August Trade Deficit Hits $53.2 billion; China Trade Deficit Sets Another Monthly Record
New trade data from the Department of Commerce shows that America’s trade deficit continues to rise, with the August seasonally-adjusted deficit of $53.2 billion rising 6 percent above the July figure and a staggering 20 percent worse than the August 2017 figure of $44.2 billion. On a year-to-date basis,...
What Trade War? CPA Members See Business Gains in Recent Months
Free traders predicted economic armageddon from new tariffs on steel, aluminum and Chinese products. But, with the significant exception of agriculture, CPA members’ businesses are booming. They are raising wages, investing in new equipment, reopening production lines and seeing production move back from China.
US-Mexico-Canada Deal is a Conceptual Breakthrough But Details Will Be Critical
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
The three magic numbers for understanding the new US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) negotiated by the Trump administration are 16, 16, and 6.
China Tries To Whitewash Aggressive Trade Practices
“White Paper” Offers Cliches and Feelgood Rhetoric, Not Substance
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Last week, China’s State Council, effectively the Cabinet of the Chinese government, issued a “White Paper” on trade, to argue its case in front of the world that China is playing by the rules of...
Up To $100 Billion Annual Revenue Potential From the MAC
CDJPA Research Note #4
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
CPA advocates the Market Access Charge (MAC) as an innovative tool to address systemic dollar overvaluation due to excessive demand from the international capital markets for dollar-denominated assets.
US Bilateral Deficit with China Hits All-Time High of $36.8B
July Trade Deficit Up 9.5% to $50.1B
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Wednesday’s trade report from the US Commerce Department for July reported that the US bilateral deficit with China hit a new all-time high of $36.8 billion in July, 9.5% worse than the July 2017 figure....
CPA Says John Oliver is Wrong On Trade: A New Light on Trade
Did you happen to catch John Oliver's trade piece on Last Week Tonight? It was funny but outrageously wrong in every single aspect. What's worse is that his video has over 4.4 million views in which he is spreading his trade lies. CPA put a rebuttal video together...
Turkey’s Problems Not Due to Trump’s Trade Policies
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Turkey’s currency crisis is threatening the Turkish economy and there is a genuine risk that this could spill over into other emerging market economies with excessive foreign indebtedness.
Update: Tariff Job Gains Exceed Losses by 20:1
11,100 Job Gains vs. 514 Job Losses So Far
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
We’ve had a very positive response to our CPA Tariff Job Creation Tracker, published earlier this week showing gains of 11,100 jobs in four major sectors affected by tariffs.
The Untold Story: Tariffs Are Driving Job Creation
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
It’s just six months since the first of the Trump administration’s tariffs went into effect and the job gains are already visible.
Why Trump Hit the Koch Globalists on Tax
By David Morse, CPA Tax Policy Associate Director
President Trump struck against the Koch Brothers and their network last week in a tweet stating:
Overexposed
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Summary: This article looks at China’s heavy dependence on - or overexposure to - the US for their trade surplus and their exports. It examines different ways of counting the China trade surplus, finding that on one alternative measure it could be as much...
What Trade War? Real GDP Surges 4.1% on Exports and Consumer Spending
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
US gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, grew by a 4.1% annual rate in the second quarter of this year, the fastest quarterly growth rate since 2014, showing that economic growth is surging ahead, unaffected by—or perhaps boosted by--trade actions by the Trump...
Other Nations Following US Lead on Steel Tariffs
When the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on steel imports in March this year, some other nations loudly criticized the move. Now, surprise, surprise, they are shifting gear—and jumping on the tariff bandwagon.
May Trade Deficit Shrinks 7% To $43B, Year-to-Date Deficit Up 8% at $245B
By Jason Cooper, CPA Research Assistant
According to the latest US government report the US trade deficit in May was $43.1 billion, the smallest deficit since September of 2017. The smaller deficit was driven by a $3.7 billion increase in exports from April to May, with exports of $144.9...
Happy Half Birthday TCJA
Tax Cuts Reach Six-Month Mark
By David Morse, CPA Tax Policy Associate Director
It’s been six months since President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). And the legislation has enjoyed a rosy afterglow, receiving credit for every bonus or capital expenditure. But tax analysts agree that it’s simply...
Stumo Commentary: Whose Trade War Is It Anyway?
by Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA
I was asked, after the US Trade Representative announced tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods, whether I would admit that we are now in a trade war. Members of the CPA board asked me to share my response more widely. Here it...
How The Dollar Exchange Rate Can Help US Agriculture
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Some agricultural commodities have seen price declines in recent weeks due to uncertainty over international trade relationships.
Harley Davidson Loves Tariffs
by Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA
Contrary to what you may have heard, Harley Davidson, the iconic American motorcycle company loves high tariff countries. Company management loves tariffs so much, it moves production to countries with the highest motorcycle tariffs in the world.
White House Documents Tools and Strategies Behind Chinese “Economic Aggression”
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
The White House published on Tuesday a document detailing the wide range of tools and strategies used by the Chinese government to steal, extort, and otherwise gain access to American intellectual property (IP) to support their drive to become a leading global economy with...