The top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee said Thursday (Jan. 7) that TransCanada’s plan to file an investor-state claim against the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) over the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline highlights why some of the reforms to investment rules that he had proposed should have been…
The Canadian company behind the Keystone XL pipeline filed two legal challenges against President Barack Obama on Wednesday, contending he violated NAFTA and the U.S. Constitution when he rejected the project in November. [by Elena Schor| January 6, 2016 |Politico] The legal challenges are unlikely to undo the rejection by Obama, but they may yet revive…
Rep Sander Levin, as Ranking Member on Ways/Means, is holding a hearing tomorrow to focus upon TPP and currency. The hearing is entitled: ‘Trading Views’ TPP Hearing on Currency Manipulation. Levin’s staff has prepared an authoritative memo on how the TPP side agreement on currency is not worth the paper it is written on.…
It’s now harder to find out where your beef or pork was born, raised and slaughtered. [by Mary Clare Jalonick| January 3, 2016 |ABC News] After more than a decade of wrangling, Congress repealed a labeling law last month that required retailers to include the animal’s country of origin on packages of red meat. It’s…
Stumo note: The Census Bureau BEA reported today that US exports continued their decline in November. The trade deficit widened over November 2014. Imports were down as well, causing the trade deficit to actually improve a bit over October. Low energy prices were a big part of the reduced import number. See the full report…
Last year, the Guardian shed light on an uncomfortable — and unfortunate — truth about much of the shrimp sold in North America, Europe, Japan and elsewhere around the world. A six-month-long investigation revealed that torture, wage-theft, beatings and various other illegal practices were a reality in the production chain of the world’s largest supplier. [by Roberto A. Ferdman| December…
Last spring, President Barack Obama got downright crabby about people criticizing the mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership he’s trying to sell to Congress and the public. [by Jim Hightower| December 29, 2015 |Other Words] More and more Americans are learning that the TPP would undermine America’s very sovereignty, giving multinational corporations direct access to secretive tribunals that…
In early October 2015, negotiators for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) reached an agreement that they submitted to their respective governments for approval. The countries involved in addition to the US are Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Peru, and Vietnam. The Office of the United States Trade Representative explains that the…
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) have delayed taking a formal position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) due to continuing objections from member companies over the agreement’s provisions on biologic drugs, financial services and tobacco, according to informed sources. December 24, 2015 | Inside U.S. Trade These companies are…
In mid-November, I had the pleasure of touring manufacturing plants in the Louisville, Kentucky region as the guest of the marketing consortium of the Greater Louisville Inc. Initiative. Well-known as the home of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat and the start of the “Bourbon Road” tours of bourbon and rye whiskey distilleries, Louisville has a…
