(click to watch) Dan DiMicco, Nucor chairman emeritus and CPA board member talks on CNBC about making trade deals with partners that are “mutually beneficial.”  

Trump’s new special assistant on international trade, investment and development on the National Economic Council once helped guide negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Andrew Quinn, a former deputy chief negotiator of the TPP who was hired by the agency as deputy assistant USTR in 2012, joined the council on Monday.  [Adam Behsudi| February 28, 2016 |Politico]…

Targeting a country for perceived currency manipulation would not be an effective means to making progress on the economy, the governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis told Morning Trade this week, knocking down one of Trump’s oft-repeated campaign promises to attack China for its currency practices. [Adam Behsudi | February 28, 2016…

WASHINGTON—The Senate on Monday confirmed Wilbur Ross as Commerce secretary, an appointment key to enabling President Donald Trump to make progress on a campaign promise to overhaul U.S. trade policy. [William Mauldin | February 27, 2016 |The Wall Street Journal] The vote was 72-27, with those opposing Mr. Ross questioning his foreign investments. Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) told…

President Trump said this week he supports “a form of tax on the border because everybody else does.” [Daily News| February 24, 2016 |Inside US Trade] In an interview with Reuters, Trump was asked about a border adjustability tax proposal being pushed by House GOP leaders despite the objections of retailers and strong skepticism among key…

Washington’s latest trade controversy has blown up over a dispute over differing sets of statistics for measuring our foreign trade. Trump administration officials are advocating for wider use of export/import measures that exclude pass-through goods, while Commerce Department officials advocate the older measures, total exports and total imports. by Jeff Ferry, appears on The Hill The newer…

Trade attorney Stephen Vaughn will be named the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s general counsel if USTR nominee Robert Lighthizer is confirmed, and Gilbert Kaplan will be tapped for Commerce under secretary for international trade provided Commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross is approved by the Senate, according to multiple sources. [Daily News| February 23,…

The senior adviser who led President Donald Trump’s trade transition team suggested to Business Insider that the next trade agreement that could come under fire from the White House was the US’s participation in the World Trade Organization. [Allan Smith| February 26, 2016 |Business Insider] Dan DiMicco, the former Nucor CEO and board member of…

Wilbur Ross is expected to emerge as the Trump administration’s leading voice on trade after the Senate votes tonight to confirm him as Commerce Department secretary. He’s already singled out a surprising pet project: Reducing America’s reliance on seafood imports.  [Megan Cassella| February 27, 2016 |Politico] “Given the enormity of our coastlines, given the enormity of our…

Tomi’s “Final Thoughts” are based on her experience as a midwestern girl who grew up in a small state in a family and community of ranchers and farmers. Not as a political commentator, conservative or “that girl from facebook.” She remarks that people like her family are struggling to survive right now thanks to the big meat packers…