Ford Motor Co. will scrap plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico, after coming under criticism by President-elect Donald Trump for shifting small-car production south of the border. [Keith Naughton| January 3, 2017 |Bloomberg] The next-generation Focus compact car will be built at an existing factory in Hermosillo, Mexico, and Ford will cancel plans…
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday he will nominate lawyer Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative, picking an experienced trade official who has questioned the conservative movement’s commitment to free trade. [Associated Press| January 3, 2017 |NY Times] Lighthizer, who served as deputy USTR under President Ronald Reagan, would play a key role…
by Jeff Ferry President-elect Trump’s appointment of Peter Navarro to a new National Trade Council has alarmed some traditional economists. Professor Navarro, co-author of a book and film called “Death By China” really believes that the U.S. must do something to address its $500 billion trade deficit and that China, a country that has run…
[BINYAMIN APPELBAUM| December 21, 2016 |NY Times] WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Wednesday named a strident China critic, Peter Navarro, to lead a new White House office overseeing American trade and industrial policy, in the latest sign that Mr. Trump is moving to reshape relations between the world’s two largest economies. Mr. Trump also said…
The Obama Administration and pro-free-trade hawks like Sen. Orrin Hatch continue to preach the virtues of free trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Pact even though both presidential candidates and US voters made it clear they don’t want “deals” that facilitate the loss of thousands of jobs. [Marc Fasteau and Jeff Ferry| December 09, 2016 |Huffington…
Balanced Trade: Key To US Economic RebirthBy Michael Stumo, President, and Jeff Ferry, Research Director, The United States has run a consistent deficit on our balance of trade for 40 years, a record for any major nation in the annals of modern record-keeping. A persistent trade deficit is a telltale sign that a nation is…
By Jason Cooper, CPA Research Assistant The USA places duties on trade in response to unlawful trade practices by foreign companies, but in some cases companies illegally bypass those duties, gambling that they won’t get caught. In February of 2016 the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) was passed to improve trade law enforcement and duty…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director Summary The US government should adopt balanced trade as a key performance measure for trade policy. Following 40 years of recurrent trade deficits, our industrial base is depleted, American living standards have suffered, many of our cities and towns are in disrepair, and social problems are growing. Our huge…
[Adam Behsudi| December 20, 2016 |Politico] President-elect Donald Trump met with veteran trade attorney Robert Lighthizer for 40 minutes at his Florida estate on Monday – 10 more minutes than allotted – sending out a strong signal that Trump may have found his man to lead trade negotiations for the incoming administration. Trump appears to be focusing more attention…
[Daily News| December 19, 2016 |Inside US Trade] Trade could play a part in the battle over who will lead the Democratic National Committee after Hillary Clinton’s loss, with Labor Secretary Tom Perez – a staunch Trans-Pacific Partnership supporter – squaring off against Rep. Keith Ellison (MI). “Unlike some of the other candidates running for…