The US trade deficit widened sharply in December as slowing global demand and a strong dollar weighed on exports, another sign that economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter. Other data from the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed new orders for US-made goods barely rose in December and business spending on equipment was much weaker than previously thought, pointing to a softening in manufacturing activity.
US-China trade talks aimed at ending a damaging tariff war will resume from this Tuesday in Washington, the White House has announced. The last set of talks ended Friday in Beijing with no deal, though US President Donald Trump said the discussions were going “extremely well” and suggested he could extend a Mar 1 truce deadline for an agreement to be reached.
United States president Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Beijing, imposing 10% tariffs on about US$ 200 billion worth of imports in a move one senior Chinese regulator said “poisoned” the atmosphere for negotiations.
President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the body fails to change the way it treats America. “If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
President Trump declared America “open for business” in a speech on Friday to global to political and business elites in Davos, Switzerland, while taking a hard line on trade and vowing to make commerce with other countries “fair and reciprocal.”
Canada has filed an expansive complaint with the World Trade Organization accusing the US of breaking international trade rules. The complaint challenges the ways that the US investigates products for subsidies and below-cost sales. As expected the US called the claims unfounded.
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services dropped 13.1% in July to 44.8 billion dollars, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The United States free trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea will pass through Congress by August if Republicans renew funding for the retraining of displaced workers, the chief U.S. trade official said Thursday.