Oops: The Export-Import Bank Is Actually Losing Taxpayer Money
Here’s what America is being told about the Export–Import Bank (Ex–Im), so beloved by the likes of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and other apologists of...
View ArticleJapan’s Economy – What Really Matters
Japanese gross domestic product (GDP) fell for the third straight quarter (October–December) and was essentially flat for 2012 as a whole. This continues two decades of stagnation in annual...
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Room for Improvement When It Comes to Services Trade
Photo credit: Fang Zhe/Xinhua/Sipa USA/Newscom The Obama Administration recently announced its intention to begin negotiations on an agreement to expand international trade in the services industry,...
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Mr. President, Don’t Forget: Imports Create Jobs, Too
Photo credit: Newscom Trade is again on President Obama’s agenda thanks to some high-profile mentions in his State of the Union address last Tuesday. According to the President, the proposed...
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St. Louis Fed Report Finds Imports, Not Exports, the Lifeblood of U.S....
A new report published in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review provides strong evidence that the Administration’s obsessive focus on boosting exports as a way to help U.S. manufacturers is just...
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America’s Next Trade Chief Should Focus on Promoting Greater Trade Freedom
Newscom Senator Max Baucus (D–MT), chairman of Senate Finance Committee, urged strong and unrelenting political leadership in pursuing a comprehensive free trade pact between the U.S. and the European...
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The Arms Trade Treaty and the Second Amendment: Answering the American Bar...
Frank Chmura Stock Connection Worldwide/Newscom On February 26, the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights issued a white paper on the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which concludes that...
View ArticleKorea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement One Year On: Solidifying a Partnership for...
March 15 marks the first anniversary of the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). Over the past 12 months, a growing number of businesses in both countries have taken action to capitalize on the...
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Free Trade: Bringing Ireland to Your St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Cheng Li/ZUMA Press/Newscom Today, millions of people around the world will put on some green, watch a hurling or rugby match, enjoy a Guinness stout, and praise St. Patrick, the patron saint of the...
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Does the United States Really Have a Trade Deficit?
Kenichiro Seki/ZUMA Press/Newscom In 2012, $3.4 trillion came into the United States through trade and investment, and $3.4 trillion left, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Every...
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The Arms Trade Treaty, Day Three: Turning Up the Pressure on the U.S.
Photo by Ted Bromund As the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) conference moved through its third day, the isolation of the United States became ever clearer. The U.S. position is that the current text of...
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The Best Plan for Farmers and Ranchers: Free Trade
Newscom Congress is currently fighting over the future of U.S. farm programs. In 2011, taxpayers subsidized farmers to the tune of $10.4 billion in government payments. Imagine if the government had a...
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The Arms Trade Treaty, Week Two: The Ways It Might Fail
Arms Trade Treaty conference session (Photo by Ted Bromund) In New York, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) conference is entering its final phase, and the ways in which the negotiations might fail are...
View ArticleMorning Bell: 3 Reasons the U.N.’s Arms Treaty Is Useless
It sounds nice to say there could be a treaty that would make all nations responsible when it comes to their arms exports. Of course, it’s also impossible. The latest draft of the U.N.’s Arms Trade...
View ArticleU.N. General Assembly Adopts the Arms Trade Treaty
This morning, by a vote of 154 nations in favor (including the United States), 23 abstentions, and three against (Syria, North Korea, and Iran), the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty...
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Energy Secretary Nominee Faces Tough Natural Gas Decision
Rick Friedman/Polaris/Newscom If confirmed as the next Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary, Dr. Ernest Moniz will take over an agency that has increasingly injected itself into making investment...
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ATT Could Stymie Arms Export Control Reform
Newscom Reform of the U.S. arms export control took a major step forward this week when the Departments of State and Commerce released final rules governing aircraft and gas turbine engines. However,...
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Brazil Turns Away from Capital Controls
Brazilian Flag, close-up (Andy Caulfield/ZUMA Press/Newscom) Last week, Brazil announced that it is finally eliminating its most prominent tax on foreign portfolio investment. This reversal is the most...
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Natural Gas Exports: Remove Government Barriers
Natural Gas Pipeline (Newscom) A June 18 House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing will focus on the future of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Currently, the U.S. can freely export LNG to...
View ArticleDelaying Natural Gas Exports Delays Jobs
A new study from the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) is calling for the Department of Energy (DOE) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to speed up the permitting process to...
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Imports: Let’s Hear More Economic Sense Like This from the President
Newscom As President Obama heads to Chattanooga, Tennessee, today to give a speech at an Amazon.com fulfillment facility, he finally seems to be coming around on the positive effects that imports have...
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Murkowski Pushes for Natural Gas Exports
Newscom The Department of Energy (DOE) approved its third application to export natural gas a day after Senator Lisa Murkowski (R–AK) released a white paper calling for the Administration and the DOE...
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Are These Senators Regretting Their Export-Import Bank Votes?
Newscom For some lawmakers, corporate welfare is okay, unless it hurts someone in their district. Four lawmakers from Minnesota and Michigan are up in arms over a proposed $650 million financing deal...
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Lawmakers’ Currency Demands Could Backfire on U.S. Exporters
Newscom A number of U.S. legislators want to give the Obama Administration the power to impose tariffs on imports from countries that manipulate their currencies. Such a policy could boomerang on U.S....
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U.S. Trade Deficit: Made in Washington, D.C.?
Kenichiro Seki/ZUMA Press/Newscom The Treasury Department recently reported that China and Japan are the largest foreign holders of U.S. government debt. China now owns $1.317 trillion in U.S....
View ArticleU.S. Senators to Japan: Do as We Say, Not as We Do?
A recently released letter from 18 U.S. Senators to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman asked Japan to open its agricultural market to foreign exports in ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
View ArticleDon’t Wait to Cut U.S.-EU Tariffs
The United States and the European Union (EU) are currently negotiating a proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). A recent survey by the Atlantic Council and the Bertelsmann...
View ArticleEnergy Exports: Free Trade for Me, but Not for Thee
Some corporate interests are lining up to fight economic freedom in the United States by maintaining the government’s restrictions on energy exports. Their efforts are seen by some to be remarkably...
View ArticlePresident Obama Should Lift Ban on Energy Exports
America’s Founders felt the freedom to export was so important that they included it in the U.S. Constitution: “No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.” President Obama should...
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It’s Not the Value of the Chinese Currency: The Proof in Charts
While the U.S. Treasury did not label China as a currency manipulator this week, it did criticize the Chinese authorities for recently intervening in the foreign exchange market. However, the...
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