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Here's why trade talks between the US and EU are slow

Oct 18, 2018
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was in Brussels this week, talking trade with the European Commission. And apparently things aren’t going so well. Back in July, the United States agreed to hold off on its threat to slap tariffs on European auto imports while the two sides negotiate a larger trade deal. Three months later, both […]
The European Union and U.S. flags 
TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images

Here's why trade talks between the US and EU are slow

Oct 18, 2018
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was in Brussels this week, talking trade with the European Commission. And apparently things aren’t going so well. Back in July, the United States agreed to hold off on its threat to slap tariffs on European auto imports while the two sides negotiate a larger trade deal. Three months later, both […]
The European Union and U.S. flags 
TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images

The Trump administration is trying to "effectively kill" the WTO's Appellate Body

Oct 18, 2018
The Trump administration has been blocking the appointment and reappointment of judges to the panel as members' terms expire.
The World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

The Trump administration is trying to "effectively kill" the WTO's Appellate Body

Oct 18, 2018
The Trump administration has been blocking the appointment and reappointment of judges to the panel as members' terms expire.
The World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. announces plan to withdraw from 144-year-old international postal treaty

Oct 17, 2018
The Trump administration announced today that it’s planning to pull the United States out of a relatively obscure 144-year-old treaty. The Universal Postal Union sets rates that national postal services charge for shipping small parcels to other countries. The move could affect how much you have to pay when you buy stuff online, especially if the […]

U.S. announces plan to withdraw from 144-year-old international postal treaty

Oct 17, 2018
The Trump administration announced today that it’s planning to pull the United States out of a relatively obscure 144-year-old treaty. The Universal Postal Union sets rates that national postal services charge for shipping small parcels to other countries. The move could affect how much you have to pay when you buy stuff online, especially if the […]

Would China weaponize its U.S. debt as a trade war tactic?

Oct 17, 2018
China owns more U.S. debt than any other country. Selling its current supply of U.S. treasury bonds to mess with the American economy would be an aggressive move that China would not undertake unless provoked further, according to one expert.
A vendor picks up a 100 yuan note above a newspaper featuring a photo of Donald Trump, at a news stand in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2016. 
GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images

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U.S. crude oil exports to China drop to nearly zero amid trade war

Oct 15, 2018
In the first half of 2018, China was the biggest buyer of U.S. crude oil. In August and September, they barely bought any. Energy reporter Rebecca Elliott wrote about the sudden drop-off in the Wall Street Journal, and we talked to her about why this happened amid the ongoing trade war.  Click the audio player above […]

U.S. crude oil exports to China drop to nearly zero amid trade war

Oct 15, 2018
In the first half of 2018, China was the biggest buyer of U.S. crude oil. In August and September, they barely bought any. Energy reporter Rebecca Elliott wrote about the sudden drop-off in the Wall Street Journal, and we talked to her about why this happened amid the ongoing trade war.  Click the audio player above […]

Trade consultants get a boost from tariff tensions

Oct 12, 2018
Anxious importers are flooding the phone lines of trade advisers; one has seen a 20 percent jump in business.
A worker about to move stock at the Medsource Labs warehouse in Chaska, Minnesota.
Laura McCallum/Minnesota Public Radio