- The Wall Street Journal's editorial board explains how a US antidumping order on magnesium has destroyed American manufacturing jobs in industries that rely on the metal to produce downstream inputs. The money lines: "In 2005, at the behest of America's monopoly magnesium producer—U.S. Magnesium of Utah—the Commerce Department imposed antidumping duties on magnesium from Russia and magnesium alloy from Russia and China. Five years later magnesium alloy is in short supply in the U.S., leading to much higher prices than in the rest of the world and a crisis for die casters, alloy producers and recyclers.... In a December 6 letter to the ITC, Arkansas Congressman Mike Ross spelled out the problem: 'U.S. manufacturers pay $2.30 per pound on average for magnesium alloy while manufacturers in Mexico, Canada and Europe pay $1.50 per pound and Chinese manufacturers pay $1.36 per pound.' Die casters who have tried shifting to aluminum have lost orders to overseas producers." Cato's Dan Ikenson piles on by citing the magnesium case as a prime example of US trade policy's cognitive dissonance.
- The Chinese are starting to really hammer home the fact that, as your humble correspondent keeps
screaming aboutcalmly mentioning, global supply chains have rendered old school trade stats obsolete tools for measuring actual tradeflows and the efficacy of existing trade policies. Most of the information cited here is old news for readers of this blog, but here's a new one: "Sheng Guangzu, head of China's General Administration of Customs, told Xinhua in an interview in April that much of China's trade surplus was 'transferred' from foreign-funded enterprises operating in China. In the first 11 months this year, exports of foreign-funded enterprises totaled 779.14 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 54.7 percent of China's total exports, according to China's customs authorities. The data also showed that, during the same period, foreign-funded firms generated 112.51 billion U.S. dollars of trade surplus, accounting for 66 percent of China's total surplus."
- In case you missed it, GMU's Walter Williams deftly explains that (a) trade is among individuals, not countries, and (b) free trade is by definition "fair trade."
- The WSJ's Liam Denning discusses why "national rivalry always lurks around an industry as dependent on government support as renewable energy." His first example: the heavily subsidized United Steelworkers's "Section 301" petition against Chinese green subsidies. Sounds familiar, eh?
- Heritage's Jim Roberts gives us a quick reminder that free trade is a prime contributor to the dramatic increase in all Americans' living standards over the last 50 years.
- Behold, the stunning incompetence of the federal government: "The U.S. Government Accountability Office said it could not render an opinion on the 2010 consolidated financial statements of the federal government, because of widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations.... [Acting Comptroller General] Dodaro also cited material weaknesses involving an estimated $125.4 billion in improper payments, information security across government, and tax collection activities. He noted that three major agencies — the DOD, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor — did not get clean opinions. Nineteen of 24 major agencies did get clean opinions on all their statements."
- Cato's Dan Griswold destroys the canard that US multi-nationals corporations' overseas hires are responsible for high domestic unemployment. In short, companies follow economic growth, not lower wages; and the US still benefits when they do. I'd only add that we'd be even better off if the US adopted more pro-growth tax and regulatory policies. (More on that point in a great IBD editorial here.)
- The US manufacturing sector is cranking. Fearmongering American politicians were shockingly unavailable for comment.
- This is absolutely hilarious (mild content warning). So is this.
Enjoy.
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