The leaders of seven conservative Tea Party organizations on Tuesday (Jan. 13) launched the first volley in their campaign against the congressional passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), and held open the possibility of working with Democratic-aligned groups in order to gather enough opposition to defeat any TPA bill. [Reposted from InsideTrade.com …
China spurs exports by giving VAT rebates to certain industries and products. It also curtails exports by denying VAT rebates. “Why would they ever deny VAT rebates if they want to continue being an export powerhouse?”, you may ask. There are probably a host of reasons all having to do with their industrial policy. …
DALIAN, China — The plan here seems far-fetched — a $36 billion tunnel that would run twice the length of the one under the English Channel, and bore deep into one of Asia’s active earthquake zones. When completed, it would be the world’s longest underwater tunnel, creating a rail link between two northern port cities.…
Dan DiMicco comments on an article that appeared in the January 9th issue of the NYT by Dionne Searcey: [Reposted from the blog of Dan DiMicco | Dan DiMicco | January 12, 2015] The following quote is taken from the above article: “The drop in oil prices represents a substantial transfer of income from oil…
Despite all the much-heralded talk of the rebirth of manufacturing, a new report suggests that the trend may be vastly overstated [Reposted from The Guardian | Suzanne McGee | January 12, 1015] Have we been letting a good story get in the way of the facts? The “manufacturing renaissance” has been the central point in…
The “manufacturing renaissance” narrative in some circles is simply untrue. And possibly harmful to smart policy going forward. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) just produced a report saying as much. The full report is here. A summary is below. The Myth of America’s Manufacturing Renaissance: The Real State of U.S. Manufacturing JANUARY…
WASHINGTON — New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged Wednesday to move full speed ahead to give President Barack Obama so-called fast track authority to cut massive new trade deals with little oversight. [Reposted from the Huffington Post | Michael McAuliff | January 7, 2015] The last grant of fast track authority, formally known…
WASHINGTON — President Obama is facing opposition from fellow Democrats to one of his top priorities: winning the power to negotiate international trade agreements and speed them through Congress. [Reposted from The New York Times | Julie Hirsch | January 8, 2015] As Mr. Obama’s team works privately to line up support for the so-called…
China retains an active value-added tax (“VAT”) rebate program for exports. [Reposted from Textiles and Trade | David Trumbull | January 6, 2015] China’s Ministry of Finance increased the VAT rebate for most textile and apparel products to 16 percent in 2009 effective April 1, 2009. According to a news account in World Textile Information…
I’m glad to see mainstream newspaper reporters accurately report that the trade deficit is a drag on growth. While the November trade deficit was narrower, the reason was energy. Crude oil imports dropped because we produce more of our own energy. And because the price of crude was lower. Not because our goods deficit…