Discussions about trade often present a false dichotomy: if exports are good and then imports must be bad. This oversimplified view lends itself to policy prescriptions that encourage exporters and discourage importers, yet the real world is much more complicated. According to the Census Bureau’s 2013-2014 Profile of U.S. Importing and Export...
Continue readingLike the jobs debate, many people assume that if exports are goods for US manufacturers, imports must be bad. When it comes to GSP, nothing could further from the truth. Raw materials, components, and parts have accounted for more than 70 percent of GSP imports since the program expired. Though industrial tariffs tend to be...
Continue readingMany people think imports are bad because they take business away from U.S. producers. Yet the reality is that many goods imported into the United States are used by American companies to manufacture, grow, or otherwise “make stuff” in the United States. This is certainly true for products imported duty-free under the Generalized System...
Continue reading