Trump orders study of trade abuse contributing to deficits

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump has ordered a comprehensive study to identify every form of “trade abuse” that contributes to US deficits with foreign countries.
“The theft of American prosperity will end,” Trump said at an Oval Office ceremony announcing the study, along with another directive to step up enforcement of existing trade penalties. “Thousands of factories have been stolen from our country, but these voiceless Americans now have a voice in the White House.” Trump announced the trade initiatives less than a week before his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, leader of the country Trump has blamed most frequently for trade deficits and job losses. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who briefed reporters in advance, said the two executive actions weren’t intended as a warning to China.
The trade study, to be completed within 90 days, will examine deficits “country by country and product by product” to assess the extent they are caused by “cheating or inappropriate behavior,” Ross said.
He said the findings, which also will cover currency misalignments, disadvantageous provisions in trade deals and “constraints” imposed by World Trade Organization, will help guide Trump’s trade policies.
Trump also ordered strengthened enforcement of existing countervailing duties and anti-dumping penalties against foreign products to address under-collection, said Peter Navarro, director of the White House National Trade Council. Anti-dumping penalties target exporters that sell goods below the cost of production and countervailing duties are intended to compensate for foreign-government subsidies to producers.
Navarro said such duties have been under-collected by a cumulative $2.8 billion since 2001. Last year, the nation collected $1.5 billion in the penalties,
he said. Representative Rosa
DeLauro, a longtime critic of
US free-trade deals, mocked Trump’s directives as underwhelming.
“Working and middle class Americans deserve real actions to level the playing field with fair trade, DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, said in an emailed statement. “While initiating a new a federal report is a common way to avoid fixing problems, the real test will be whether the Administration takes action to create jobs and reduce the trade deficit. “
Trump made addressing what he called unfair foreign trade practices a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. At the Oval Office ceremony on Friday, he said public discontent over trade is “probably one of the main reasons I’m here today.”
One of Trump’s first acts as president was to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal his predecessor negotiated. Yet key promises, such as renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, imposing border taxes on companies that move production overseas and labeling China a currency manipulator, remained unfulfilled.