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…
WASHINGTON—Foreign companies operating in the U.S. could face major changes in their tax bills under an overhaul being planned by Republicans. Those could include new surtaxes or limits on how much the companies can deduct on certain expenses such as rent, royalties and interest on debt. [Richard Rubin | October 19, 2017 | Wall Street…
CPA calls for a Halt to Unsafe Meat/Poultry Imports Washington – The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) called upon the US government to halt all Brazilian fresh meat and Chinese poultry imports that are not verified to be as safe as US produced food. The US Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General…
White House officials working on trade policy were alarmed last month when a top adviser to President Trump circulated a two-page document that alleged a weakened manufacturing sector leads to an increase in abortion, spousal abuse, divorce and infertility, two people familiar with the matter said. [Damian Paletta | October 17, 2017 | Washington Post]…
Donald Trump, members of Congress, and other politicians often talk of wanting to revitalize American industry on the one hand, and to modernize the corporate tax code on the other hand. Why, then, is the most obviously appealing tax reform option of all from a competitiveness point of view not being discussed? I refer to…
