Event Video: Snapshot of the Border: The Cost of Tariffs and Non-Tariff Trade Frictions
Since the U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement entered into force in 2020 during President Trump’s first term, companies in the three countries have re-oriented their supply chains to meet the demands of the agreement.
Recent and potential actions taken by the United States, Canada and Mexico could upend North American supply chains, and have impacts on the North American economy that go beyond just the cost of the tariffs that may be imposed by the three countries.
On Tuesday, March 18, WITA hosted a webinar to discuss the real world impacts of these actions on trade and commerce in North America.
Featured Speakers:
Shannon Fura, Page Fura, P.C., and Immediate Past Chair of the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones.
Turenna Ramírez, Partner, Holland & Knight Mexico SC
Valerie Romero, Executive Vice President, Oremor Automotive Group (Ontario, CA); Chair, American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA)
Mark Shiring, CEO, Air Technology/Americas, ebm-papst Group
Laurie Tannous, Vice President Government Relations, Farrow; Chair, Canada US Business Association (CUSBA)
Moderator: Andrew Rudman, Senior Associate (non-resident), CSIS Latin America Program
Watch the Full Event Video Here
03/18/2025 | WITA
Event Video: Setting the Table on National Agriculture Trade Day
On Wednesday, March 19, WITA, the Clayton Yeutter Institute at the University of Nebraska, and the Agriculture Trade Education Council on National Agriculture Trade Day hosted a Zoom webinar on trade and agriculture.
Panelists discussed the current trade landscape and future outlook of U.S. agricultural trade, including its place in relation to the overall U.S. economy, food production, global markets, tariffs and trade barriers, and challenges faced by importers and exporters.
Featured Speakers:
Jordan Dux, Senior Director of National Affairs, Nebraska Farm Bureau
Joseph Glauber, Research Fellow Emeritus, International Food Policy Research Institute
Virginia Houston, Director of Government Affairs, American Soybean Association
Tom Madrecki, Vice President, Supply Chain Resiliency, Consumer Brands Association
Moderator: Darci Vetter, Principal, Sower Strategies, LLC; former Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Watch the Full Event Video Here
03/19/2025 | WITA
What Beijing Wants From a US-China Trade War
Since coming into office, the Trump administration has twice increased tariffs on Chinese imports into the United States by 10%, ostensibly because of China’s outsized role in supplying fentanyl precursors to the United States. Beijing has swiftly responded with a mélange of coordinated retaliatory measures—including imposing export controls on critical minerals, levying tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, putting U.S. companies on China’s unreliable entities list, announcing investigations into other U.S. firms, and filing suit at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Taken together, China’s responses seem designed to demonstrate resolve while not foreclosing the prospect of negotiations with the Trump administration.
What does China want?
As this tit-for-tat cycle continues, the most alarming outcome for Washington is not an escalation that pushes the relationship over the precipice. Beijing does not want that—and more importantly, President Donald Trump, U.S. businesses, and U.S. consumers do not want that either. Counterintuitively, the most dangerous outcome is a negotiation that ends in a “grand bargain” that goes beyond trade issues to encompass technology and security issues. Beijing’s overriding goal is for the United States to stay out of its way as it accrues power, wealth, and influence. In the negotiations that are likely to ensue in this trade war, Beijing would likely have three tiers of issues on which it would seek a rollback of competitive U.S. policies that have been at the heart of both the first Trump administration’s and then the Biden administration’s China policies.
First, Beijing would likely seek to loosen the scrutiny of China’s investments into the United States that intensified during the first Trump administration, and of the restrictions on U.S. investments into China put in place by the Biden administration. Beijing wants to go “back to the future” of the Obama years when two-way foreign direct investment spiked.
Second, Beijing would likely table trade-adjacent issues by seeking a rollback of the technology restrictions that the first Trump administration imposed on China and then the Biden administration expanded and systematized. Even with those restrictions in place, Chinese companies like DeepSeek are still challenging the U.S. lead on crucial technologies like artificial intelligence, demonstrating China’s formidability and resilience as a competitor even in the face of its economic slowdown.
Third, since Beijing’s goal is to get the United States out of China’s way, Beijing could look to make progress on its long-standing objective of undermining U.S. security commitments in the region, especially in contested areas like the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Beijing may calculate that it can appeal to Trump’s enduring suspicion of U.S. security commitments to get him to trade away U.S. pledges to defend partners in return for Chinese promises of future economic actions.
03/12/2025 | Jonathan A. Czin | The Brookings Institution
How a Trade War with China Benefits U.S. Companies
For decades, China has been crucial to U.S. companies, both as a source of revenue growth and as a means of reducing the cost of goods. However, U.S. companies trying to access its growing consumer market have faced trade policies that compelled them to offer concessions and share intellectual property (IP) with local joint venture partners.
As U.S. companies launched programs to move manufacturing to low-wage countries, China-based suppliers became an integral part of their supply chains. While the two powerhouse economies became more interdependent than ever, the U.S. trade deficit grew at a compound annual growth rate of almost 5 percent over the last 20 years. This sustained growth led to a substantial trade imbalance, reaching around US$380 billion per year by the early 2020s.
As U.S. policymakers debate ways to address China’s global political influence, trade with China has become a complex issue involving not just political and national security dimensions but also one that involves the economic interests of large U.S. companies…
…The Role Of Tariffs
In 2018, the Trump administration imposed Section 301 tariffs on approximately $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, targeting sectors like electronics, machinery, aerospace and IT. These tariffs followed a U.S. trade representative investigation that found China guilty of unfair trade practices, including IP theft and forced technology transfers. China retaliated with tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, causing market volatility and uncertainty.
Although politically significant, this tariff escalation was a missed opportunity for the U.S. and China to foster fairer trade practices. Evidence suggests that companies advocating for equitable trade practices, rather than relying on protectionist tariffs, often appear stronger.
Consider Tesla’s experience in China. In 2020, China accounted for approximately 22 percent of Tesla’s global revenue, with the company’s sales growing at a robust 33 percent year over year. However, Tesla’s market share in China dropped from 10 percent to 6.5 percent, largely due to fierce competition from local electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Instead of seeking tariff protection, Tesla responded to this competitive pressure by ramping up production of an upgraded Model 3, specifically tailored to the Chinese market.
In the broader context of the U.S.-China trade war, Tesla’s experience highlights a critical point: While tariffs may offer short-term political leverage, a more forward-looking approach prioritizes creating transparent policies that promote fair trade competition and innovation across borders. This would not only help U.S. companies but also contribute to a more stable and prosperous global economy.
03/17/2025 | Aditya Jain | Institute for Supply Management
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