Trade

Big Oil drills through White House policy crust

7 Mar 2017

Energy industry bosses, including Exxon's, kicked off their annual Houston hootenanny with reassuring words about the environment and free trade. They notably clashed with the new administration's climate-change and border-tax positions. Global market forces will be hard to move.

Post-truth data will come back to bite Uncle Sam

21 Feb 2017

Donald Trump's economic team may tweak trade figures to make deficits look bigger, helping his push for tariffs. Though politicians have always cherry-picked numbers, fiddling with actual statistics threatens confidence. It also raises expectations Trump will struggle to meet.

Hadas: Trump’s FX truthiness misses the big points

20 Feb 2017

The U.S. president’s complaint that cheap overseas currencies hurt U.S. jobs contains a little truth, but his proposed cure is far worse than the disease. The main problem in foreign exchange is excess volatility. Fixing that requires better global coordination – a distant dream.

Struggling U.S. retailers take aim at border tax plan

15 Feb 2017

CEOs from the likes of Target and Gap are meeting with President Trump to voice concern over proposed border taxes. With store closings and job cuts accelerating, a levy that raises prices for consumers would add to the woes of an industry that's America's largest private-sector employer.

Hadas: How the liberal economy got lost

13 Feb 2017

As President Trump puts his promises on trade and migration into noxious practice, cowed elites are debating how their ideas failed. The big causes are forgotten history, ideological hubris, bad finance and excessive self-interest. Fixing those flaws is essential to any revival.

Trump’s China retreat heralds more rational clash

10 Feb 2017

The U.S. president has backed away from reckless threats by reaffirming the "One China" policy. Fights over trade and currency issues are still in prospect. But the People's Republic – and the world – can take some comfort from Trump's belated embrace of conventional diplomacy.

The $22 bln Trump wall is a bad investment choice

10 Feb 2017

That's the amount a Homeland Security report says the president's promised Mexican border barrier will cost. It would pay for two aircraft carriers or 150 years of the National Endowment for the Arts. Or Trump could fund the Labor Department for a year – and still buy Twitter.

Viewsroom: Keeping banks in the sin bin

9 Feb 2017

President Trump wants to "do a number" on post-crisis financial reforms, but overturning them will be tough. Paris emerges as the top city for financial types after Brexit. Plus, why a legal brief filed by Google and others against Trump’s immigration ban is such an unusual move.

Wreckage of TPP could help fix NAFTA

9 Feb 2017

Donald Trump wants to renegotiate the 1994 pact with Mexico and Canada, covering over $1 trln of trade. The scrapped trans-Pacific deal included some helpful measures on dairy products and energy. They could be slotted into a revamped NAFTA, boosting the chances of a new deal.

Canadians walk fine line on Trump protectionism

9 Feb 2017

What's good for the U.S. is mostly good for the $2 trln economy to the north: it has been called "California with really bad weather." Unlike Mexico, Canada isn't a low-wage target. Some Trump policies pose risks, though – as does a gulf between the two nations' philosophies.

Jose Cuervo IPO can drink to weak peso

7 Feb 2017

The U.S. election outcome put the Mexican tequila maker's stock float on ice. It's now back at a mooted valuation of over $5 bln with a Singaporean investor ready to take a shot. New tariffs in Jose Cuervo's biggest market are a threat, but a cheap currency may be just the tonic.

Viewsroom: The cost of jingoism

2 Feb 2017

President Trump's trade-tariff threats and his temporary immigration ban risk undermining business-friendly policies like deregulation and tax cuts. Meanwhile, he has nominated a Supreme Court justice. And Under Armour takes center stage in the battle for shareholder rights.

UK breezily gives City its very own stress test

2 Feb 2017

Britain will aim for “the freest possible” trade in financial services after it leaves the EU, its White Paper says. It’s as if the sector is an immaterial contributor to the UK tax take and services surplus. The government is either foolhardy, or showing impressive sang-froid.

Trade swings in GDP highlight challenge for Trump

27 Jan 2017

The pace of U.S. economic expansion slowed in Q4 to 1.9 pct. A drop in exports had a big impact, offsetting a third-quarter boost. The president wants more outward trade, but the volatility makes his 4 pct growth target a stretch even before planned import tariffs rock the boat.

Britain’s global trade dream is second-best option

27 Jan 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May is hoping her meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump will open up a trade deal with the United States. China and others may follow. But the resulting boost to UK exports will probably be too small to replace those it risks losing by leaving the EU.

Trump’s America First drive hits a wall

26 Jan 2017

Taxing imports from Mexico is the administration's latest idea to finance a barrier on the southern border. The plan resembles a border adjustment tax favored by congressional GOPers. It could generate plenty of money, but American consumers - not Mexico - would pay the bill.

Viewsroom: Trump’s borderline tax ideas

26 Jan 2017

Two competing tariff ideas from President Trump and congressional Republicans bring merits but mostly unforeseen risks. Meanwhile, any cut in the corporate tax rate will benefit hapless Yahoo and its Asian holdings. Plus, why it pays to bet against Davos Man's thinking.

Detroit can power-steer around political obstacles

26 Jan 2017

The new president wants more U.S. factories and jobs. In theory that could cost the car industry $60 bln-plus. But Ford and GM have spare capacity and good PR folks. Other Trump policies should help carmakers, too. They can turn connected and driverless tech to their advantage.

Trump’s Mexican standoff a lose-lose proposition

25 Jan 2017

The American president unveiled border-wall plans as Mexican officials arrived in Washington to discuss reworking NAFTA. Trump has blasted the pact as a terrible deal. Mexico says it could ditch it entirely. A better relationship is possible, but so too is an economic disaster.

Breakdown: Border tariff vs. border-adjustment tax

25 Jan 2017

Donald Trump wants to hit firms that outsource with a simple levy on imports. GOPers in Congress have pitched a more complex idea built into a corporate-tax overhaul, which might more reliably offset the effects of lower tax rates. The plans create different winners and losers.