The new president is doubling down on the counterproductive “Buy American” mandate, which even The Washington Post observes is “awful economics.” That’s correct. Among other things, “Buy American” provisions force the government to pay more for the services and goods it buys, thus increasing taxes or borrowing, which results in less money available in the private … Read More

Ant Group, a tech giant, is going public at home in China and not in the US. Yet while China’s economy is huge, its progress is dampened by protectionism from abroad. Watch the video. Read the article.

British bike manufacturers are warning they face competition from a wave of cheap Chinese imports after Brexit as the U.K. abandons European Union anti-dumping rules. Brompton Bicycle Ltd. and Frog Bikes Ltd. are among firms saying they risk being undercut when the Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31 and tariffs of up to 48.5% … Read More

“Free-market ideology must be tempered if we are to create equality, but we must be wary of lapsing back into protectionism. Today’s consumers do not want more and better goods and services for a reasonable price. Rather, they increasingly expect companies to contribute to social welfare and the common good,” says Klaus Schwab, founder and … Read More

Increasing trade protectionism will push companies to bring more production back to the US and Europe from Asia and they will need automation to reduce their costs, according to one of Europe’s leading industrialists. “In our case, we have been getting in a position of making sure we’re more local to local in manufacturing. We … Read More

If China’s economy — which is already recovering swiftly from the coronavirus shock — can stick to the growth trajectory of recent years, it’ll surpass the U.S. within the next decade. The prospect of ever deeper frictions with the U.S. underpins Xi’s strategy to accelerate plans to shield China from swings in the world economy. … Read More

The Farm to Fork initiative might be at least partially driven by protectionist sentiment, but citizens around the globe have a right – through their governments – to demand better labeling, access to healthy food and stronger environmental protection. If the EU goes down this road in a WTO-consistent way, it will be up to … Read More

Surging global demand for everything from hazmat suits to work-from-home technology has allowed China, which contained the virus months ago, to capture record market share of global exports by quickly reopening its factories while the rest of the world grappled with lockdowns. It’s also an outcome that underscores the nation’s enduring role in manufacturing even … Read More

According to the South China Morning Post, citing Dealogic data, so far this year, Chinese companies have raised $8.96 billion on US stock exchanges, more than triple the $2.6 billion raised in the first nine months of 2019. Read the article.

This past spring, Italy extended a labelling requirement on pasta through 2021. The label identifies where the wheat used to make the pasta is grown and milled. Italy says its consumers need the label to keep informed about food ingredients. That’s debatable. What isn’t debatable is that this “country of origin” label (COOL) is among … Read More