CTPS in the News

"The list of strategic industries that we for some reason have to protect should be kept to a minimum if not kept at zero. This is too open to political manipulation. Every manufacture or commodity will see itself as being strategic and needing protection."

October 26, 2007
Business Media Institute, VA -- “Policymakers point repeatedly to the loss of 3 million manufacturing jobs as evidence of impending doom, even though those acute losses occurred between 2000 and 2003, and job decline in manufacturing has leveled off to historic averages.”

October 25, 2007
Chicago Tribune -- The total cost of farm programs was $430 billion over the last decade.

October 22, 2007 Forbes, NY -- America manufactures 21% of the value in the world's manufactured goods—China's share is growing, but it only makes up 8% of the pie. America remains at the top of the value chain, producing high-quality, high-technology goods for domestic consumers and the rest of the world. "The anxiety of advanced technology coming out of China is misplaced. It will be quite some time before China carves out a role as a leader in the designer markets. Under an authoritarian, one-party system, creativity and expression tend to be short-changed." The country will also have to beef up its intellectual property laws to encourage technological development.

October 18, 2007
AMERICAN.COM, DC -- From the very beginning, a major obstacle to trade liberalization has been the agricultural subsidies given to domestic farmers in the developed world. "U.S. subsidies hurt Third World farmers by encouraging U.S. production and therefore depressing world prices for commodities." Likewise, EU subsidies do not help. They are so extensive that in 2003, the United Nations Development Program complained that subsidies allotted for dairy cows actually exceeded total per capita EU aid to sub-Saharan Africa.

Marketplace, CA -- By socking a $20 billion heavy trade surplus Chile stands in stark contrast to Venezuela and its oil-fueled spending binge.

October 17, 2007
Indianapolis Star -- Most of more than 20 trade-related bills filed in the first six months of 2007 leaned toward protectionism.

October 16, 2007
Accuracy In Media, DC -- "Reports of the death of U.S. manufacturing have been greatly exaggerated, as the U.S. remains the world’s most prolific manufacturer producing two and a half times more output than the vaunted Chinese factories in 2006."

October 11, 2007
Associated Content, CO -- Do not fear a large growing trade deficit, as it can be a sign of economic growth.

Investor's Business Daily -- Going back nearly two decades, when the trade deficit "improves" — that is, gets smaller — real GDP grew just 1.9% on average, while joblessness rose. When the deficit got slightly bigger — or "worsened" — real GDP rose an average of 3%, while unemployment fell.

What happened when the deficit "rapidly worsened," sending the pundits and media experts into paroxysms of doubt and concern for our economy? The "worsening" trade picture led to boisterous 4.4% GDP growth, and big drops in unemployment.

In short, the economy seems to thrive when the deficit grows — and to struggle when it gets smaller.

October 10, 2007
Web Services Journal, NJ -- By abandoning the commitments to the WTO over the gaming industry the U.S. government undermines the integrity of the system, and imposes danger to U.S. economic interests and to free trade generally.

October 9, 2007
American Spectator -- Ending birthright citizenship is not a fruitful way to address illegal immigration.

October 5, 2007
National Review Online -- "Manufacturing is thriving by historic standards." The jobs lost in that sector stem from productivity increases, not outsourcing.

September 27, 2007
New York Sun -- A weak dollar is already hurting Americans by curtailing their purchasing power. "Among the big losers are American households that buy imports as part of their everyday shopping. All things being equal, we are better off with a stronger dollar."

September 24, 2007
Leland Tribune, NC -- "Real U.S. manufacturing output is at an all-time high. American manufacturers remain among the most competitive in the world, and account for more than a fifth of the total value added in manufacturing worldwide each year."

September 10, 2007
Washington Times -- 2006 "was a record year for output, revenues, profits, profit rates, and return on investment in the manufacturing sector." Indeed, "despite all the stories about the erosion of U.S. manufacturing primacy, the United States remains the world's most prolific manufacturer — producing 2½ times more output than those vaunted Chinese factories in 2006." The unvarnished truth is that the US is manufacturing more, selling more and exporting more abroad than at any time in its history.

