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U.S. Trade Politics

60 posts

The Global Trade Watch Vision of Trade Agreements

I've often wondered what trade critics like Global Trade Watch thought trade rules should look like. They don't like what we have now, but what do they want? Now I have a better idea of this, as they have endorsed a new House trade bill. Here&

Obama on Ethanol

With Obama's fairly good showing last night, I thought it worth looking at some of his trade positions again. Back in Iowa, he firmly supported ethanol subsidies. But will the ongoing food price crisis change his views? Maybe so, based on his recent statements in an appearance on

High Gas Prices, OPEC and the WTO

It has been a while since we talked about the possibility of a WTO complaint against OPEC. Given the recent increase in gas prices, I was a bit surprised that it took the U.S. Presidential campaigns so long to raise the issue, but at long last here is something

The Democratic Candidates on Investment Rules

Here are some statements from the Democratic candidates on investment rules in trade agreements, from responses to questions from the Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition (answers are in italics). Obama: 9. Will you commit to renegotiate NAFTA to eliminate its investor rules that allow private enforcement by foreign investors of these

Tough Talk on China's Currency

The Democratic candidates were talking to the Alliance for American Manufacturing today, and they had some strong words on the Chinese currency issue. From Obama: It’s not just that China is following the path taken by so many other countries before it, and dumping goods into our market while

Insourcing

I wanted to find something to say about Hillary Clinton's recent proposal for tax credits to companies who "insource." It seems possible there is some sort of favoritism for domestic companies in there somewhere. The problem is, I can't figure out what the proposal

The Candidates' Advisers on Trade

One of our readers pointed me to a recent panel discussion at the Institute for Policy Innovation on "Where the Candidates Stand on Trade." It was quite good, I thought. Here are some excerpts, but it's worth skimming through the whole thing, including the Q &

Obama on the Tanker Deal

From the AP: An Iraq war veteran at the town hall asked [Senator Obama's] opinion of a recent decision by the Pentagon to award a a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to a consortium led by Airbus , located in Europe , over a bid led by U.S.

Ways and Means: More Complaints, Please

From a letter to President Bush from the House Ways and Means Committee: The Appendix to this letter contains a compilation of a number of the most persistent barriers to trade, and proposed causes of action to address each. These matters are long overdue for effective action by the Administration.

Zoellick on Trade Politics

My sense is that Bob Zoellick is one of the most well-respected trade people around, so I thought his comments here were worth noting: Whoever wins the U.S. presidency would probably back a global trade pact if a deal can be reached this year, despite Democratic candidates' scepticism