Do trade deficits matter? The question is important because America’s trade deficit in goods is large and persistent, about $2 billion every day. [PETER NAVARRO| March 5, 2017 |Wall Street Journal] The economic argument that trade deficits matter begins with the observation that growth in real GDP depends on only four factors: consumption, government spending,…
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China bears the brunt of U.S. anger over unfair trade, but Germany’s foreign surpluses are now far larger and may be more consequential for America’s economy and the rest of the world. [TOM FAIRLESS| March 6, 2017 |Wall Street Journal] Low-wage Chinese workers have put downward pressure on U.S. manufacturing wages for years, but Germany’s…
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Steel attorney Stephen Vaughn has been named the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s general counsel and acting U.S. Trade Representative, according to the agency. [Jenny Leonard| March 3, 2017 |Inside US Trade] Vaughn, who was a member of President Trump’s USTR transition team, was expected to be chosen for the general counsel’s job once…
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Law360, New York (March 3, 2017, 3:31 PM EST) — President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for U.S. pipelines to be built with American steel won’t apply to TransCanada Corp.’s controversial Keystone XL project, whose completion he has pushed for, the White House confirmed on Friday. [Keith Goldberg| March 3, 2017 |Law 360] The order issued by…
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Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross this week told House Ways & Means Democrats that the Trump administration in mid-March will formally notify Congress of its intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, ranking member Richard Neal (D-MA) and other panel Democrats told Inside U.S. Trade. [Jenny Leonard| March 2, 2017 |Inside US Trade] “He made…
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Federal agents raided three Caterpillar buildings near its Illinois headquarters on Thursday, company and law enforcement officials said, in an escalation of an inquiry into the heavy equipment manufacturer’s offshore tax practices. [HIROKO TABUCHI| March 2, 2017 |New York Times] Caterpillar has been dogged by accusations that it slashed its domestic tax bill by shifting corporate profits…
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The Keystone XL Pipeline will not be subject to President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring infrastructure projects to be built with American steel, a White House spokeswoman said today. [BEN LEFEBVRE | March 2, 2016 |Politico] Trump signed the order calling for the Commerce Department to develop a plan for U.S. steel to be used…
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WASHINGTON — Whatever confusion people might have about President Trump’s agenda, his position on trade and manufacturing is crystal clear. “I believe strongly in free trade, but it also has to be fair trade,” he said in his address to Congress Tuesday night. He called for corporate tax reform and export incentives, and he lashed…
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The World Trade Organization “disproportionately” targets U.S. trade enforcement laws and should be reformed, the Alliance for American Manufacturing says in a new report backed by members of Congress and others who have repeatedly expressed concern about the WTO’s appellate body. [Daily News | March 2, 2016 |Inside US Trade] The report says the U.S. has been…
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The Trump administration sent shockwaves through the world of trade yesterday when the Financial Times reported that it was looking for ways to bypass the World Trade Organization, the 22-year-old oversight body that adjudicates trade disputes, and which Trump has called a “disaster.” [DANNY VINIK| February 28, 2017 |Politico] Can Donald Trump just pull America out of…
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