U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Wednesday (July 1) made clear he does not view the lack of a bilateral market access deal with Japan as an obstacle to making progress on the other outstanding issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, which he identified as those relating to agricultural market access with Canada, intellectual…
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As he amassed wealth after leaving the Florida governor’s office, Jeb Bush delivered 10 separate paid speeches to a South Korean metal company that won more than $1 billion in contracts from his brother’s presidential administration, according to disclosures released Tuesday. [Reposted from Politico | Kenneth Vogel | July 1, 2015] The company, Poongsan Corp.,…
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On Thursday’s Podcast, Ed is joined by former Ohio Governor and Democratic Senate Candidate Ted Strickland to discuss the effects of bad trade deals on the state of Ohio. We are also joined by Kevin Kearns, President of the United States Business and Industry Council to discuss the lack of Value Added Tax within these…
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A recent draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal would give U.S. pharmaceutical firms unprecedented protections against competition from cheaper generic drugs, possibly transcending the patent protections in U.S. law. [Reposted from Politico | Michael Grunwald | July 1, 2015] POLITICO has obtained a draft copy of TPP’s intellectual property chapter as it stood on…
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Bill Maher isn’t pleased about the current state of American corporate regulation. [Reposted from the Huffington Post | Lily Karlin | June 27, 2015] On “Real Time with Bill Maher” Friday night, the host skewered the “Republican-led House” for voting to end the requirement that meat labels include information about the origin of the product.…
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BEIJING — At a ceremony imbued with quiet triumph at the Great Hall of the People, China’s president, Xi Jinping, hosted 56 member countries on Monday for the founding of a China-led infrastructure bank for Asia, including major American allies from Asia and Europe that Washington had counseled not to join the bank. [by…
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WASHINGTON — On the evening of June 15, President Obama joined a conference call with the two men who had done more than anyone in six years to disrupt, derail or defeat his agenda in Congress. Now they were asking for something that was in short supply: trust. [Reposted from The New York Times | …
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At midday Thursday, there was a gathering in Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s members’ lounge off Statuary Hall to toast House passage of Trade Adjustment Assistance, the last piece of a legislative package giving Trade Promotion Authority to President Barack Obama. [Reposted from Roll Call | Emma Dumain | June 26, 2015] But among the select group of…
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From rat meat masquerading as lamb to tainted milk to exploding watermelons, Chinese consumers have become inured to stomach-churning food scandals. But on Tuesday, countless people were forced to ponder the benefits of vegetarianism after news reports emerged that unscrupulous meat traders had been peddling tons of beef, pork and chicken wings that in some…
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WASHINGTON — A year ago, an entrepreneur from California came before the House Financial Services Committee, a Purple Heart pinned to his lapel from his Marine Corps service in Vietnam, to plead for the Export-Import Bank — and by extension his livelihood. [by Jonathan Weisman | June 25, 2015 | NY Times] The committee’s…
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