free trade news stories on Newser

Don't Kid Yourself, Tea Party: Elites Are Still In Charge

Kevin Spak — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:55:05 CDT

The supposedly tea-stained House of Representatives passed three free trade bills yesterday, despite ample polling data showing that Tea Party voters are strongly opposed to free trade. It’s just further proof, writes Dana Milbank of the Washington Post , that “for all the talk of populist foment,” from the Tea Party...

South Korea's Lee Visits White House

Kevin Spak — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:01:58 CDT

President Obama welcomed Lee Myung-bak to the White House with all the requisite pomp and circumstance today, touting the newly-minted free trade agreement between South Korea and the US. “With our landmark trade agreement, we will bring our nations even closer, creating new jobs for both our people and preserving...

US-South Korea Trade Deal Hits the Rocks

Kevin Spak — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:21:06 CST

After days of furious negotiating, the US has failed to strike a free trade deal with South Korea. President Obama still hopes that the deal can be reached within a few weeks, but probably not before Obama leaves Seoul, the LA Times reports—a Korean official said that Lee Myung-bak...

Right Should Cheer Obama's India Speech

Kevin Spak — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 10:49:57 CST

It may “shock and dismay” his most faithful readers, but conservative Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens has to hand it to President Obama: He “gave a terrific speech yesterday to India’s parliament, perhaps the best of his presidency, and potentially a true compass for the rest of it.” Sure...

Time for Big Business to Squash Tea Party

Matt Cantor — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:55:02 CDT

Big business may see the Tea Party as harmless, or perhaps even helpful, but it's time to “take a closer look:" the movement’s aspirations aren’t in its interests, writes Robert Reich in the Christian Science Monitor . Some 60% of Tea Partiers want, for example, to dump the Federal Reserve, and...

Canada to US: Are We Still Friends?

Kevin Spak — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:13:17 CDT

Canada’s biggest problem now also happens to be its best friend: America. PM Stephen Harper once worried that Canada’s “special relationship” with the US had been lost under George W. Bush—and it hasn’t improved a bit under Obama, writes Luiza Ch. Savage in Macleans . Not only has Obama kept...

Free Trade Under Fire as Protectionism Surges

Clay Dillow — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:46:49 CDT

The global recession has protectionism making a comeback, the New York Times reports, dimming hopes that leaders can create lasting solutions to the crisis at April’s Group of 20 economic summit in London. The last G-20 meeting, held in November, yielded an agreement to promote free trade that was quickly...

Mexico Slaps US With Tariff

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:00:00 CDT

Mexico said yesterday it will increase tariffs on about 90 US products in retaliation for last week's decision to end a pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks to transport goods in the United States. The measure will affect about $2.4 billion in trade involving goods from 40 states....

New White House Tougher on Trading Partners

Jason Farago — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:01:02 CDT

The Obama administration is taking a harder line with trading partners, reworking policy to emphasize priorities from unemployment at home to climate change, the Washington Post reports. The White House will seek to renegotiate trade deals with South Korea and Colombia and will demand broad concessions from other countries at...