While fears of “outsourcing” continue to make headlines, the facts show there is no “giant sucking sound” resulting from dollars fleeing the United States to be invested in other countries. Outsourcing occurs when companies close facilities in the United States and invest in new operations in other countries. Some people …
The United States is currently engaged in a trade negotiation known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) with eight other Pacific Rim countries. Public Citizen recently posted a leaked draft of the agreement’s proposed language on international investment. If the information they posted is accurate, it’s good news for those …
In 2011, the U.S. government spent more than $22 billion in non-military foreign aid while collecting $6.8 billion in taxes on imports from the world’s poorest countries. Ironically, the government spent $185 million in “trade and investment” aid while collecting 36 times that amount from tariffs on products from poor …
Progress on the ability of U.S. firms to take advantage of new business opportunities when Russia joins the World Trade Organization (WTO) took a step forward yesterday when Senate leaders acknowledged that legislation to promote human rights will be a condition needed for permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to move …
June 12 marks the 25th anniversary of President Reagan’s historic speech at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Over the objections of advisors who thought the lines were too provocative, President Reagan made a dramatic demand: There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the …
Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act (H.R. 4405), a measure designed to promote human rights in Russia. The committee’s vote has important implications for both human rights and international trade. In a few months, Russia will become a member of …
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) just announced that the country’s current account deficit for 2011 was $473.4 billion. This number includes transactions like exports and imports. Cue the “sky is falling” headlines. However, the BEA did not point out that the overall U.S. international transactions deficit was $0. …
President Obama just announced plans to borrow millions of dollars from countries likeChinato create a new federal bureaucracy tasked with policing the trade practices of countries likeChina. The new bureaucracy is more about politics than trade. The International Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC) will have as many as 60 employees. With …
