May 23, 2013
The Honorable Chairman Max Baucus
Finance Committee
United States Senate
511 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Baucus:
As the Trans-Pacific Partnership, “fast-track” trade authority, and the proposed U.S.-EU trade pact take center stage in Congress, we urge members and the administration to embrace protocols that...
Read MoreVia NASDAQ
TOKYO--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday that his country will take a seat at the negotiation table of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations, a move that may pit him against powerful farm lobbies ahead of upper house elections.
"This is our last chance to join the TPP and take part in the rule-making," Mr. Abe told reporters Friday at a press...
Read MoreVia Grand Forks Herald
WASHINGTON — As the dust settles from the narrowly averted fiscal cliff crisis and the newly-elected 113th Congress is sworn in, I urge freshman policy makers such as Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., to pay close attention to what could potentially be the most significant foreign and domestic policy initiative of this administration: the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP.
Decisions that could...
Read MoreTerry trade work appreciated
U.S. Rep. Lee Terry deserves a great deal of credit for chairing last week’s hearing on Capitol Hill, “A Tangle of Trade Barriers: How India’s Industrial Policy Is Hurting U.S. Companies.” It was perhaps the most important public conversation to date concerning India’s recent, egregious intellectual property violations.
The United...
Read MoreFor Immediate Release
Friday, March 8, 2013
Contact Torin Kelly at 952-201-3483
The Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity (TAPP), an advocate for global cooperation and economic development through free trade, urges global policymakers to take a closer look at the facts about re-shoring in America as opponents ramp up “off-shoring” rhetoric in reaction to the agreement between...
Read MoreVia Forbes
By Rep. Jon Porter
Every time the U.S. negotiates a new trade deal, it seems that there is an enormous amount of misinformation generated by all sides of the debate in an attempt to frame the issue in the narrowest terms, portraying it as either a panacea or the end of the world.
The fact of the matter is that trade is a complex and nuanced issue that can’t readily be broken down into sound bites. No side...
Read MoreBy Curt Thacker and Bill Tomson
Japan has agreed to let more U.S. beef into the country for sale in a further easing of restrictions that stemmed from the first U.S. case of mad-cow disease a decade ago.
U.S. officials confirmed Monday that Japan will now allow imports of beef from cattle less than 30 months of age, compared with the current limit of 20 months. U.S. trade officials said the change is expected to boost...
Read MoreVia China's Investments Prompt Call for New Rules
By Bob Davis
The political furor that accompanies many overseas investments by China is easy to understand. What to do about the investments is a lot more complicated.
Unlike private companies, China's state-owned enterprises serve two masters: the Communist Party and private shareholders. And the party holds the trump card, because it, not the board, appoints CEOs. Western policy makers suspect such...
Read MoreVia China's Investments Prompt Call for New RulesEgypt Plans to Double Non-Oil Exports to U.S.
Egypt is planning to double its non-oil exports to the United States in the new year, minister of trade and industry Hatem Saleh said in a statement on Tuesday. Egypt aims to "create new opportunities for exports through cooperation with retail chains in the United States," the minister added.
According to the ministry's website, Egyptian non-oil exports to the U.S. in the first nine...
Read MoreBy Marina Sysoyeva
The U.S., the world’s largest soybean exporter, may double shipments of the oilseed to Russia after eliminating some trade barriers with the country.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 16 passed legislation that would allow President Barack Obama to grant permanent normal trade relations with Russia. The U.S. won’t be able to take full advantage of Russia’s joining the World Trade...
Read MoreBy Jack Ewing
A free-trade agreement between the United States and Europe, elusive for more than a decade but with a potentially huge economic effect, is gaining momentum and may finally be attainable, business and political leaders say.
Arduous negotiations still lie ahead, but if technical hurdles can be overcome, supporters of a pact argue, it could rival the North American Free Trade Agreement in...
Read MoreVia CEPR
Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein both say, following Joe Gagnon, that the time for criticizing China for "currency manipulation" has passed. This is partly true in the sense that China's currency has risen substantially in real terms against the dollar over the last few years. However this does not mean either that the relative value of the dollar and the yuan is now at a sustainable level or that...
Read MoreIf the sparks flying in Canada are any indication, the next round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations set for Auckland, New Zealand December 3-12 will reach beyond issues of market access for goods such as dairy, sugar and textiles into a whole new arena – access to information.
Canada formally joined the TPP talks, which now involve 11 countries with a combined population of...
Read MoreVia The Daily Beast
China-U.S. trade tensions are mounting. The two presidential candidates are falling over themselves to bash China. GOP nominee Mitt Romney routinely chastises President Obama for being soft on China, and promises that, if elected, he will deem China a currency manipulator. President Obama is using more than his bully pulpit to express anger at China. This week, his administration filed a case...
Read MoreVia National Journal
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday said President Obama was equipped to turn around the global economy, but was critical of U.S. trade policy.
Pushing for cooperation between the U.S., China, India and Europe in global trade, Brown said the U.S. needs to refocus some of its economic policies.
“You, America, need to export to the rest of the world,” the former...
Read MoreProtectionists have never found an international trade agreement they don’t hate – even when their protectionist President is on board.
Two months after approving the 2009 tariff on Chinese tires that only served to raise prices for U.S. consumers without restoring a single lost American tire job, President Obama did something smart and announced U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific...
Read MoreThe race for the White House is all about jobs and the economy.
Question is, in the seven weeks between now the Election Day, will either President Obama or Governor Romney connect free trade to job growth in a way that seizes the advantage with worried voters?
At this point, it’s hard to say whether either side really gets it.
Meeting in Charlotte, Democrats talked jobs but...
Read MoreVia Business Insider
In the FX world, nothing captures differentials in Chinese and US growth like AUD/CAD. Australia and Canada are tied at the neck to their trading partners.
Early in the year, AUD/CAD declined as the US economy showed signs of surprising to the upside. Jobs were plentiful and economists were talking about 3% growth. At the same time, worries about slower Chinese growth were beginning to...
Read MoreVia Asia Times
By Benjamin A Shobert
Something has to be done to balance the United States' trade problem with China. Or, at least, that is the belief that is animating much of the political discourse taking place in Washington DC.
This very specific objective is front and center in the minds of US politicians as they rush towards the upcoming general elections in November. The problem is that the specific nature of their...
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