The underreported manufacturing facts from 2006 when the United States was experiencing record imports of manufactured products:

• Real U.S. manufacturing output reached an all-time high.
• Real manufacturing revenues reached an all-time high.
• Real manufacturing operating profits reached an all-time high.
• After-tax profit rates for manufacturing corporations reached an all-time high.
• Return on equity for manufacturing corporations reached an all-time high.
• The value of U.S. manufacturing exports reached an all-time high.
• U.S. factories remained the world's most prolific, accounting for more than one-fifth of world manufacturing value added. Free-trade critics never mention any of these statistics, focusing almost entirely on the decline in manufacturing employment and their belief that if we raise the costs of imports through tariff/taxes and other regulations, we can boost factory jobs.

September 8, 2007
The Decatur Daily, AL -- Trade Adjustment Assistance interferes with "people’s incentives to go out and get a job. Research suggests people don’t start applying for work until the week before their benefits expire."

September 6, 2007
Salt Lake Tribune and Lawrence Journal World, KS -- "Democratic candidates operate under the myth that there is a correlation between imports and job losses. That's not true. There has been a reduction in the number of workers in manufacturing, but it's because of productivity gains. We don't need 10 people on the production line to make widgets anymore."

September 5, 2007
CNSNews.com, VA -- "The difference in views on the state of the economy shows that union leaders are living in an alternative universe where the only measure is the number of people carrying union cards. Membership in labor unions has been declining for decades. But if you look back 10 years, Americans are better off in virtually every economic measure. Real compensation per hour is up more than 20 percent, and that's not just wages, but benefits as well.

"The net wealth of the typical middle-class American family is up more than 20 percent because of rising stock values and home values, while manufacturing employment has dropped by over 3 million, we've created more than 11 million more jobs in mostly service sectors that pay on average better than the typical manufacturing job. The AFL-CIO and Change to Win leaders are confusing the well-being of organized labor with the well-being of the American worker. The Department of Labor is much closer to the truth on this."

September 2, 2007
OCRegister, CA -- "The fact that nothing much will happen at the APEC meeting is not cause for alarm; the countries involved are already moving in the right direction -- toward fewer trade barriers and a focus on peace and prosperity rather than conflict and turmoil."

September 1, 2007
Arrive Magazine -- If the goal of the Framework for Advancing Transatlantic Economic Integration is "openness, competition, and consumer welfare, then it is a goal worth pursuing. If the goal is to bind foreign competitors in the same regulatory web that domestic companies find themselves, then it is a fool's errand and should not be pursued."

August 21, 2007
International Herald Tribune, France -- "If China wants to subsidize its exporters, in the long run that benefits America, but politically it's unsustainable."

Press of Atlantic City, NJ -- "Manufacturing revenues and profits have gone up. Manufacturing jobs are down, but not because of trade; efficiency did that deed."

August 20, 2007
New York Times -- The US International Trade Commission, in a 6-to-0 vote, said Titan and other American producers, as well as union workers, were being harmed by the low-cost Chinese imports. Petitioners had been gun-shy, but now the path has been cleared for them.

If the U.S. government is going to apply the countervailing duty law to China - a de facto acknowledgment that China's economy is now a market economy - it should at the very least treat China as such under U.S. antidumping law. At present, China is treated as a non-market economy for purposes of calculating antidumping duties, a methodology that tends to yield much higher antidumping duty rates. If we are to have antidumping and countervailing duty laws - and there is a very strong case that we shouldn't - then at the very least they should be applied in as fair and even-handed a manner as possible.

International Forbes, NY -- Effectively, the US excise tax at least violates the spirit of the free trade agreement, and probably the letter, depending on how an increase in the federal tax on stogies is implemented.

August 18, 2007
Frederick News Post, MD -- Without ending farm subsidies "federal lawmakers are ducking a real opportunity to wean farmers off taxpayers' money."

