Updated: Four House Democrats who have publicly announced or signaled their support for a pending Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill will travel with President Obama on Air Force One to attend the G7 summit taking place June 7-8 in Germany, according to a White House official. [Inside US Trade  |  June 5, 2015] They are…

San Diego congressionial representatives Susan Davis and Scott Peters remain undecided about pending international trade measures that will have tremendous impacts on San Diego. An upcoming vote on Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority will set the stage for years of consideration of major trade agreements, including with Europe and the Pacific Rim. [Reposted from the…

The United States late last week blasted the World Trade Organization for consistently handing down what it said were flawed and paradoxical rulings against U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat that leave members with no viable, WTO-consistent way to deliver information to consumers about the origin of livestock. [Reposted from Inside US Trade  |  June…

June 5, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 5, 2015 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 [email protected] [Reposted from the National Farmers Union site  |  June 5, 2015] WASHINGTON (June 5, 2015) – National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson reminded members of the U.S. House of Representatives that the 113-year old organization and its 200,000 family farmer and…

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Thursday (June 4) strongly hinted that the Republican leadership plans to hold separate votes on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), as sources have long expected, though he deferred to the House Rules Committee on the specifics of how that would be…

A corporate dagger is now aimed at the heart of our democracy. It has been well concealed by the noise of battle. Washington is once again fighting about trade. Once more we see most economists lined up in favor of trade along with the global corporations and opposed by the labor unions. [Reposted from The…

Trade deals write the rules for globalization. That is, they determine who will be winners, and who won’t. [Reposted from the Huffington Post  |  Stan Sorscher  |  June 4, 2015] Under NAFTA-style trade deals, the winners have been pharmaceutical companies, big polluters, banks and companies like Nike who scour the earth for the lowest wages…

Yves here. This post is important in and of itself, and also serves as an opportunity for a reminder: Please keep up your calls to your Senators and Congressman against the Fast Track. As we’ve said: [Reposted from Gaius Publius  |  Yves Smith  |  June 5, 2015] So your calls are critical to stiffening the…

Among the 51 senators who joined together on May 22 to kill an amendment to a Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill that would have required the United States to seek enforceable rules against currency manipulation in free trade agreements were 10 who two years ago demanded exactly that from the Obama administration. The amendment was…

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $40.9 billion in April, down $9.7 billion from $50.6 billion in March, revised. April exports were $189.9 billion, $1.9 billion more than March exports. April imports were $230.8 billion, $7.8…