Commerce secretary warns Canada against ‘retaliatory action’ on lumber tariff

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Saturday doubled down on the imposition of tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, saying they were not based on “political considerations” and that “threats of retaliatory action” are “inappropriate.” [REBECCA MORIN] May 6th, 2017 [Politico]  “The Department of Commerce’s recent preliminary decision to impose tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber was…

How Mexico’s Unions Sell Out Autoworkers

Wage contracts are inked years before plants open and workers never get a say. At a ceremony at Mexico’s Los Pinos presidential residence in July 2014, BMW Chief Executive Officer Harald Krüger pledged to spend $1 billion to build a factory in the northern state of San Luis Potosí that will employ 1,500 workers. To…

Trump trade chief: Our trade policy is already working

A strong historic defense of American workers and domestic manufacturers aptly summarizes the first 100 days of the Trump Administration’s trade policy. [Peter Navarro] May 2nd, 2017 [CNN] On his first working day in office, President Trump terminated one of the worst trade deals ever proposed: the Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP would have further eroded the…

Fix the Trade Deficit or Risk another Financial Crisis

The Commerce Department reported the deficit on international trade goods and services in March was about $43.7 billion, indicating the United States is on track to another trade gap in excess of $500 billion for 2017. [Peter Morici] May 4th, 2017 [economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist] For decades,…