U.S.D.A. to Allow Chicken From Chinese Companies

Genuine General Tso’s chicken may soon be on the plate. The Department of Agriculture will allow Chinese poultry processing companies to ship fully cooked, frozen and refrigerated chicken to the United States. [by Stephanie Strom | November 6, 2014 | New York Times ] Food safety advocates have been predicting the announcement since the department…

Exit Polls: Economy #1 Issue By Far

Exit polls shows show that the Number 1 issue was the economy.  Obama failed and the GOP won the election. Specifically, 45 percent of voters said, in exit polls, that the economy was their number one issue. Almost half say their own family’s financial situation hasn’t improved much over the past two years, and a…

Recent global VAT trade distortion data

  (Map showing countries with a VAT in red.  Countries without a VAT in blue) Here is a valuable table showing VAT/consumption tax rates across the world for 2013 courtesy of Stewart and Stewart, a DC law firm specializing in international trade issues. While other countries have lowered tariffs, they have raised their VATs.  Thus,…

AISI provides comments on Foreign trade barriers

  The American Iron and Steel Institute announced the trade arm of the federal government that existing foreign trade barriers distort international trade and are extremely harmful to US companies especially those in the steel industry. [Reposted from Steel Guru |  November 6, 2014] The 45 pages of comments, signed by Mr Kevin Dempsey, senior…

Morici: Growth, Jobs and the GOP

Having won control of Congress, the GOP must now put forward a clear program to create jobs and govern reasonably, lest it give Democrats the upper hand for the 2016 presidential election. In recent months, the economic growth has accelerated, but most economists don’t see the pace picking up enough to solve the nation’s shortage…

GOP Election Victory Opens Pathway to Trade Bill

The Republican victory in the Senate won’t guarantee passage of stalled trade legislation, but it does sideline the bill’s biggest foe this year: Sen. Harry Reid. [By William Mauldin, 11/5/14, The Wall Street Journal] The Senate majority leader, a Nevada Democrat, dealt a body blow to President Barack Obama ’s trade policy in January when…