HONG KONG — The Chinese government has adopted new regulations requiring companies that sell computer equipment to Chinese banks to turn over secret source code, submit to invasive audits and build so-called back doors into hardware and software, according to a copy of the rules obtained by foreign technology companies that do billions of dollars’…
Fed up with secret meetings that will decide the future of trade for more than a dozen nations, a number of protesters swarmed a congressional hearing on the TPP Tuesday morning. [Reposted from The Daily Dot | Kevin Collier | January 27, 2015] The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive trade deal between the U.S. and 13…
United States Treasury secretaries routinely say that they favor a strong dollar, regardless of circumstances or economic conditions. And the dollar is strong right now, thanks in no small part to actions by foreign central banks. [Reposted from The New York Times | Jeff Sommer | January 24, 2015] The European Central Bank significantly loosened…
[Reposted from Inside US Trade | January 26, 2015] Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, will take over as chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on international trade, customs and global competitiveness, according to a Jan. 22 joint press release from Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron…
Before President Obama leaves office, he wants to complete two major free-trade agreements, one with Asian nations and the other with the European Union. To do it, he says he needs a guarantee from Congress that it will simply vote yes or no on any deal the White House offers, without trying to amend it.…
In his State of the Union message, President Obama suggested apprenticeships, tax reductions on new investments, and building new infrastructure as ways to increase jobs and reduce inequality in America. [by Clyde Prestowitz | January 30, 2015 | Los Angeles Times] But he said virtually nothing about what is probably the single biggest…
Even as President Barack Obama was calling on Congress to grant him expanded powers to negotiate trade agreements, some of his staunchest allies were raising objections. [Reposted from Bloomberg | Carter Dougherty | January 20, 2015] “I’m the first one to admit that past trade deals haven’t always lived up to the hype,” Obama said…
The president’s push for trade deals is ‘No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4’ on the list of what House Democrats disliked about the State of the Union, Rep. Peter DeFazio said. [Reposted from Politico | Lauren French | January 20, 2015] House Democrats have long been wary of the trade proposals the…
It’s widely expected that in tonight’s State of the Union address President Obama will call for actions to boost wages for low- and moderate-wage Americans, and also for moving forward on two trade agreements—the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). [Reposted from the EPI blog | Josh Bivens | January…
WASHINGTON — IF the new Congress can agree on anything this year, it may well be the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal between the United States and 11 other countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Passions run high when it comes to trade deals these days, and the Obama administration is working hard to sell it…
