With major issues still unsettled, it would appear there was some movement on Monday on one piece of end-of-session legislation: A Buy American program. [Matthew Hamilton] June 19th, 2017 [Times Union] Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein said legislative leaders and the governor are nearing a three-way agreement on Buy American, a proposal pushed by Gov.…
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The Ranchers-Cattlemen Legal Action Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) and Cattle Producers of Washington (CPoW) have filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Monday against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The suit alleges that USDA regulations that allow beef and pork to be classified as “domestic products,”…
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After nine years, the United States has lost — to Guatemala — the first-ever labor enforcement case brought to dispute settlement under a free trade agreement, sources told Inside U.S. Trade. [Isabelle Hoagland & Jenny Leonard] June 20th, 2017 [Inside Trade] The dispute, which marked the first time a labor rights complaint was lodged under a free…
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By Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA, and Jeff Ferry, Research Director Some influential economists misleadingly assert that US trade deficits are caused by American households failing to save enough and also by federal budget deficits. Taking action against strategic foreign economic policies, their story continues, would be futile. This paper comprehensively disproves the savings rate…
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One of the most notable political trends over the past 18 months—and one with the potential to affect companies across many industries—has been voter pushback against globalization and free trade. June 18th, 2017 [The Wall Street Journal] Indeed, following the Brexit vote in the U.K. and Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, nations…
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General Motors Co. GM +0.32% said Friday it would open a supplier park near its Arlington, Texas, sport-utility factory, resulting in the relocation of about 600 jobs from Mexico to the U.S. and a higher concentration of American-made parts in Chevrolet Suburbans and Cadillac Escalades. [Mike Colias & William Mauldin] June 16th, 2017 [The Wall Street Journal] Many of those U.S. employees…
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U.S. government signals that it will push for a ban on currency manipulation in the North American Free Trade Agreement have attracted little attention, as Mexico and Canada are rarely accused of gaming the foreign-exchange market. The strategy is likely to prove more contentious when the Trump administration turns its attention to South Korea. [Randy…
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told House members Wednesday that the Trump administration supports the World Trade Organization but the global body is in need of changes. Asked by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) if President Trump supports a slew of institutions including the WTO, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and others, as well as the…
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Environmental inspectors in northern China have found that nearly 14,000 companies, or 70 percent of the businesses they examined, failed to meet environmental standards for controlling air pollution, according to a state news agency report. [EDWARD WONG] June 13th, 2017 [The New York Times] The inspectors working for the Ministry of Environmental Protection came up with those results…
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Two Democratic senators on Tuesday said they hope a traceability requirement U.S. meat packers must meet to ship beef to China will lead to practices that will allow the U.S. to re-implement a country-of-origin labeling law that is compliant with World Trade Organization rules. [Brett Fortnam & Jack Caporal] June 14th, 2017 [Inside Trade] During a…
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