August 9, 2007
People's Daily Online, China -- As a result of political manipulation, the Congress is showing a stronger trade protectionist sentiment, which has broken away from economic analysis.

August 8, 2007
National Review Online, NY -- With "quite a bit of variation in the field," the presidential candidates have not been discussing the trade issues very much.

August 6, 2007
Knoxville News Sentinel -- U.S. farm policies hurt relationships with other countries, adding that an embargo with Cuba for 40 years "is out of step with sensibilities of Latin American neighbors." Free trade encourages democracy in countries eventually.

August 2, 2007
CNSNews.com, VA -- "South Africa is a poor model for trade sanctions. While it was limited to whites, it was a democracy, and the government faced public pressure from citizens. To think we could replicate the South African model in the Third World is a stretch."

Gulf Times, Qatar -- With proposed US-China trade related legislation, the US Congress is mainly aiming to satisfy labor unions and other Democratic political supporters and risk a dangerous trade backlash from China.

August 1, 2007
Reuters -- "For a lot of the critics in Congress, nothing short of a 30 percent overnight appreciation (in the yuan's value) will satisfy them, but that is not going to happen. A dramatic appreciation would probably be destabilizing."

July 31, 2007
Gaming Intelligence Group -- The US response to the WTO's ruling in the dispute surrounding internet gambling is unprecedented. "Withdrawing commitments from the WTO would be unique in the organisation's history and would also be extremely damaging to its credibility. These actions by the US are an affront to other WTO members and could damage the WTO."

July 30, 2007
The Weekly Standard -- New York Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel "gets good marks on style. On substance, though, he's virtually indistinguishable from Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and the rest of the leadership."

Bowling Green Daily News -- Reform measures in farm legislation approved Friday by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives "leaves the subsidy system largely intact and increases subsidies in some cases as commodity prices rise."

July 25, 2007
Politico, DC -- Far from costing the U.S. jobs, "large trade deficits are typically associated with more output and more jobs."

July 24, 2007
Reuters -- "The get-tough approach emanating from Congress has made it more difficult for the Chinese do the right thing because it makes it look like they'd be bowing to outside pressure."

July 18, 2007
Associated Content, CO -- Killing U.S. farm subsidizing would be beneficial--lower food prices for American families, lower costs and increased exports for American companies, and better use of the land from an environmental standpoint.

July 14, 2007
RealClearPolitics, IL -- With the 2007 Farm Bill Americans have a chance to benefit through less government interference with rural America.

July 13, 2007
Arizona Daily Star -- "Immigration in general, including low-skilled immigrants, is a significant economic benefit to their resident states [...] Much of the claims of people who oppose low-skilled immigration are wildly exaggerated."

July 11, 2007
Council on Foreign Relations -- Food safety "is not primarily a problem of imports" since Americans also have been poisoned by domestically produced foods.

July 9, 2007
The Epoch Times, Ireland -- "The prospects of TPA being renewed, as is, are nil."

July 6, 2007
International Herald Tribune, France -- "Poor and isolated North Korea is all the more dangerous because it has nothing to lose economically should it provoke a war."

July 1, 2007
Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Far from costing the US jobs, "large trade deficits are typically associated with more output and more jobs."

June 28, 2007
Atlanta Journal Constitution -- "Of course, globalization is good. It's another form of economic freedom that just happens to be across national borders. Study after study shows that trade is the best way we know of increasing incomes, growth and lowering poverty."

American Spectator -- "The primary benefits of trade come from liberalization at home." Unfortunately, such a proposal would likely win little political support.

June 25, 2007
Council on Foreign Relations -- The expiration of presidential fast-track authority "doesn't raise any trade barrier--it only reduces the chance of lowering barriers."

June 23, 2007
Turkish Press, MI -- Technically the TPA can be re-authorized at any time, but this will "definitely not happen before its expiration next week."

