TRADE IN ACTION July 27, 2017

THIS WEEK IN TRADE
British Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, arrived in Washington this week to meet with members of the Trump administration and lay the groundwork for a US-UK post Brexit trade deal.

Also, the White House completed its selection process for the top ranks at the USTR late last week. A final decision on steel trade policy may have to wait: President Trump said his administration was first “waiting till we get everything finished up between healthcare and taxes and maybe even infrastructure”. 

WHAT TO WATCH

Canada’s NAFTA objectives are expected to be revealed on August 14. The first round of the negotiations between the United States, Canada and Mexico will take place in Washington, DC from August 16 – 20, 2017. The European Commission is aiming to harden its stance toward Chinese takeovers of European corporations in vital sectors. The new rules are expected to be detailed at the “State of the European Union” speech in September.

SPOTLIGHT
Trade in Action Tweet of the Week 1 July 27 2017

As the cost for a college education skyrocketed, the need for highly skilled workers has skyrocketed with it. Even as manufacturing employment continues its decades-long decline (having shrunk by 35.72 percent since January 1980), hundreds of thousands of jobs in the industry remain unoccupied. This has created a potentially devastating perfect storm for manufacturers in need of skilled labor. What is the proposed solution? Apprenticeships. The Trump administration has recently revealed its desire to boost the number of US apprenticeships from 505,000 to 5 million over the next 5 years. These programs will produce highly skilled workers for a fraction of the cost that would be paid for a college education.
Check out the Atlantic Council’s Global Business & Economics Program newest Econographic on apprenticeship titled

The Apprentice – Connecting Work and School.
Trade in action Tweet of the Week 2 July 27 2017

TRADE
News: Trump Sees ‘Major Trade Deal’ With U.K., Jacob Schlesinger, Stephen Fidler, Wall Street Journal 
News: Steel: Amid Resistance, Trump Backs Away from Controversial Trade Plan, Ana Swanson,The Washington Post
News: Trump Weighs Dumping his Export-Import Bank Nominee, Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
News: Greece Raises €3bn in first Bond Sale for Three Years, Kate Allen and Eleftheria Kourtali, Financial Times 
Analysis: American Farm Belt Anxious About Trump Trade Threats, Shawn Donnan, Financial Times
Analysis: Trump Has always Had High Marks on the Economy. Now that’s Slipping, Heather Long, The Washington Post 
Opinion: Why We Should Be Wary of Promises of “Quick” Trade Deals, Shawn Donnan, Financial Times
Podcast: Can the U.S. Economy Recapture Its Past Growth? Jeremy Schwartz, UPenn Wharton
IMF Country Focus: Ten Ways to Expand U.S. Growth, Yasser Abdih, International Monetary Fund 
Opinion: After the Trump Trade, Markets Bet on Inaction, Financial Times
Analysis: What Mexico and Canada Want from the NAFTA Renegotiation, Jessie Jiang, MarketWatch
Briefing: A Path Forward for NAFTA, C. Fred Bergsten, Monica de Bolle, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Opinion: Trump’s NAFTA Stakes, Wall Street Journal 
Opinion: Who Needs the USA? These 11 Countries are Trying to Cement a Free-Trade Deal Without it, Nyshka Chandran, CNBC
News: Rand Paul: Buying American Isn’t Necessarily the Right Choice, Brent Griffiths, Politico 
News: US, UK Officials Launch Trade Forum, Vicki Needham, The Hill
Speech: Liam Fox Champions Global Free Trade, Gov.UK
News: U.K.’s Fox Acknowledges Hard to Strike EU Trade Deal by 2019, Simon Kennedy, Andrew Mayeda, Bloomberg
Commentary: Markets Risk Shock if No Brexit Deal is Struck, Simon Nixon, Wall Street Journal
Analysis: Don’t Get into a Flap about Chlorinated Chicken, Matt Kilcoyne, Adam Smith Institute 
News: South Korea Responds to U.S. Offer to Discuss Trade Pact Changes, Kwanwoo Jun, Wall Street Journal

TWEET/FACTOID OF THE WEEK
Trade in action tweet of the week 3 July 27 2017

Did you know...

