It’s easy to take for granted our accessibility to products native to or manufactured in countries on the other side of the world. International trade makes it possible to enjoy a dinner of Kobe beef from Japan, tropical fruits from India and a bottle of wine from France, without having to wait days (or weeks) for all the ingredients to arrive. From the days of the Silk Road between Europe and Asia in the 1200s, international trade has facilitated the exchange of goods and services between nations. As transportation evolved to make doing business internationally more practical, the result has been a global economy where events in one county can impact product supplies, demand and prices in countries thousand of miles away. For consumers, global trade means more business competition, which (despite tariffs and other additional costs that do not apply to domestic trade) typically results in lower prices for the products they want to purchase. It also opens up more markets where countries can sell the goods that are more abundant within their borders. The Cycle of Global Trade Relationships International trade can, over time, change the nature of relationships between two countries. One familiar example is when a poorer nation provides labor and facilities to more developed trading partners, acquiring wealth that can then be channeled into greater domestic productivity. When that happens, it could eventually result in a reversal of roles, where the product importer becomes an exporter. One sees elements of this in the trade relationship between the U.S. and China.
Global Commodity Prices Plateau, Threatening Inflation Targets Amid Geopolitical Tensions
Global commodity prices, which sharply declined last year contributing to a reduction in global inflation, have now stabilized, posing challenges… Read More
TPP Redux: Why the United States Is the Biggest Loser
On the first anniversary of President Trump’s announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the… Read More
Rising Incomes in China Means More US Goods Exports
Despite rising tensions between the United States and China on the trade front, the data show that US goods exports… Read More
Global Regulatory Trends—2018
Dentons, the global law firm, recently released its Global Regulatory Trends to Watch in 2018, available here. In this six-part… Read More
Increased Economic Threats from China
On December 18, 2017, President Donald Trump unveiled his Administration’s first National Security Strategy (NSS), laying out the White House’s… Read More
Why Is China’s Cold Chain Infrastructure Underdeveloped?
It seems like a Catch 22. China is a country that has a growing demand for fresh food and could… Read More
Import Relief: It’s Complicated
The two Section 201 cases that the president recently decided—solar panels and washing machines—are good illustrations of how much the… Read More
Dear China, About those Solar Tariffs…
Last week the Trump administration took a decision to raise tariffs on solar cells and modules imported into the United… Read More
The Dangers of Deregulation
In the last few days, the Trump administration’s oil and gas deregulation push entered a frantic new phase. On the… Read More
China: Pretender to the Throne
The New Year has brought a rash of new articles and proclamations to the effect that the retreat of the… Read More
BREAKING NEWS: US Steel Companies Urge Protection from Trump
A leading steel trade group and top executives of United States steel companies are urging President Donald Trump to impose… Read More
Governor: Alaska Must Diversity Its Economy
Alaska Governor Bill Walker is optimistic that the doubling of oil prices in the last year will boost his state’s… Read More
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