Word: tradings
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Talk about spoiling the broth. Imagine trying to prepare dinner with 199 cooks watching every move. Something like that is happening on Capitol Hill, where a mammoth conference committee is trying to reconcile differences in the omnibus trade bills passed last year by the House and Senate. Under the direction of two Democratic leaders -- Representative Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois and Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas -- the 199 members of the committee, along with 300 or so staffers and 100 briefcase carriers sent over by the White House, have been meeting in 17 subgroups in an all-out effort...
...mission is urgent because progress in bringing down the trade deficit has been painfully slow. After two months of sharp improvements in the trade gap, the Government reported last week that the deficit had edged up again, from $12.2 billion in December to $12.4 billion in January. On the bright side, the deficit with Japan shrank 17.5%. But the imbalance with other Asian countries, including South Korea and Taiwan, ballooned...
...issue of what to do about trade has long pitted the White House against Congress. The Reagan Administration philosophically embraces free trade, but the President has been under pressure from Capitol Hill to protect U.S. business interests. Rather than give Congress an excuse to pass protectionist legislation, the White House has taken a fairly tough line, bringing 17 actions since 1985 against nations deemed to be engaging in unfair trade practices. The most dramatic censure came last year, when the Administration imposed $300 million worth of sanctions against Japanese products after deciding that Tokyo had reneged on parts...
...White House has angered Congress on several occasions by turning down pleas for import relief, most notably from the shoe industry. Many Democrats, and a few Republicans as well, are pushing for provisions in the trade bill that would force the Administration to retaliate automatically against unfair foreign traders. The President, though, has vowed to veto any bill that would take away his discretion on when to impose trade sanctions. The conflict has left the Democrats with a dilemma. Explains Rostenkowski: "We need a bill so tough that our trading partners can't ignore it, but so fair that...
...bill is beginning to look less protectionist than it did just a few weeks ago. One likely casualty is a controversial amendment proposed by Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri to take action against countries that run chronic surpluses with the U.S. and engage in unfair trade practices. It would require the President to impose trade sanctions on those nations that would reduce the surpluses by 10% a year. Gephardt has made trade the central issue of his presidential campaign, but enthusiasm in Washington for his measure has almost disappeared since his dismal showing on Super Tuesday. The betting is that...