June 22, 2007
Wall Street Journal -- Relaxed currency controls might cause a depreciation of the yuan. "If capital flows were liberalized entirely, you would see a lot of capital flight that would drive the value of the yuan down."

The Epoch Times, Ireland -- Renewal of TPA/fast-track authority is not foreseeable; Congress does not was to be seen giving George Bush any wins.

The Heartland Institute, IL -- "The WTO said the new U.S. law isn't acceptable and such a new bill could get the U.S. out of this bind. Under GATT, the U.S. said it would allow trade in gambling." Governments shouldn't be heavily regulating online gambling in the first place.

June 20, 2007
New Straits Times, Malaysia -- "Imports from China have not been a major cause of job losses in the US economy. Rising imports from China have not so much replaced domestic production in the U.S. as they have imports that used to come from other lower-wage countries."

June 18, 2007
Philadelphia Business Journal -- "High-skilled immigration is a no brainer -- it benefits our economy in so many ways."

California Majority Report -- Cato Institute disagrees with the Heritage Foundation immigration study. "Those numbers are way out of whack. The answer is not to limit the number of workers in our economy."

Bloomberg.com -- China is reaping benefits of 30 years-long market liberalization. Meantime, the U.S. has been debating a false notion of mercantilism and failing to bring home own share of trade liberalization benefits.

Triad Business Journal, NC -- "Where would Silicon Valley be without high-skilled immigrants?"

Investor's Business Daily -- "Instead of being a problem, the trade deficit seems to actually boost economic growth. Dan Griswold of the Cato Institute recently looked at the economy going back to 1980 and found that growth averaged just 1.9% in the years in which the broad trade deficit as a share of GDP shrank -- or "improved," as the media would say."

June 13, 2007
Globe and Mail, Canada -- In a report published in April, the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies concluded that, since 1983, "a few favoured farm sectors have received between $21-billion a year (1995) and $56-billion a year (1999) in government support in the form of direct subsidies and higher prices." The center calculated the staggering opportunity cost - or lost-opportunity cost, to be precise - of these subsidies: "If American taxpayers and consumers had been spared the cost of farm programs during the last two decades, and had been able to invest these savings at the market rate of interest, they would be $1.7-trillion wealthier today."

June 10, 2007
El Paso Times, TX -- "The bill before the Senate was flawed in many ways: The number of temporary worker visas was insufficient, its interior enforcement provisions too intrusive, the point system too convoluted. But the bill was at least pointing in the right direction."

June 8, 2007
McClatchy Washington Bureau -- After suffering a heavy blow on Thursday, there's a faint pulse for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

Monsters and Critics.com, UK -- There is little danger that the relaxed passport rules for regional travel would erode U.S. border security.

East Valley Tribune, AZ -- While the U.S. economy is creating hundreds of thousands of low-skilled jobs every year, the pool of native-born Americans who traditionally held low-skilled jobs is simultaneously decreasing and becoming better educated.

June 7, 2007
Marketplace, CA -- There's a fragile coalition holding the immigration bill together.

May 30, 2007
Washington Times -- Moving from a family-based immigration system to an employment-based one will better meet the country's economic needs.

May 25, 2007
Financial Times -- "What may seem like immigrant waves of unprecedented force are actually smaller, relative to the existing population, than the great inflows of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which so profoundly shaped America. Thus, approximately 1.5 Mexican immigrants (both legal and illegal) per 1,000 US residents now enter the country each year. But in the 1840s and 1850s, the US absorbed an annual average of 3.6 Irish immigrants per 1,000. Between 1901 and 1910 Russian, Italian and Austro-Hungarians all arrived at a swifter pace than the Mexicans today."

May 24, 2007
Washington Times -- "The right policy response to the fiscal concerns about immigration is not to artificially suppress labor migration but to control and reallocate government spending."

Forbes, NY -- "Congress was not going to be happy unless the [U.S.-China] agreement produced concrete proposals to revalue the Chinese currency."

