last year, a sign of the strength of Europe’s biggest economy that could inflame tensions between Washington and Berlin over their trade relations. [NINA ADAM and ANDREA THOMAS| February 09, 2017 |Wall Street Journal] Germany’s trade surplus—or the balance of exports and imports of goods—rose…
Whether President Trump’s trade policy can deliver on his stated goals of reducing the U.S. trade deficit and creating American jobs remains to be seen. Whether he can build congressional support for his trade agenda is also uncertain. [Lori Wallach| January 31, 2017 |The Hill] Many congressional Republicans support the status quo. Many congressional Democrats…
The media have been filled with accounts in recent years of how automation is displacing workers and threatening the country with mass unemployment. Even President Obama even made a point of warning about the dangers of mass displacement from automation in his farewell address. [Dean Baker| February 5, 2017 |Beat the Press] This obsession is…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director The United States trade deficit for 2016 rose to $502.3 billion, its highest level since 2012, as a growing U.S. economy, a rising U.S. dollar, mercantilist practices by many foreign trading partners, and generally lackluster economic growth in foreign markets combined to make the trade balance a negative force in…
Washington ~ The U.S. Department of Commerce released a report yesterday showing that the US trade deficit rose to $502.3 billion, its highest level since 2012. “The huge trade deficit continues to hollow out U.S. manufacturing industry and depress real incomes in many parts of the country,” said Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director. “All eyes are on the Trump Administration…
A controversial part of NAFTA that permits Mexican trucks to roll through the United States may be left on the cutting room floor if the Trump administration decides to reopen the trade deal. [Lauren Gardner| February 6, 2017] And that would suit parts of the U.S. trucking industry, their unions and some avowed foes of…
