International Trade

US Manufacturing Takes Its Hardest Hit Since 2009

New orders and employment tumbled in March at the quickest speed since 2009, signaling a tough road ahead for U.S. manufacturers. March’s Institute for Supply Management’s report on business declined to 49.1%, an indication of contraction for the U.S. economy. The index, based on a survey of U.S. manufacturing companies, […]

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‘Phase 1’ of China trade deal causes fall in deficit

The U.S. international trade deficit fell by more than expected in January, due to the first phase of the trade deal signed by the President and China.  The trade deficit dropped 4.6% to $65.5 billion in January compared with $68.7 billion in December, according to the advanced U.S. international trade […]

US trade deficit in goods hits record $891 billion

The U.S. trade deficit blew up in December, once again hitting its highest monthly total since 2008, indicating President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been ineffective. The trade deficit rose 18 percent in December to $59.8 billion, according to data released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday. The data also showed […]

Pig Feet Eclipse Chicken Paws: A Tariff Story

In the small village in northern China where Yunping Xu grew up, there used to be a dining ritual serving a family’s most honored guests. A Pig head cut into sushi-sized cubes fried with black fungus and soy sauce was the most anticipated dish, following one dish of chicken and […]

Paper Tariffs Threaten Struggling Newspaper Industry

As a film reviewer at the Tampa Bay Times for 25 years, Steve Persall had a front-row seat to the winding melodrama of layoffs, buyouts and closures in the American newspaper industry. He’d kept his job through the Great Recession, the shift from print to online and consolidation after the […]

Solar Industry Not So Worried about Tariff on Imported Panels

The future looks promising for Cypress Creek Renewables, one of the largest solar companies in the U.S. It was recently awarded six solar projects by New York State’s Renewable Energy Projects, which allocated $1.4 billion to 26 clean energy projects. Four of them are in the Mohawk Valley, one in […]

NAFTA renegotiation may put jobs at risk

President Trump announced the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA] to congress this month. The agriculture industry will be the sector most affected, but some are hopeful that through Trump’s decision to renegotiate and not withdraw from NAFTA, a better deal will surface for Americans all around. […]

Who Pays for Canada’s Dairy Farmers?

When the Canadian dairy industry set below-market prices on milk ingredients earlier this year, Craig Alexander saw his company’s sales to Canada shrink before his eyes. Alexander works for O-AT-KA Milk Products, a dairy cooperative in Batavia, NY. Before the new rules were enacted, Alexander said his company shipped about […]