Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership: the case for trade
October 30, 2015
Following the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership by twelve Pacific rim countries, debates about the costs and benefits of trade liberalization are intensifying. The early leaders in the U.S. presidential campaign – both the Republican Donald Trump and the Democrat Hillary Clinton – have expressed opposition to the TPP, though as secretary of state, Clinton called it the “the gold standard of trade deals.”
Read More: Guardian
Obama looking for a ‘partner’ in Ryan
October 29, 2015
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Democrats and Republicans are going to have to work together to make progress and President Obama is hopeful that House Speaker Paul Ryan can be counted on again to win congressional approval of TPP.
Read More: Washington Examiner
USTR releases TPA-mandated transparency plan
October 29, 2015
The Obama administration outlined for Congress this week its plan to tackle the thorny issue of transparency in future trade negotiations; many opposed to the TPP had criticized its alleged lack of transparency during the negotiations. The trade consultation and engagement guidelines transmitted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are a requirement of the recently-approved fast track trade promotion authority law, which required their release 120 days after the legislation was enacted. The guidelines most notably allow, for the first time, the personal staff, with appropriate security clearances of members sitting on the Ways and Means and Finance Committees, to independently review the negotiating text of an agreement.
Read more: Politico
Ontario mayors urge Trudeau to protect auto sector from TPP deal
October 29, 2015
Fresh discontent is surfacing over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that Canada signed in the dying days of Stephen Harper’s government – uneasiness that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals must confront as the job of ratifying the accord falls to them. Mayors representing twenty Ontario cities, from Oshawa to Windsor, with a significant number of auto-sector jobs called on Mr. Trudeau, the prime-minister-designate, to protect their industry from being sideswiped by the TPP, the largest trade deal Canada has ever undertaken.
Read More: The Globe and Mail
Japan’s pricy farmers eye export push, unfazed by TPP
October 29, 2015
Japan’s high-cost farmers, sheltered by prohibitive import tariffs, might appear to be most at risk from a trans-Pacific free-trade deal agreed this month, but they are instead making an unlikely push to export more of their pricy produce. The latest figures show that Japan’s agricultural sector exports only about five percent of its output, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sees the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, reached in Atlanta on Oct. 5, as an opportunity, not a threat.
Read More: Reuters
Sell the New Zealand Dollar say TD Securities and BMZ
October 29, 2015
Policy makers desperately need a weaker currency to ensure the country’s exports remain competitively priced on the global market. The rally in the NZ dollar has gone too far argue TD Securities, a leading global financial services provider. The New Zealand dollar has enjoyed a period of strength through September and October, indeed the NZD was the best performing currency in G10.
Read More: Pound Sterling
Why the TPP is good for small businesses
October 27, 2015
For the first time in any trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership includes rules focused on trade barriers that disproportionately challenge small firms. As Congress evaluates the details of what could be the world’s biggest trade deal yet in the coming months, one of the most crucial components that often gets overlooked is the agreement’s focus on small and medium-sized businesses. The Trans-Pacific Partnership represents an unparalleled opportunity for the global economy. The deal is the largest and most substantial free trade agreement in history, connecting twelve global economies, 40% of GDP and 800 million consumers across the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.
Read More: Fortune
House Votes Overwhelmingly to Reopen the Ex-Im Bank
October 27, 2015
The House acted with rare bipartisanship to approve legislation that would reopen the federal Export-Import Bank, after a debate that underscored the split between the party’s traditional pro-business members and ascendant free-market conservatives who are suspicious of big corporations. The lopsided final vote of 313 to 118 belied that split, as a majority of Republicans joined with all but one Democrat to reauthorize the 81-year-old bank agency, but many waited until the bill’s passage was assured before voting. Late Monday, one fourth of Republicans supported a vote — and an unusual legislative move — that made the final vote possible over the opposition of many party leaders.
Read More: NY Times
U.S. officials to work with Congress on Pacific trade pact timing
October 27, 2015
U.S. officials say they will work with Congress to find a window for lawmakers to consider the sweeping Pacific trade pact and warned that rejecting the deal would raise questions about America’s leadership in the region. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he is confident of winning political support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal sealed with eleven trading partners earlier this month, which drew a mixed initial response from Capitol Hill.
Read More: Reuters
Bank Provisions in Pacific Trade Pact Draw Fire
October 27, 2015
The sweeping Pacific trade agreement completed this month gives banks an added international legal protection that some congressional critics warn could lead to more challenges to Wall Street regulations. U.S. officials play down the new protections for financial firms, saying the Trans-Pacific Partnership also contains several new legal provisions that limit the ability of banks to challenge American financial rules. U.S. officials say the language ensures U.S. banks get the full protection of international law, and could help them challenge arbitrary or discriminatory regulations in other countries within the trade bloc. The provision, which guarantees banks a “minimum standard of treatment,” is part of a broader overhaul the Obama administration has sought of international arbitration to prevent corporations from abusing the system in the TPP, known as investor-state dispute settlement.
Read More: Wall Street journal
New Zealand’s trade deficit ballooned last month
October 27, 2015
New Zealand’s trade report for September has come in below expectations. According to Statistics New Zealand, exports fell slightly to $3.69 billion from $3.73 billion in August, marking the lowest monthly export total seen since January. While exports slipped, imports ballooned to $4.91 billion, an increase above the $4.77 billion level of August, the largest recorded monthly figure in over twelve months. As a result, the monthly trade deficit grew to $1.22 billion, a 12-month high.
Read More: Business Insider
Tiberi lays out ‘vision’ for Ways and Means panel
October 29, 2015
Ohio Rep. Pat Tiberi has sent a letter to the entire Ways and Means Committee, sharing his “vision” for what the powerful tax-writing committee would do under Paul Ryan’s speakership. Tiberi, a close ally of the departing speaker, John Boehner, is facing Texas Rep. Kevin Brady for the gavel. The steering committee will choose between the two Republicans in the coming weeks. Brady is more senior than Tiberi, but Texans chair six other House committees.
Read more: Politico
Paul Ryan’s bid for House Speaker opens top job for Kevin Brady on Ways and Means
October 26, 2015
Texas Republican Kevin Brady announced Monday he will move to take Paul Ryan’s post as chairman of the influential Ways and Means Committee, which could come open later this week with Ryan’s expected election as House Speaker. If successful, Brady’s move would make him a high-profile partner with Ryan in formulating the GOP’s version of tax reform in the upcoming 2016 election year.
Read More: Chron
Ryan speakership could boost TPP’s chances
October 21, 2015
Paul Ryan’s potential run for speaker would put a strongly pro-trade lawmaker in the most powerful position in the House, where he could use his credibility with conservative lawmakers — who have often broken with retiring Speaker John Boehner — to increase the likelihood of approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership, if he ultimately supports the deal.
Read more: Politico
Hillary’s Potential VP Nominee Distances Self on TPP: ‘I Support the President’
October 19, 2015
Hillary Clinton has been seriously considering HUD Secretary Julian Castro as a potential running mate in the 2016 election. She may be dismayed to hear, then, that he just distanced himself from her on trade and admitted she flipped flopped on the issue.
Read More: Town Hall |
