The United States and China are among the world's largest trading nations. They serve as the destination and source of the world's largest flows of foreign direct investment, and they participate in regional economic arrangements on trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region and other parts...

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, which took effect 20 years ago, continues to face divided public opinion. Opponents of free trade agreements (FTAs) cite NAFTA as a job-killing precedent, while proponents argue that the economic gains...

The global economic crisis in 2008 produced pledges from countries around the world to avoid new barriers to trade and investment. These commitments were largely honored when it came to tariffs and quotas, but not when it came to nontraditional forms of protection, including behind-the-border,...

Horizontal drilling and fracking are transforming global energy production, consumption, and trade leading to a surge of domestic production in the United States. Free exports of liquefied natural gas, crude oil, and other energy products are an essential complement of US international economic...

Trade finance will play a crucial role in President Barack Obama's goal of doubling US exports by 2015. Almost 90 percent of exports depend on trade finance in some form—direct credit, credit insurance, or loan guarantees. Even though official export credit agencies (ECAs), including the US...

This paper compares the current foreign direct investment (FDI) recession with FDI responses to past economic crises. The authors find that although developed country outflows have taken an equally big hit as major developed countries have after past crises, outflows seem to be bouncing back...

Prohibitions or restrictions on US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are a bad idea. LNG exports will deliver economic benefits to the US economy. The US Department of Energy should approve pending LNG export applications for projects at an advanced planning stage, in conjunction with...

Services trade continues to be the most dynamic part of world trade, and service sectors have long been the largest destination of foreign direct investment flows. Countries can reap huge potential gains through greater liberalization of services trade and investment, including increased job...

In his 2012 State of the Union address, President Obama claimed that "over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires." The tire tariff case, decided by the president in September 2009, exemplifies his efforts to get China to "play by the rules" and serves...