The CPA is Washington’s leading organization fighting for a new trade policy to deliver balanced trade, restored health for American industries, broadly-shared economic growth, and more jobs for American workers. Learn about the key trade issues impacting the US economy that must be solved. Research by CPA staff takes a deeper look at these issues and which policy changes can lead to dramatic improvement.
CPA Research
Why China Likely Won’t Buy Fewer U.S. Treasury Bonds
January 15, 2018
Editor's Note: While the CPA Research section of our website is generally reserved for CPA’s original research and analysis, we are cross posting this outside article due to its importance to understanding the dynamics of trade and capital flows. The furor over recent comments by Chinese officials that they may...
Poll Shows Growing Public Opposition to NAFTA
January 10, 2018
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
An independent public opinion poll published late last year shows growing public awareness of US job loss due to imports, as well as growing public support of the view that NAFTA has been bad for the US.
Trade Deficit Up 3% in November As Full-Year Deficit Heads For $554B
January 05, 2018
By Jason Cooper, CPA Research Assistant The US trade deficit rose another 3.3% to reach $50.5 billion in November 2017, up $1.6 billion from the $48.9 billion in October, a level not seen since January 2012. The goods deficit is on track to be one of the highest on record....
US Agriculture Has Failed To Benefit From Korean Free Trade Agreement: Time For a New Approach
December 18, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
A major reason the US Congress and Obama administration approved the KORUS free trade agreement with South Korea in 2011 was the expected benefits to US agricultural exports.
Trade Deficit Up 11% in October As Imports Hit All-Time Record: Full-Year Deficit Heading For $560B
December 13, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
The US trade deficit rose another 8.6% in October to reach $48.7 billion as imports in the month hit $244.6B, an all-time record for imports in a single month.
Strong Post-Brexit Outlook For UK Economy
November 19, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Last month, UK automotive components manufacturer Brose installed a new £10 million ($13M) paint line at its factory in Coventry, England.
The Missing Trillion Dollars in Republican Tax Reform Plan
November 12, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
The Republican tax reform plan is suffering from a shortage of funds. Paul Ryan and his colleagues are trying to give the American people a substantial tax cut as their signature achievement of 2017.
IBM Offshores to India and Business Still Shrinks
November 02, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Technology giant IBM reported its third quarter results on Oct. 17th, and extended a stunningly long losing streak with its 22nd consecutive quarter of declining sales.
First Time Ever: US Trade Ambassador Stiff-Arms the Swamp
October 24, 2017
by Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA We have never seen this before. The US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, is being brutally direct with free trade zombies in Congress and the multinational import lobby - i.e. the swamp - in charting a new pro-American direction on trade. Voters sought a change...
Trump Administration Rattles the North American Cage on NAFTA
October 23, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Three rounds of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations came and went without much fanfare. But the fourth round,
Foreign Direct Investors will Love the Market Access Charge (MAC)
September 18, 2017
By John R. Hansen, CPA Advisory Board Would the MAC discourage foreign direct investment in the United States? Some readers have suggested that capital being brought into the United States to finance greenfield foreign direct investment should be exempted from the MAC. We should not, they argue, do anything to discourage productivity...
Why the Market Access Charge is Necessary to Fix Trade Imbalances
September 08, 2017
By John R. Hansen, CPA Advisory Board
This note describes how a Market Access Charge (MAC) can fix US dollar overvaluation, what the MAC is, and how it would put US workers and factories back on the job.
“Bring Me Some Tariffs” New Trade Policies Offer Growth Boost—and Scare Economic Traditionalists
August 31, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director As President Trump talks more openly about aggressive action on the trade front to support the US economy, traditional economists and commentators, especially many on Wall Street, are raising the volume on a scare campaign, aimed at suggesting all sorts of imaginary negative consequences. ...
Trade Agreements
NAFTA Withdrawal Unlikely to Cause US Consumer Harm
August 29, 2017
By Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA, and Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director President Trump raised the possibility of withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement last week in an Arizona speech. “Personally, I don't think we can make a deal ... I think we'll end up probably terminating NAFTA...
Trade Agreements
Why Economists Can’t Connect Free Trade and Low Prices to Economic Growth
August 25, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
Economists in the US are overwhelmingly in favor of free trade. But they continue to be frustrated that the public doesn’t buy their arguments.
Trade Enforcement
High Tech Anxiety: Made in China 2025 Worries Industry
August 17, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director The Trump administration’s rumored Section 301 investigation of Chinese trade practices opens up a new front in the ongoing “trade wars” with China, this time over intellectual property. A key event driving concern over Chinese use or abuse of foreign intellectual property was China’s...
Balanced Trade
US Trade Deficit Up 10% Over 2016, On Track for $550B This Year
August 07, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
New trade figures from the Department of Commerce show the US international trade picture continues to deteriorate.
Trade Enforcement
Buy America Movement Gathers Force
July 24, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
President Trump’s “Buy American week” was largely a feel-good event, but behind the scenes there is growing nationwide support in the political and business worlds for more US spending to go on American-made goods and services.
Steel: Famous Economists Get It Wrong
July 13, 2017
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director
When a large number of famous economists from all sides of the political spectrum agree on something, the odds are that it is wrong. A new letter on the subject of steel tariffs is a good example of that rule.
Currency Misalignment
The Threat of U.S. Dollar Overvaluation: How to Calculate True Exchange Rate Misalignment & How to Fix It
July 13, 2017
This memo explains (1) the dollar overvaluation problem, (2) how to accurately calculate the dollar’s misalignment against trading partner currencies, and (3) how the Market Access Charge (MAC) that CPA and others favor would fix this serious threat to America’s future. by Michael Stumo (CEO)Jeff Ferry (Research Director)and John R. Hansen...
