All tariff pain is local

Aug 8, 2018
Another $16 billion of tariffs on imports from China will take effect in a couple weeks — Aug. 23 to be precise. That announcement came from office of the U.S. Trade Representative yesterday. Semiconductors and various plastics are on the list. The reaction from China was swift and predictable in this tit-for-tat thing we’ve got going […]

Your new tariff questions, answered

Jun 22, 2018
Bourbon, retaliation and ... more bourbon.
A Chinese worker loads aluminium tapes at a plant in Huaibei, in east China's Anhui Province, in 2017.
STR/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s why U.S. small businesses don’t export more

May 21, 2018
The Commerce Department kicks off World Trade Week on Monday. It’s honoring 43 U.S. exporters. Thirty-three of them are small- or mid-sized businesses. But as it turns out, small businesses could be exporting more. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

U.S. scrap exports to China just came to a screeching halt

May 11, 2018
One expert says the monthlong suspension could impact an estimated $400 million worth of trade.
A Chinese laborer sorts plastic bottles for recycling in Dong Xiao Kou village on the outskirts of Beijing.
FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

How are Chinese manufacturers reacting to the threat of U.S. tariffs?

Apr 26, 2018
We spoke to Chinese manufacturers in Guangzhou city in Southern China at one of the world’s biggest trade shows — the Canton Fair.
Dollars and yuan notes.
China Photos/Getty Images

Is globalism a failed policy?

Apr 24, 2018
The economy is doing well, but the average person is angry. "The alternative is that you change the social contract," one expert says.
“You can get rid of Trump, but, I mean, all of the Trumpism in the United States is real and is coming for us,” says Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
Ralph Freso/Getty Images

Relief and some concern at Xi Jinping’s trade speech

Apr 10, 2018
In the frequent exchanges on trade between the U.S. and China, it was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s turn to offer his country’s take. Speaking to the Boao Forum for Asia today, Xi struck a  conciliatory tone. He said China is committed to opening up its economy more to foreign businesses and products. So what do […]

For public good, not for profit.

Where do NAFTA renegotiations stand?

Apr 10, 2018
After seven rounds of brokering a revamped deal, there are still major sticking points to discuss between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

Trump proposes $100 billion in new tariffs on Chinese goods

Apr 5, 2018
President Donald Trump has instructed the U.S. trade representative to consider slapping $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods. The move comes a day after China issued a $50 billion list of U.S. goods including soybeans and small aircraft for possible tariff hikes in an escalating and potentially damaging dispute. The White House said […]
Workers load imported soybeans from cargo ships at a port in Nantong in China's eastern Jiangsu province on April 4.
AFP/Getty Images

In Shanghai, few worry over U.S-China trade spat

Apr 5, 2018
"In China's history, we’ve faced more serious problems than this,” one man says.
Roy Ma and his family consume American fruits and nuts but he says the latest China tariffs on these products will not have a huge impact on his life. He is worried about what other tariffs will be imposed as the trade friction escalates.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace