The Senate on Thursday signed off on President Trump’s nominee to become the nation’s chief trade representative, ending more than four months of delays that the administration blamed for slowing its initiatives on trade, including effor …
By William Reinsch I started to write a comment on President Trump’s first 100 days last week but then put it aside because the NAFTA follies at the end of April were simply too tempting to pass up. Now that he has passed his 110th day, I want to get b …
As he stepped onto the stage at the annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics, Peter Navarro knew he was facing a tough crowd—or what passes for one in the staid world of the social sciences. It was March 6, Day 46 of Donald Tru …
President Donald Trump over the weekend signed an executive order directing top cabinet officials to review the nation’s trade agreements — including commerce governed by the World Trade Organization. -snip- “Trade wars break out when the rul …
By William Reinsch I had mostly written this week’s column — a piece on President Trump’s first 100 days — and then last week’s multiple fiascos rolled out, so I decided to put the 100 days aside and focus on the fiascos instead. There are two iss …
A directive requiring U.S. pipeline companies to use American steel and iron in their projects is testing President Donald Trump’s ability to keep his promises to two industries on opposing sides of the issue. -snip- The ultimate outcome is more likely …
John McCain, R-Arizona, had expressed opposition to a withdrawal from NAFTA. That sting was felt by those who saw the maquiladoras lined up along the border between the United States and Mexico. Meanwhile, those fortunate enough to get a job in these f …
It seemed that the Trump administration was planning to end the North American Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday, after his aides sent word that they’d prepared such an executive order. By Thursday morning, the president himself reversed that …
Tomorrow marks 100 days in the White House for President Donald Trump, and it took 95 of them to get Sonny Perdue confirmed as Agriculture secretary. Perdue was announced as Trump’s pick on the eve of Inauguration Day, so for agriculture, the story of …
By William Reinsch Looking ahead at possible Congressional trade activity later this year, the list seems fairly short with one exception. The list is not short because of lack of things going on in the administration, but because it will take some mon …
The Trump administration is slapping hefty duties on billions of dollars of lumber imported from Canada, marking an escalation of trade tensions ahead of the president’s promised effort to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. -snip- “ …
By William Reinsch This is not a new topic. It comes up in the commentariat every few years, but the recent health care debacle makes it timely once again — and, as always in this column, relevant to trade. The topic is how to run Congress — from the p …
By William Reinsch Well, the U.S.-China summit has come and gone without much more than a ripple in the news stream. True, it was overshadowed by the missiles launched against Syria and by Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation vote, but even without those crowd …
By William Reinsch Today’s topic — and title — come from Steve Lamar at the American Apparel and Footwear Association who suggested it after reading something I told Politico referring to the administration’s draft letter to the Congress on i …
In his quest to make America great again, President Donald Trump on the campaign trail and in the Oval Office has fought to maintain the element of surprise. -snip- “It is not at all plausible or in any way advisable that we would actually follow throu …
President Donald Trump told the Financial Times in an interview published Sunday that he would press Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago this week to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and also held out the p …
Far from the sweeping trade overhaul that Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail, his administration is considering a surprisingly modest revamp of the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a draft letter provided to Congress. -snip- W …
By William Reinsch In a way, this column is too early because it’s talking about things that haven’t happened yet. But I can’t resist setting up an opportunity later on to use my four favorite words: “I told you so.” (People in the commenting …
(Bloomberg) — While President Donald Trump’s personal view is that China is manipulating its currency for a trade advantage, his Treasury will make an official determination next month. -snip- “It’s true the administration has proved unexpectedly caut …
By William Reinsch Abandoning TPP was a mistake. President Trump’s decision to dump the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) will prove to be an historic mistake for both geopolitical and economic reasons. President Obama joined the TPP talks because it was …
By William Reinsch An unexpected, at least by me, turn of events in the trade policy landscape is the Trump administration’s announced preference for bilateral rather than plurilateral (TPP) or multilateral (WTO) negotiations. While it is encourag …
By William Reinsch Over the past several weeks we have witnessed an odd kerfluffle over how to calculate the trade deficit. It began with a report, subsequently denied, that the Trump administration was considering excluding reexports from the trade de …
By Nate Olson Are the U.S. and China headed for a trade war? Many analysts and investors think it quite possible. Top Chinese officials have seen fit to underline the mutual harm it would brin …
Are the U.S. and China headed for a trade war? Many analysts and investors think it quite possible. Top Chinese officials have seen fit to underline the mutual harm it would bring. As it is, w …
The Trump administration Wednesday sent its strongest signal yet that it was prepared to buck the international trade order, including confronting the World Trade Organization, to assertively defend the economic interests …
By William Reinsch On Oscar night 2017 I found myself recalling the same night in 1999, when Judi Dench won Best Supporting Actress for the eight minutes she spent playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. One of her memorable scenes was leavin …
FEBRUARY 28, 2017 —Threatened by President Trump’s proposed 30 percent border tax, Mexico said it is not afraid of a tough negotiation. -snip- “[Trump] will be faced with the choice of walking away and doing something drastic, or essentially foldi …
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 dispute …
By William Reinsch The trade deficit figure for all of 2016 arrived earlier this month, which provides the annual opportunity to think for a few moments about what it means. The deficit was $502.3 billion, an increase of less than 0.5% from the previou …
By William Reinsch In the past I have written passionately about immigration, because I believe immigrants are America’s future just as they have been our past. Virtually all of us came from somewhere else, and it was those forebears whose hard work an …