HONG KONG — Chinese authorities are quietly scrutinizing technology products sold in China by Apple and other big foreign companies, focusing on whether they pose potential security threats to the country and its consumers and opening up a new front in an already tense relationship with Washington over digital security. [Paul Mozur & Jane Perlez| May 16,…

by Michael Stumo Eduardo Porter, a New York Times economics reporter, wrote today that we have no way to grow the US economy because of a shrinking workforce and lack of productivity growth. He is wrong. Porter is a posterchild for establishment economics that have gotten us into this stagnation mess with their push for…

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton got some political help on trade over the weekend as Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – who’s on everyone’s short list for vice presidential picks – defended his former Senate colleague on CNN. [Daily News| May 17, 2016 |Inside US Trade] Brown – who, as the network notes, is a “strident opponent…

by Michael Stumo Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “Your actions speak so loudly, I can not hear what you are saying.” I was interviewed by a Southern California NPR reporter yesterday about why left of center trade reformers don’t trust Hillary Clinton to fix trade. CPA members, of course, are all over the map supporting…

Data released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that the trade in goods deficit with South Korea continued to expand in the first quarter of this year, which marks the first four years of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). [Daily News| May 13, 2016 |Inside…

Strong gains in population, jobs and home prices coming out of the recession weren’t enough to shield metro Denver from an erosion in its middle class. [Aldo Svaldi| May 12, 2016 |Denver Post] Middle-income households in metro Denver shrank from 58 percent of the population in 2000 to 53 percent in 2014, according to a report…

BEIJING (Reuters) – Some Chinese state-owned entities, backed by the key government agency that oversees major state industrial companies, have adopted a controversial defense when they face U.S. lawsuits: You can’t touch us because we enjoy sovereign immunity. [Matthew Miller & Michael Martina| May 11, 2016 |Reuters] Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China’s biggest state-owned…

This extraordinary primary season has clearly shown that Americans, whether Democrats or Republicans, have finally rebelled against “free trade.” [Ralph Gomory| May 11, 2016 |The Huffington Post] It is high time. There is an enormous gap between free trade as it is taught in textbooks and advocated by those who benefit from it and free…

Power players in the financial services industry are threatening to sit out the push for President Obama’s Pacific Rim trade deal unless the administration addresses one of their main objections to the pact. [Vicky Needham| May 12, 2016 |The Hill] Banks, insurance companies and other financial companies oppose a provision in the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership…

by Michael Stumo Opposition to rigged trade deals drove the results another primary contest.  Sanders continues outperforming expectations with a win in West Virginia’s Dem primary yesterday, even though Clinton has opposed the TPP. Trump won as expected now that he has no opponents remaining. Exit polls showed how powerful the issue of dumb trade…