U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer was unanimously approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, sending his nomination to the Senate floor. [Dan Dupont] April 25th, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade] The panel also approved a statutory waiver to allow him to serve as USTR. The quick approval followed weeks of debate among Republicans and…
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Washington~ The Trump administration announced Monday evening that it will impose countervailing duties up to 24% on imported lumber subsidized by the Canadian government. The Commerce Department announced its Preliminary Determination of Countervailable Subsidies on April 24, 2017 after a long running investigation. CPA strongly supports the Trump Administration’s move to eliminate the unearned advantage given…
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HANGZHOU, China — China’s vast steel industry is a major target of President Trump. But this hulking shell of a mill here shows why China is likely to keep pumping out more and more steel, inflaming trade tensions between the two countries. [KEITH BRADSHER] April 20th, 2017 [The New York Times] The Hangzhou steel mill,…
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What was worse about President Trump’s decision to let China off the currency manipulator hook (for now) was its geopolitical rationale. [Alan Tonelson] April 20th, 2017 [Industry Today] What was worst about President Trump’s decision yesterday to let China off the currency manipulator hook (for now) was not the scrapping of a long-time campaign promise…
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President Trump said on Thursday that his administration will lay out its plan for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement within two weeks, while also ripping Canadian dairy and lumber policies. April 20th, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade] The remarks came as Trump was signing an unrelated executive order on steel imports in…
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President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum on Thursday ordering the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to investigate steel imports. But he also previewed action on NAFTA. [CHARLIE SPIERING] April 20th, 2017 [Breitbart] “The fact is, NAFTA, whether it’s Mexico or Canada, is a disaster for our country,” he said, referring to the North American…
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The Treasury Department has not found that any country meets its criteria for currency manipulation in a much-anticipated report that for the first time says any country that accounts for “a large and disproportionate share” of the U.S. trade deficit will be more closely monitored. [Jenny Leonard, Jack Caporal and Isabelle Hoagland] April 20th, 2017…
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China’s environmental protection authority says several factories continued to operate illegally after inspectors had closed them down. [Bibek Bhandari] April 21st, 2017 [Sixth Tone] China’s environmental watchdog has the power to close factories, but its authority is apparently easy to ignore after inspectors leave. The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) recently discovered that several factories…
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By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director, and Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA The Republican business tax reform plan, also known as the House GOP Blueprint or the Ryan-Brady plan, features a type of border-adjustable tax (BAT). Border adjustability means that different tax rates apply within and outside the US. It is a potentially new feature…
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Warnings of US protectionism by Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, and others are “rubbish”, Donald Trump’s top trade official has said in a new attack on the big trade surpluses of China, Europe and Japan. [Shawn Donnan and Demetri Sevastopulo] April 16th, 2017 [Financial Times] Speaking ahead of the arrival in Washington of global…
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