Outrage over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the outsourcing of American jobs fueled the populist uprising that swept Donald Trump to victory in 2016. [Curtis Ellis | October 22, 2017 | Breitbart] Now, NAFTA is poised to be a central issue in the 2018 midterm elections, providing lethal ammunition for the populist-nationalist…
“I had always been told that unskilled jobs moved abroad. Yet Shannon’s job was complicated. It had taken her years to master. Could I do what she did? I honestly wasn’t sure. [Farah Stockman | October 23, 2017 | New York Times] I had always been told that automation, not trade, was the reason factory workers…
Selling all-American ladders from an apple-pie-and-opioids town in the Rust Belt This has been a big month for “Buy American”: last week the slogan was used to bludgeon a cheeky Canadian aircraft maker, Bombardier, the pride of Quebec, into donating control of its C Series jet business to Airbus. [ Nick Hagen | October 23, 2017…
by Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA We have never seen this before. The US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, is being brutally direct with free trade zombies in Congress and the multinational import lobby – i.e. the swamp – in charting a new pro-American direction on trade. Voters sought a change in trade policy when electing…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director Three rounds of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations came and went without much fanfare. But the fourth round, held in early October, included strong Trump administration proposals which start to fulfill promises to get tough on trade. Mexico and Canada complained about the proposals. The NAFTA negotiations…
Trade Deficit Reduction Could be Frustrated Washington ~ The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) sent a letter to President Trump urging that he ensures that any Federal Reserve nominee favors a competitively priced dollar rather than a “strong” dollar. “Past federal government support for a ‘strong’ US dollar has made our exports too…
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled 4-0 earlier this month that imports of home washing machines from South Korea, mainly by Samsung and Lucky-Goldstar, are harming American manufacturers. It is now up to Pres. Trump to accept or reject the commission’s recommendation for a retaliatory tariff. He should accept it. [Ian Fletcher | October 19,…
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been called on to halt all Brazilian fresh meat and Chinese poultry imports that are not verified to be as safe as US produced food. [Aidan Fortune| October 19, 2017 | GlobalMeatNews.com] The call came from the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA), following a USDA audit…
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…
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…