By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director Safeguard tariffs imposed by President Trump on imported solar cells and panels have been in effect for just over a week, but already we’re seeing moves to boost US solar production in response. No fewer than nine solar manufacturing companies are planning to launch or expand solar manufacturing in…
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday reiterated a commonly held view among US intelligence officials that China is seeking to become a global superpower through unconventional means — but he framed it as both a governmental and a societal threat to the US. [Michal Kranz | February 13, 2018 | Business Insider] Speaking before the…
Former boxer and machining revolutionary, Titan Gilroy, has an aggressive strategy to combat all the threats to American manufacturing, from outsourcing to the skills gap. (American Machinist — John Hitch: 2-6-18) The list of obstacles standing in the way of an American manufacturing comeback seems to grow every day. We have the skills gap,…
Washington ~ The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) applauded a Commerce Department decision today finding that companies in China are dumping cast iron soil pipe fittings in the US market. The Department stated, in its fact sheet: Commerce calculated a preliminary dumping rate of 68.37 percent for mandatory respondent Shanxi Xuanshi Industrial Group Co.,…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director Business Roundtable (BR) and others have published economic forecasts that purport to show that the US withdrawing from or substantially modifying NAFTA would lead to US losses in GDP and jobs. We analyze the BR study and show that it is essentially a biased or “rigged” economic model, overlooking…
By John R. Hansen, Advisory Board, Coalition for a Prosperous America Yogi Berra once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” That’s undoubtedly true in the complicated world of global trade. But a look at America’s trade flows—and growing trade deficit— clearly indicates that a “strong dollar” has been a significant factor. Case in point:…
President Trump on Monday promised the U.S. would soon institute a “reciprocal tax” against countries that take advantage of the U.S. [February 12, 2018 | Inside US Trade] At a White House meeting with governors and business executives to discuss his infrastructure plans, Trump diverted to trade to say “we are going to charge countries, outside of…
KOLWEZI, Democratic Republic of Congo—Miners push bicycles piled high with bags of a grayish-blue ore along a dusty road to a makeshift market. There, they line up at wholesalers with nicknames such as Crazy Jack and Boss Lee. [Scott Patterson and Russell Gold | February 11, 2018 | WSJ] Most of the buyers are Chinese.…
An ironic aspect of the #MeToo movement is the revelation that mandatory arbitration clauses in women’s employment contracts have sometimes helped to keep sexual harassment claims secret. But in our daily lives, we all “agree” to similar mandatory arbitration clauses when downloading software, for example, or accepting a new credit card. This op-ed first appeared…
Senate Finance Committee Republicans held what several termed a “constructive” meeting with President Trump on Wednesday, focusing on trade policy and NAFTA in particular and pleasing the panel chairman, Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who emerged saying he now liked the president’s trade approach. [Jenny Leonard and Dan Dupont |February 7, 2018 | Inside US Trade] Hatch, who has not…
