The first round of the Trump administration’s NAFTA renegotiations began in Washington wrapped up on Saturday. The negotiators will meet again in September in Mexico City and then again in October in Canada. The United States has not yet proposed any specific measures on important issues such as labor rights, currency manipulation, or rules of origin. By all accounts,…
“The administration should reject fears of supply-chain disruption asserted by the import lobby,” said Michael Stumo, chief executive of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. “Successful trading nations like China and Germany ‘disrupt supply chains’ intentionally, working to increase their domestic supply chains at the expense of foreign suppliers.” [Sara Schaefer Muñoz and Bob Davis…
U.S. negotiators are considering a new approach to the controversial investor-state dispute settlement mechanism featuring an opt-in clause that would allow each of the three NAFTA countries to decide whether to use the provision, sources told Inside U.S. Trade. [Jenny Leonard | August 19, 2017 | Inside US Trade] Citing a recent letter to U.S. Trade…
It emerged this week that the Chinese government has been taking action to make sure that the Chinese Communist Party is the ultimate decisionmaker at dozens of state-owned Chinese businesses. The Financial Times reported that more than 30 Chinese state-owned companies have had their by-laws amended to state that the Communist Party provides “direction” on key decisions. …
As DeliveredAugust 16, 2017Washington, DCAMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: This is an historic day for the United States. Today, for the first time, we will start negotiating to revise a major free trade agreement. American politicians have been promising to renegotiate NAFTA for years, but today President Trump is going to fulfill those promises. I want to thank members of…
You might think from recent press accounts that Steve Bannon is on the ropes and therefore behaving prudently. In the aftermath of events in Charlottesville, he is widely blamed for his boss’s continuing indulgence of white supremacists. Allies of National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster hold Bannon responsible for a campaign by Breitbart News, which Bannon…
Washington ~ The Coalition for a Prosperous America appreciates US Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer’s focus upon the trade deficit and rules of origin in NAFTA renegotiations. CPA supports the fact that major reform is needed for NAFTA to benefit American workers and businesses. If major reform cannot be achieved, walking away from NAFTA should be…
President Trump took a bold step forward by reiterating his commitment to American workers as he continues to fight to end this American “carnage.” [Corey Lewandowski | August 17th, 2017 | The Hill] Working with the Department of Commerce, the Trump administration just received a report through a Section 232 national security probe into imports of steel. The…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director The Trump administration’s rumored Section 301 investigation of Chinese trade practices opens up a new front in the ongoing “trade wars” with China, this time over intellectual property. A key event driving concern over Chinese use or abuse of foreign intellectual property was China’s publication of an ambitious industrial…
Recent trade figures from the Department of Commerce show the U.S. international trade picture continues to deteriorate. The U.S. trade deficit in June hit $43.6 billion, almost the same as the year-ago June level of $43.8 billion. But for the first half of this year, at $276.6 billion, the trade deficit is 10.7 percent larger than…