ECONOMIC POLICIES, ANALYSIS, AND RESOURCES
The Economic and Trade Policy Domain tracks and reports on policies that deal with budget, taxation, and finance issues. The domain tracks policies emanating from the White House, Congress, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Treasury.
Latest Economic and Trade Policy Posts
Investigating Trump’s Economy
Brief # 14 This past week, the United States Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% - a 17-year low. This makes the 3.8% target by the end of 2018 well within reach for the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve. Furthermore, nonfarm...
The Trump Administration’s New Tariff’s
Since the beginning of 2018, the Trump administration has been enacting a series of tariffs, on a variety of foreign products, intellectual property rights, and technology services.
Merkel and Macron Make Last Ditch Effort to Prevent US Steel Tariffs
On May 1st, 2018, the US tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from the EU are set to take affect. The above-mentioned tariffs are an appeasement to the US Steel industry, which has been affected by increased globalization throughout the second half of the 20th century.
Congress Kicks the FY2018 Budget Can Down the Road As Trump Releases FY2019 Goals
The US government shut down, again, for only a few hours last Friday while Congress worked overtime hashing out another Continuing Resolution that funds federal operations through March 23, along with a 2-year spending bill, both signed into law by Trump on the morning of February 9. The shutdown had little effect during…
Tariffs on Solar Components, Washing Machines Part of Trump’s Protectionist Agenda
New tariffs on imported solar panels and modules and on washing machines, announced by the Trump administration on January 22, will come into effect on February 7. The tariffs are among the first unilateral trade restrictions imposed by the administration as part of a broader protectionist strategy that treats “unfair trade…
A Review of Trump’s 2018 State of the Union Speech
There were a plethora of talking points President Trump had during his State of the Union, including lowering the cost of prescription drugs and revitalizing our nuclear weapons program to deter rogue actors such as North Korea. Although these two issues may seem very important the Trump administration prioritized two other…
Budget Process Gets Politicized and Government Shuts Down
A 69-hour US government shutdown ended early this week with passage of a short-term spending bill that funds federal operations through February 8. This is the fourth temporary funding measure Congress has passed since it failed to meet an October 1 deadline last year for the FY2018 budget. On January 20…
MoneyGram, AT&T Deals Blocked as US Talks Tough on Chinese Investment
Citing potential “malicious actors” and national security risks, early in the new year the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) rejected Alibaba Group Holding affiliate Ant Financial’s $1.2b bid to purchase MoneyGram International, a Dallas-based money transfer company. With the deal derailed after a year…
Trump Administration New Tax Bill
The Republican-led Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of the US tax code on December 20th just days before their holiday recess. The bill totals an estimated $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. Its main focus is on cutting taxes on businesses of all kinds and on reducing taxes for wealthy individuals. Highlights of the…