May 23, 2007
U.S. News & World Report -- Paying off farmers by offering them buyouts could be a solution to end the subsidization program.

May 22, 2007
CNBC, NJ -- "We need to get tough on China but not with more congressional involvement."

May 21, 2007
Princeton Daily Clarion, IN -- The breadth and number of groups dissatisfied with the current farm bill illuminates the need for substantial agricultural policy reform.

Terra, Argentina (in Spanish) -- While immigration reform would slightly increase costs for state and local governments, the benefits of increased economic productivity would significantly surpass them.

May 11, 2007
Central Maine Morning Sentinel, ME -- Immigrants come to the U.S., both legally and illegally, because they want to work, and many Americans want to hire them. There is no guarantee that efforts to enforce immigration laws more rigorously will do anything to change the motives that lead so many workers and employers to violate the law.

May 10, 2007
Rocky Mountain News -- Rather than spending its resources looking for illegal janitors and roofers, the U.S. government should concentrate on catching terrorists.

The Santa Clara -- "During the past 20 years, farm programs have cost America's non-farm households a cumulative $1.7 trillion."

May 7, 2007
Shipping Digest -- WTO helps resolve trade disputes without usurping national sovereignty

May 4, 2007
U.S. News & World Report -- "Like most postwar presidents, Reagan championed free trade while selectively deviating from it"

Forbes -- The U.S. "is in the wrong and it knows it, but it doesn't want to open up markets on gambling and betting services so it wants to change the law it has to abide by."

May 3, 2007
Purchasing -- "Few trade policies engender more bitterness and international ill will than the U.S. anti-dumping law"

American Digital Networks, MD -- "Policy makers need to understand that trade is about more than the economic benefits. It is about fostering democracy, human rights, and peace."

May 1, 2007
Salt Lake Tribune -- 'Touch back' provisions are "seen as a way for (illegal immigrants) to go back and have a fresh start and enter the country legally."

Washington Times -- Street protests and boycotts have little effect beyond reminding lawmakers that there are people who care about U.S. immigration policy

April 30, 2007
U.S. News & World Report -- Since U.S. producers account for about 50 percent of all U.S. imports, cutting taxes on producers' inputs would lower their costs of production and benefit U.S. consumers

April 25, 2007
Forbes -- "Asking [the Latin American countries] to trade away the one thing that makes them competitive is like asking the U.S. not to use technology"

April 20, 2007
Salt Lake Tribune, UT -- "Every advanced economy has seen its employment in agriculture and manufacturing decline relative to services and America is no exception"

April 14, 2007
National Post, Canada -- "Trade did not determine the November elections but the November elections are having a measurable impact on trade"

April 11, 2007
Cox News Service -- More U.S. trade protections toward China "could affect a range of goods on the shopping lists of millions of Americans, including apparel, toys, electronics and sporting goods"

Yahoo News -- Bilateral consultations likely to resolve some U.S.-China trade issues within the next two months

News Sentinel, IN -- South Korean automakers prepared to break down barriers to competition, unlike their American competitors

April 5, 2007
Reuters, UK -- After the beef ban is lifted, the U.S. Congress will not be able to say no to the trade deal with South Korea

April 3, 2007
Financial Times -- U.S.-S.Korea trade pact appears to be a precedent that falls short of real market liberalisation just to get a deal - and that could be worse than no deal

April 2, 2007
The Wall Street Journal -- "There's something unseemly about the domestic industry extorting large sums of money from foreign shrimp producers"Forbes -- U.S.-S. Korea trade pact would not be enough to renew presidential fast track authorityApril 1, 2007
International Herald Tribune -- "Doha can't get done without fast track"March 28, 2007
Forbes -- Rescinding normal trade relations with China would be "one of the most foolish and disastrous things this Congress could do." Move would be illegal under WTO guidelines and would invite retaliation by China.

March 23, 2007
Business & Finance -- Tying the immigrant workers too closely to a particular employer can give an employer too much leverage, putting workers at a disadvantage