Micron Technology would be a less than super deal for China. Beijing sees its reliance on foreign tech as a strategic weakness, and has already struck several small deals to bolster its own semiconductor industry. Yet a reported $23 billion purchase of the American memory-chip maker would be a much tougher proposition. [ by…

  Preventing currency manipulation should be a key goal in any future free trade agreement.  As ex-Fed Chairman Paul Volcker has said:  “Trade is more affected by ten minutes of movements in exchange rates than by ten years of trade negotiations.”  Without free trade in currencies, free trade in goods is simply impossible. [by Rep.…

In a victory for the United Steelworkers (USW) union, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Tuesday (July 14) issued a final determination that domestic tire producers are being materially injured by dumped and subsidized imports from China. The vote was split along party lines 3-3, but the commission’s regulations require that a tie vote…

There is no lack of ingenuity and innovation in the U. S. today. Each year, thousands of new products are invented, and but most are never produced. Knowing how to use technology to create a product doesn’t mean you know how to manufacture it and get it to market. Obtaining a patent is a key…

  HONG KONG — It is either the first step in the largest takeover of an American company by a Chinese one or a new chapter in the emerging technological cold war between the two countries. [ by Paul Mozur and Quentin Hardy | July 14, 2015 | NY Times ] Tsinghua Unigroup, a state-owned…

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is threatening to unravel a compromise he earlier blessed to amend provisions on human trafficking in the newly enacted fast-track law, but whether doing so would have any impact on congressional consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) now seems unclear. [Reposted from Inside US Trade  |  July 13, 2015] The Trade…

In China, the media most often speaks for the state. [Reposted from Chinh’s News  |  Linette Lopez  |  July 8, 2015] So when Xinhua publishes an editorial telling foreign companies to “put their victim mentality to rest… and embrace new rules” on national security that expand China’s legal reach “to almost every aspect of public…

The fast-track authority legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership recently passed by Congress says we can’t make “trade” agreements like TPP with countries that violate human rights. There is a report that to get around this rule the administration is going to declare the worst violators of human rights to be OK after all. [Reposted from…

Using a loophole in the WTO’s clause on national security threats, Beijing has effectively banned foreign competition [Reposted from Epoch Times  |  Joshua Phillips  |  July 9, 2015] The Chinese Communist Party has created a new law that allows it to selectively ban foreign imports while propping up its own companies. The new law uses…

Domestic steelmakers have urged the government to keep steel out of the purview of any future free-trade agreements… [Reposted from The Financial Express  |  Surya Sarathi Ray  |  Juy 9, 2015] Domestic steelmakers have urged the government to keep steel out of the purview of any future free-trade agreements (FTAs) and also review the existing…