and manufacturing sectors. That’s
one reason why legislators in both
the House and the Senate are sponsoring legislation designed to force
China to allow its currency to rise
against the U.S. dollar or risk retaliatory anti-dumping duties against
Chinese products.
QWhy is international trade such a contentious subject?
AThe complexity of all trade policy issues lies in the fact that
there are winners and losers every
time. There is no clear black and
white; there are lots of grays. For
example, it sounds like a good idea
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to increase the value of the Chinese
yuan—a lower dollar would create more
opportunities for our exports to China
and other countries as our products
become more affordable relative to the
Chinese products. But many U.S.-manu-factured goods include Chinese-made
components. If those components
become more expensive, so will the finished U.S.-assembled products. If our
consumers can’t afford to pay for higher-cost goods sourced in China, then declining sales will lead to job losses in the retail
and logistics supply chains serving those
imports. That’s the two-edged sword of
trade issues.
Even a question like whether the
Generalized System of Preferences should
be renewed [has two sides]. If it isn’t
renewed, it will create great dislocation
for anyone who imports things like baskets from Indonesia or ceramics from
Guatemala. It could impact a lot of things
we take for granted, like the coffee mug
you’re holding. If that mug comes under
GSP and GSP is not renewed, would it be
manufactured here in the United States,
or would it just become more expensive to
import?
The point is, while it may be apparent
to some of us that more trade is good for
the economy, efforts to promote trade will
be opposed by many entrenched labor
interests and some domestic manufacturers. That’s what makes this legislative stew
we keep stirring so interesting.
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QA number of countries (including the United States) and at least one
intergovernmental body—the World
Customs Organization (WCO)—have
developed their own cargo security programs. Will these security regimes eventually be harmonized?
AWe are already getting close to har- monized security standards. For
example, we have the “24-hour rule,”
under which cargo manifest information
has to be submitted to U.S. Customs 24
hours prior to the loading of a vessel at
the foreign port. The European Union
has implemented its own 24-hour rule,
which took effect Jan. 1 of this year. …
Canada has a similar rule but had
exempted products from the United
