WASHINGTON IS short on fresh thinking about almost everything, taxes and tax reform very much included. So it was encouraging to see Maryland’s junior U.S. senator, Benjamin L. Cardin (D), promoting a plan to overhaul the tax code that is nothing if not radical. Though imperfect, and unlikely to pass Congress any time soon, Mr.…
There is ample reason for doubt about the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), although its tenets have not been fully determined. There is more than enough reason to oppose its fast-tracking. [Reposted from the Berkshire Eagle | February 17, 2015] Demonstrators in Pittsfield, Springfield and Washington, D.C. will lobby First District Congressman Richard Neal, a Springfield…
Environmental and labor groups are rallying this afternoon to urge members of Congress to oppose a trade agreement President Obama has yet to completely outline. And Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal has become a target for activist groups. [Reposted from the New England News | Jim Levulis | February 18, 2015] During January’s State of the…
BURLINGTON, VT — Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron Wyden could face challenges in his new 2016 reelection fight if he votes with Senate Republicans in favor of the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the so-called “Fast Track” Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) many in Washington believe is needed for passing it. [Reposted from Democracy for America | …
The Chinese are beginning to tighten the noose around the necks of foreign companies. [Reposted from Manufacturing and Technology News | Michael Wessel and Dan Slane | February 19, 2015] For some, they have already sucked dry their IP and marketing expertise and they are no longer useful to the future plans of the Chinese…
Fast Track Wasn’t Needed During Reagan’s Successful Uruguay Round, And Is Not Needed Now by Charles Blum, former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Multilateral RelationsManufacturing & Technology News, (subscription required) February 19, 2013, Vol. 22, No. 3 When it took the lead in launching the Uruguay Round in 1985 – 1986, the Reagan administration did…
In September 2011, Congress passed and the president signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) that changed the U.S. patent system to the party “first to file” instead of the “first to invent to bring the U.S. in line with other countries who adopted first to file patent systems years ago, supposedly to simplify the…
Michael Stumo had the opportunity to meet with Michele Nash-Hoff, chair of the CPA CA Chapter, and other CA Chapter members this past week over dinner to discuss how to make free, fair, and balanced trade teh norm in California. Chapter members discussed ways to further develop the California Chapter. Michele Nash-Hoff also discussed the…
BEIJING—Newly released satellite images show a dramatic expansion in China’s construction of artificial islands on disputed South China Sea reefs, intensifying concerns about Beijing’s territorial ambitions. [Reposted from the Wall Street Journal | Jeremy Page and Julian Barnes | February 18, 2015] The images provide the first visual evidence that China has built an artificial…
Suppose that by enacting a particular law we’d increase the U.S.Gross Domestic Product. But almost all that growth would go to the richest 1 percent. [Reposted from the Campaign for America’s Future blog | Robert Reich | February 18, 2015] The rest of us could buy some products cheaper than before. But those gains would…