The US-China relationship has taken ill, but global relations in Cambridge tell a different story about how global investors can make for a healthy local economy. This week, TradeVistas columnist Leslie Griffin analyzes the DNA of Massachusetts’ vibrant biopharma and medical device industries. Also find three charts that put China tariffs in context and an updated US-China trade war timeline just as things heat up.
When it rains in trade policy, it pours. This week we look at trade in virtual water and how water scarcity is threating global agriculture. We also explore how your spring raincoats, boots and other water resistant clothing are affected by tariffs on imported goods from China. Finally, we break down the trade jargon to explain what “water in the tariff schedule” means and how “bound” and “applied” tariff rates are calculated.
While the International Trade Commission was running its numbers on the economic impacts of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement, we decided to run our own analytics about how you use our site. This week we introduced a fresh look and, more important, improved navigation to find all the stories you’re looking for.
This week we look at trade with Asia, and how one could liken the World Trade Organization (WTO) reform process to the Japanese ritual of hanami (flower viewing). While the current global trading system has generated opportunities for every member to pursue growth and prosperity through increased trade, we’ve come to rely on it and rarely stop to appreciate it. Our feature article looks at the areas in need of WTO renewal. Also this week, from cherry blossom KitKats to bubble tea and Pocky sticks, we look at how trade spreads an Asian twist to our favorite snacks and how consumers in Asia also display a healthy appetite for exotic cuts of meat that don’t make it to many American plates.
Turmeric is the new “it” spice. We buy most of it from India. But while things are looking golden for trade in this trendy spice, U.S.-India trade relations have been heating up over the past few years. The White House recently announced India could soon be terminated from the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. This week, we look at U.S.-India trade relations and explore the history of trade preference programs around the world.
As we head into Sweet Sixteen weekend, we first take a look at how trade neogtiators, much like basketball fans, depend on brackets. Unlike college basketball, in trade negotiations, “busting brackets” means achieving agreement. We provide an overview of how negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) move from sessions involving all 164 “players” on the court to a single agreed text. Also this week, read Four Ways Trade is Like the NCAA Tourney and Who’s Footing the Bill for Shoe Tariffs?
Want to curl up with some good trade stories? We’ve got two recommendations. First is the Monk of Mohka, the miraculous true story of a young Yemeni-American man who grew up in one of San Francisco’s poorest neighborhoods and overcame seemingly impossible obstacles to export coffee from Yemen in the midst of a raging civil war. Second is the Spring 2019 edition of Lapham’s Quarterly dedicated to the topic of trade. The magazine takes you through time on the journey of global trade through the eyes of those who trade.
Beauty in art – and the shape of our food – is in the eye of the beholder. Boston is experiencing Frida Fever thanks to the Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts’ first-ever Frida Kahlo exhibit. Kahlo helped make Mexican folk art famous. Now the artisan sector is the second-largest employer in the developing world after agriculture, worth over $32 billion every year. We take a closer look at the art of trade, and also look at the rise of “ugly” produce, food standards in global trade, and food waste.
At least 80 percent of fentanyl in the United States was shipped by mail from China – yes, the U.S. Postal Service. The Centers for Disease Control says fentanyl has caused a “third wave” of drug-related overdose deaths in the United States. In this new article, TradeVistas explores whether U.S.-China trade talks will help address this deadly issue. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s unprecedented use of Section 232 to impose tariffs in the name of national security is taking more twists and turns with the launch this week of its fifth such investigation. We deliver what you need to know about Section 232 of U.S. trade law and the national security exception.
How do we understand and feel about the impact of trade on our communities? Ethnic neighborhoods across the United States – from Little Havana in Miami to San Francisco’s Chinatown – allow us to experience elements of a culture and cuisine without needing to break out a passport. Columnist Leslie Griffin writes about how trade supports the vibrant Italian culture of Boston’s North End neighborhood. We also look at how steel tariffs are pitting workers’ interest against one another, causing conflicting feelings about trade protections within the same communities.