Some critics of the proposed South Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) have expressed concerns about imports from North Korea, specifically goods originating from the Kaesong Industrial Region. This should be a non-issue. The chart below compares how imports from North Korea are treated today and how they will be treated …
The argument against U.S. companies investing abroad typically goes as follows: “Companies are just trying to substitute cheap foreign labor for expensive U.S. labor. The United States loses jobs, capital, and technology when companies go offshore to employ cheaper foreign labor.” While that may be true for individual companies, the …
Some of the stiffest competition facing U.S. exporters does not come from Europe—or even China—but the U. S. Treasury Department. Yesterday, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced that foreign customers spent $1.83 trillion on U.S. goods and services in 2010. They spent $119 billion on U.S. agricultural exports, …
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis today announced that U.S. exports for January were $4.4 billion higher than in December. This is good news for U.S. exporters. The bureau also reported that Americans imported $10.5 billion more in January than in December. This is good news, too. As President Obama’s …
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) just released its 2011 Trade Policy Agenda, which highlights several initiatives designed to boost exports. Nowhere in the 443-page document is a mention of the biggest barrier to U.S. exports: the federal budget deficit. Budget deficits require the government to borrow money …
The U.S. Commerce Department today reported that the country’s 2010 trade deficit was $497.8 billion, an increase of $122.9 billion from 2009. Exports increased from $1.57 trillion to $1.83 trillion, and imports increased from $1.95 trillion to $2.33 trillion. Increased imports are often a sign that the U.S. economy is …
Americans saved more than $16 million on roses last year thanks to U.S. trade policy toward Colombia. Under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), many products from Colombia are exempt from U.S. import tariffs. Colombia is the biggest supplier of cut flowers to U.S. consumers, and the ATPA exempts Colombian …
On February 11, the U.S. Department of Commerce will release our country’s 2010 trade statistics. The following three principles will help in understanding what the numbers mean: Unlike the U.S. budget deficit, the size of the trade deficit does not matter. The trade deficit results from people in other countries …
