This week in TRADEinACTION… European Commission announces new proposal on Digital Single Market while President Obama gets ready to pass the baton on January 20.

SPOTLIGHT
Donald Trump: A Bull in a China Shop?   

President- elect Trump has talked a lot about his policy towards China once he is sworn in. Three of his “7 Point Plan To Rebuild the American Economy by Fighting for Free Trade” are focused on a very tough course on China. But what does that mean? And what could the implications be? Atlantic Council’s Ashish Kumar Sen argues that China could retaliate in several ways that would cause serious damage to the United States if President-elect Donald Trump were to overplay his hand with the Asian nation. “Our economies are very interdependent and there is a mutually assured destruction if we start getting into tit-for-tat trade wars. Nobody wins in a trade war.” – Robert Manning, Atlantic Council. Possible trade wars? One China policy as a bargaining chip? Consolidation of Chinese Power?

Get the full scoop here.

TRADE
Speech: USTR Michael Froman On Obama Administration’s Trade Accomplishments, Office of the United States Trade Representative.
USTR Cabinet Exit Memo: Trade, Growth, and Jobs in the Obama Administration, Office of the USTR 
Exit Memo: “A Record of Past Progress and a Roadmap for the Future” US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, US Department of Commerce
Interview: USTR Michael Froman on China, WTO, TPP, and UK-US Trade Relations, Bloomberg Markets
Podcast Commentary: Trump and Trade: The Protectionist Triumvirate, Daniel J. Ikenson, Daniel J. Mitchell, and Caleb O. Brown, Cato Institute 
Commentary: UK ‘first in line’ for US trade deal, Esther King, Politico
Investment Plan for Europe: EUR 360 million for Italian SMEs; European Commission 
Opinion: Global trade is the path to security and prosperity, Heraldo Munoz, Miami Herald

TWEET/FACTOID OF THE WEEK

Did you know…?

@EU2017MT
GLOBALIZATION
Opinion: Globalization Has Done A Lot Of Great Things For Americans, Panos Mourdoukoutas, Forbes
Report: Global Risks Report 2017, World Economic Forum 
Opinion: We Can’t Undo Globalization, but We Can Improve It, Gary Pinkus, James Manyika, and Sree Ramaswamy, Harvard Business Review
News Coverage: Mark Zuckerberg to Study the Impact of Globalisation with US Tour, Hannah Kuchler, Financial Times

WHAT WE ARE READING
Opinion: If Trump really Knows the Art of the Deal, He’ll Embrace Free Trade, Robert B. Zoellick, Washington Post
Report: Data Flows A Fifth Freedom for the Internal Market? National Board of Trade Sweden 
Update: EU Commission Updates Digital Single Market Proposal, European Commission 
Opinion: Brace Yourself, Europe: Politics is Back, Matthew Karnitschnig, Politico

UPCOMING
MEETINGS
January 17-20 World Econmic Annual Forum in Davos, Switzerland 
January 18: Confirmation Hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Mr. Wilbur Ross
January 20: Inauguration Day- New US President is sworn in 

EVENTS
January 18: Book Launch: Europe’s Growth Challenge; hosted by the Atlantic Council, Washington DC 
January 24: The Future of EU Trade Policy; Brussels; hosted by Bruegel 
January 25: Too Big to Fail? The Power of Transparency in Preventing Future Financial Crises; Washington DC; hosted by the Atlantic Council 
January 26: European Growth and the Next Chapter in US-EU Relations; Washington DC; hosted by the Atlantic Council 
January 27: Financing America’s Economic Growth Regional Event Series – Chicago; hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce

Your Newsletter Team:
Marie Kasperek, Assistant Director, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council
John Butler, Program Intern