…that there is no scientific proof that chicken disinfected with chlorine can be hazardous to health? In fact, water is responsible for 99% of someone’s intake of chlorine by-products. Disagreements over poultry safety standards stem from a fundamental divide in how the US and EU have tackled food regulation. The EU operates on the basis of the precautionary principle, preferring not to permit untested methods. The US is less interventionist, only forbidding processes that do demonstrable harm. (Adam Smith Institute)

GLOBALIZATION
Analysis: Changing Political Structures in the Two Waves of Globalization: Lessons for the EU, Gino Gancia, Giacomo Ponzetto, Vox.eu
Editorial: Europe Seeks to Set Global Trade Rules After Trump Steps Back, Reuters, New York Times 
Analysis: Why China Invests More in Europe than in the US, Financial Times
Opinion: Rejuvenating Regionalism, Aaditya Mattoo, World Bank 
Commentary: Equitable Globalization Needed to Tackle Protectionism, Arif Sulistiyono, The Jakarta Post
Opinion: Business Can Help Champion a More Inclusive Globalization, Sunil Mittal, Financial Times
Analysis: A Simple Explanation of How Free Trade Leads to Populism, Dan Koph, Quartz
Analysis: Market Parables and the Economics of Populism, Jonathan Schlefer, Foreign Affairs

WHAT WE ARE READING
Analysis: Europe’s Hamilton Moment, Pierpaolo Barbieri and Shahin Vallée, Foreign Affairs 
Opinion: Liberalism Under Attack: Is the EU A Fortress or a Sandcastle? Ian Bond, Centre for European Reform 
Analysis: What the German Elections Mean for Europe, Center for European Reform
Issue Brief: Euro Area: There is Recovery, But Reforms are Needed, International Monetary Fund
News: A Third of Greeks at Risk of Poverty as Athens Considers Return to Bond Market, Silvia Amaro, CNBC
Analysis: 9 Ways Britain Could Stay in the European Union, Annabelle Dickson, Charlie Cooper, Maia De La Bume, Politico
Graphs: Brexit Burns Ireland’s British Bridge to EU Markets, Joshua Posaner, Emmet Livingstone, Politico
Commentary: The Big Question for More than 4 Million People After Brexit, Laurence Norman, Stephen Fidler, Wall Street Journal
Facts & Figures: After 6 Months on the Job, Here’s what the Trump Scoreboard Says About His Performance, Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Analysis: The Race for the European Silicon Valley, Katie Beech, Global Trade Magazine
Report: IMF Working Paper- The Re-Emerging Privilege of Euro Area Membership, Johannes Wiegand, International Monetary Fund
News: Worried it May Hurt European Businesses, Germany is Taking a Look at the US’s Russia Sanctions Bill, Associated Press

UPCOMING
Events
July 27: Economic Levers of U.S. Policy Toward North Korea, Center for a New American Security
July 31: NATO at a Crossroads: Next Steps for the Trans-Atlantic Alliance, Brookings Institution
August 2: China’s Eurasian Century, Center for Strategic and International Studies
October 3: Smart Cities & Smart Buildings: The Future of Commercial RE in the U.S. and Across Europe, American Enterprise Institute

Your Newsletter Team:
Marie Kasperek, Associate Director, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council
Thomas Driscoll, Intern, Global Business & Economics, Atlantic Council

Please send us suggested news stories, opinion pieces, publications, and upcoming events that you would like us to highlight! Email mkasperek@AtlanticCouncil.org with your ideas and suggestions.

The views expressed in this newsletter and linked external articles and content do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its sponsors.

© 2017 Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council
1030 15th St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Subscribe to the New Atlanticist | Unsubscribe from our emails