U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in what he called an “unprecedented enforcement action,” today directed Customs and Border Protection to block timber imports from a Peruvian exporter the U.S. says engaged in illegal harvesting practices. [Isabelle Hoagland | October 19, 2017 | Inside US Trade] By invoking a never-before used timber verification provision in the U.S.-Peru…
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From the moment it came out late Tuesday night, it was widely chuckled at in Washington policy circles: Two ham-handed slides obtained by the Washington Post, reportedly authored by the White House’s main trade advisor, blaming a “weakened manufacturing base” for problems ranging from factory closures and job losses to drug use and dropping marriage rates. [Danny…
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WASHINGTON—Foreign companies operating in the U.S. could face major changes in their tax bills under an overhaul being planned by Republicans. Those could include new surtaxes or limits on how much the companies can deduct on certain expenses such as rent, royalties and interest on debt. [Richard Rubin | October 19, 2017 | Wall Street…
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CPA calls for a Halt to Unsafe Meat/Poultry Imports Washington – The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) called upon the US government to halt all Brazilian fresh meat and Chinese poultry imports that are not verified to be as safe as US produced food. The US Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General…
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White House officials working on trade policy were alarmed last month when a top adviser to President Trump circulated a two-page document that alleged a weakened manufacturing sector leads to an increase in abortion, spousal abuse, divorce and infertility, two people familiar with the matter said. [Damian Paletta | October 17, 2017 | Washington Post]…
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Donald Trump, members of Congress, and other politicians often talk of wanting to revitalize American industry on the one hand, and to modernize the corporate tax code on the other hand. Why, then, is the most obviously appealing tax reform option of all from a competitiveness point of view not being discussed? I refer to…
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Giant corporations, loyal to coin and faithless to country, staged a public display of blubbering in the run up to this week’s fourth round of negotiations to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). [Leo W. Gerard | October 12, 2017 | Huffington Post] Whaa, whaaa, whaaaa, groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sniveled…
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Washington ~ The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) expressed support for several Trump administration proposals changing NAFTA. Those proposals include: 1.Increased reciprocity in government procurement; 2.Stronger rules of origin; 3.Automatic sunsetting of NAFTA after five years. “The multinational offshoring lobby and foreign governments want to continue the unbalanced NAFTA relationship,” said Dan DiMicco, CPA…
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has shared controversial proposals it intends to table in the NAFTA negotiations with the congressional committees of jurisdiction even though other government agencies objected to moving forward with them, sources said, leaving some to question whether the interagency process is broken. [Jenny Leonard | September 27, 2017 |…
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SHANGHAI— Steve Bannon, the recently departed White House chief strategist, asserts that, “We’re at economic war with China.” If that’s the case, Beijing seems supremely confident of victory. Eight months into a Trump presidency, the Chinese leadership has offered a few gestures to placate the U.S.—lifting a ban on U.S. beef was one—while pressing its…
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