Trade Deficit

The Solar Trade Balance in the Tariff Debate

David Vognar | Posted 05.23.2012

David Vognar

After the Commerce Department announced tariffs of more than 31 percent against solar panel manufacturers in China for dumping their products on our shores, the debate over the costs of the move for U.S. industries and the fight against global warming has been heating up.

A Populace Pink Slimed

Leo W. Gerard | Posted 04.02.2012

Leo W. Gerard

Politicians insisted that identifying slimed beef is not necessary, or even wise, because the fabricated-sans-fat-smashed-meat-scraps-seasoned-with-ammonia mixture is more nutritious. They chose to champion not consumers but slime producers. The reason is obvious.

American Jobs and the Never Ending Politics of the Cold War

Edward Goldberg | Posted 04.02.2012

Edward Goldberg

U.S. trade policy needs to be based on what is good for the U.S. economy and U.S. job growth. And Congress needs to recognize that in an ever more globalized world, using trade as a political instrument to fight yesterday's wars is at best self defeating.

What If the Next Steve Jobs Is Chinese?

Dean Baker | Posted 04.22.2012

Dean Baker

The United States continues to be at the forefront in innovation, but this likely will not always be the case. It is worth asking whether we should care.

Kitchen Sink Laundry Lists and Broken Clocks

John Wagner Givens | Posted 04.14.2012

John Wagner Givens

Corruption perceptions indices suggest that China is not especially corrupt for its level of development and actually does better than many more developed countries, including Russia, Argentina, and Mexico.

America's Failed Mole-by-Mole Trade Policy

Leo W. Gerard | Posted 04.07.2012

Leo W. Gerard

Although conservative candidates revel in ridiculing Western Europe, America could learn crucial economic lessons from Germany, which maintains trade surpluses, including one with China in auto parts.

A Competitive Dollar: The Missing Link in President Obama's Manufacturing Agenda

Dean Baker | Posted 03.31.2012

Dean Baker

In his State of the Union Address last week, President Obama announced a renewed commitment to manufacturing in the United States. While the commitment to rebuilding the country's manufacturing base is welcome, he unfortunately left the most important item on the list off the agenda. President Obama failed to commit himself to restoring the competitiveness of dollar as part of his agenda for bringing back manufacturing jobs. The value of the dollar really has to be front and central in any effort to restore U.S. competitiveness since it is by far the most important factor determining the relative cost of U.S. goods compared with goods produced elsewhere.

The Largest Trade Deficit in the History of the World

Gilbert B. Kaplan | Posted 03.24.2012

Gilbert B. Kaplan

The failure of our manufacturing sector, resulting from the failure of our manufacturing policies, needs to be one of the main focuses of the upcoming presidential election. There are few problems as serious for the future of our country.

Economic Conflicts With China and Class War in the United States

Dean Baker | Posted 02.11.2012

Dean Baker

The debate over China is often buried in confusion, leading to a situation that is not conducive to effective action. A major reason for this confusion is that there is not a common U.S. interest against China.

It's the Trade Deficit!

Dave Johnson | Posted 01.09.2012

Dave Johnson

A huge part of the reason we can't get out of this unemployment slump is the trade deficit. We don't buy American and neither do our "trade partners....

China Trade: Another Chapter in the 2000s Weak Jobs Story

Jared Bernstein | Posted 01.03.2012

Jared Bernstein

2011-11-03-bernbernbernberndkfjkd.jpgDid U.S. employment growth slow in the 2000s due to an acceleration in Chinese imports after their entry into the WTO in 2001?

Mitt Romney's Plan to Replace Free Trade

Ian Fletcher | Posted 12.14.2011

Ian Fletcher

Mitt Romney has made tough statements about dealing with China which, if sincere, would not only put him beyond the other major Republican candidates on trade, but also far beyond what the Obama administration is doing.

Jon Ward

Mitt Romney's Aggressive China Rhetoric Questioned By Conservatives

HuffingtonPost.com | Jon Ward | Posted 12.13.2011

WASHINGTON -- President Obama submitted three long-awaited free trade agreements to Congress this month, which were quickly ratified Wednesday, but Re...

Job-Killing Trade Deals Pass Congress Amidst Record Democratic Opposition

Lori Wallach | Posted 12.13.2011

Lori Wallach

With 9 percent unemployment and Americans desperate for job creation, it is unconscionable that President Obama and House Republicans just shoved through a trio of NAFTA-style job-killing trade agreements.

Free Trade Deals Will Export American Jobs, Not American Products

Rep. Ted Deutch | Posted 12.12.2011

Rep. Ted Deutch

In the midst of unprecedented long-term unemployment, I cannot support trade agreements that repeat the mistakes of previous trade deals that shipped millions of American jobs overseas.

Is Herman Cain Any Good on Trade? You Try Figuring It Out

Ian Fletcher | Posted 12.07.2011

Ian Fletcher

Maybe Herman Cain, the latest boomlet in the GOP presidential race, will be elected president. Or maybe his 15 minutes of fame have just arrived. Either way, it behooves us to see what he thinks about America's trade mess.

Trade With China Destroys American Jobs, Drags Down U.S. Wages: Study

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 11.27.2011

The explosion in Chinese exports in recent years has resulted in a flood of inexpensive goods for American consumers. It may have also come at a large...

How Fairer Trade Can Help Solve The Jobs Crisis

Bloomberg | Alan Tonelson | Posted 11.19.2011

President Barack Obama’s new jobs plan, if passed by Congress, might spark some activity and even some employment in the moribund U.S. economy. But ...

U.S. Exports Reach All-Time High

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 11.08.2011

WASHINGTON — A record level of exports and a drop in oil prices narrowed the U.S. trade deficit in July to its lowest point in three months. The...

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens To Highest Level Since 2008

AP | By MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 10.11.2011

WASHINGTON -- American producers sold fewer industrial engines, electric generators and farm products to the rest of the world in June, pushing the tr...

It's the Free Trade, Stupid

Ian Fletcher | Posted 10.10.2011

Ian Fletcher

One point seems largely to have been missed in recent weeks, amid all the excitement over the Federal budget and the sovereign-debt crises in Europe: free trade is largely the root cause of all these problems.

What's Happening to U. S. Manufacturing?

Michele Nash-Hoff | Posted 10.10.2011

Michele Nash-Hoff

After dominating the globe for over 60 years as the world's largest, most productive, and technologically advanced in the world, America's manufacturing sector is in a decline in nearly all industries.

Words Can't Magic Away the Trade Deficit

Ian Fletcher | Posted 09.20.2011

Ian Fletcher

One recurring delusion in the controversy over America's free-trade-induced trade mess is the idea that our gigantic trade deficit, which fluctuates around $500 billion a year, somehow "doesn't matter."

Dave Jamieson

WATCH: Violence, Potential Job Losses Hang Over Colombia Free Trade Agreement

HuffingtonPost.com | Dave Jamieson | Posted 09.19.2011

WASHINGTON -- As U.S. lawmakers inch closer to enacting a long-stalled free trade agreement with Colombia, the deal's proponents have cited the safer ...

Zach Carter

GOP Struggles To Please Business Allies Without Giving Obama Win On Trade Deals

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 09.18.2011

This piece is the first in a three-part collaboration with The Dylan Ratigan Show focused on trade issues, called Trading Our Future. WASHINGTON --...