#Protectionism

3 weeks ago

@llms.activitypub.awakari.com.ap.brid.gy

#Free Trade #India #Market Access #Protectionism #supply chains

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LLMs

1 month ago

The E.U. Wants 'Deforestation-Free' Products. Consumers May Pay the Cost. Are the products you're buying BPA-free? Nut-free? How about GMO-free? If the European Union (E.U.) has its way, we'll soon be adding a new label to our shopping list vocabulary: "deforestation-free." Far from being another joke at the expense of Europe and its regulatory self-sabotage, this is precisely the aim of the E.U.'s 2023 Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which began applying to large companies last December, and will extend to small and medium-sized firms in June. As with many regulations out of Brussels, the intention sounds noble: To stop the cutting down of forests elsewhere in the world, the new rule forces companies selling products in E.U. member states to certify that they didn't source materials from lands classified as forests before 2020. In practice, this means everything from paper products to furniture and even beef will be more expensive for consumers. More hurdles and fewer options for manufacturers necessitate higher prices. Take IKEA's best-selling KALLAX shelf unit—a particleboard bookcase made from wood-derived materials covered by the EUDR, which currently retails for around $80. With only 15 percent of what IKEA sells in the U.S. actually made domestically, this means that many IKEA products imported from Europe (including the KALLAX) must comply with expensive E.U. sourcing rules. Stack deforestation paperwork on top of tariffs, and the affordable furniture Americans count on starts looking a lot less affordable. Compliance isn't limited to European producers, but American ones too. Companies exporting to Europe must prove through a granular process of geolocation tracking and paperwork that their products weren't sourced from deforested land. If European consumers want to buy or access any product, they need legal assurances that no forests were touched in the process. For a trading partner like the U.S., which exported nearly $400 billion in goods to Europe in 2024, the burden will be significant. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson L. Greer flagged EUDR as a significant foreign trade barrier in April 2025, giving President Donald Trump's trade negotiation team yet another bone to pick with Europe. The E.U. acknowledged in last year's U.S.-E.U. trade framework that it would have to "address the concerns of U.S. producers and exporters" to avoid "undue impact on U.S.-EU trade." But nothing has yet changed. All this comes even though the U.S. poses a negligible risk to global deforestation thanks to robust forest management that has sustained our country for decades and is only improving. Yet American producers are still facing a regulatory regime that treats responsibly managed U.S. forests the same as high-risk tropical supply chains in developing nations. The geolocation and data-sharing requirements—which demand latitude and longitude coordinates to six decimal places for every single plot—are completely disconnected from how U.S. forest product value chains actually operate. For harvests larger than four hectares, or about 10 acres, the mandate to provide precise digital polygons essentially forces foresters to act as amateur cartographers before a single log can move. Consumers from IKEA weekend shoppers to Costco bargain hunters will pay more for the added labor required to document each log that goes into a TV stand or the legs of a chair. The absurdity of the rule becomes clearer when looking at some of Europe's own energy choices. Since ridding its territory of emission-free nuclear energy, Germany now relies on burning mostly wood-based biomass for nearly eight percent of its total electricity production. Wood accounts for nearly 55 percent of Germany's "renewable" energy generation, and U.S. exports are one of the key providers. So while European nations continue to use wood to heat their homes and industries, they plan to coerce American timber producers into complex track-and-trace programs and sustainability paperwork. Critics argue they are doing this for the same reason social media firms are being shaken down for billions in fees and penalties: to have Americans subsidize their lifestyles and strained government budgets. If the goal is truly to reduce risk rather than punish low-risk producers, a compromise must be found that works for both sides of the Atlantic. The E.U. could allow low-risk countries like the U.S. to designate a single government agency, such as the U.S. Forest Service, to produce forest data and issue a single due diligence statement that complies with European regulations—simple, practical, and honest about where the actual risks lie. It would place less burden on consumers whose main concern is affordability. American families are already facing high prices on everyday goods thanks to a global trend toward protectionism. Free trade is the foundation of prosperity for consumers everywhere. Congress, the administration, and U.S. trade negotiators should be pushing back—hard—before this becomes the new normal.

#Deforestation #Protectionism #European #Union #Forests #Free #Trade #Regulation

Origin | Interest | Match

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LLMs

@llms.activitypub.awakari.com.ap.brid.gy

1 month ago

The E.U. Wants 'Deforestation-Free' Products. Consumers May Pay the Cost. In its effort to protect global forests, the E.U. is imposing complex tracking requirements that could raise prices...

#Deforestation #Protectionism #European #Union #Forests #Free #Trade […]

[Original post on reason.com]

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Tarnell Brown

@eccentricecon.com

1 month ago

The Tariff Trilemma: Protection, Prices, and Prosperity Why politicians promise a free lunch on tariffs—and why scarcity always collects.

#Tariffs #TradePolicy #FreeTrade #PoliticalEconomy #Protectionism
www.eccentricecon.com/p/the-tariff...

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@robertxbastidas.bsky.social

1 month ago

2/2 : that payed well enough to buy a house afford a car and gave a robust #pension like we used to have, I'd be in a much better position than if working a 9-5 in most fields today. Tarrifs are temporary they have to be, becuse #protectionism tends not to incentivize innovation or efficiency.

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1 month ago

#agreement #India #Kashmir #Protectionism #Tariffs

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1 month ago

#Protectionism #Ulf Kristersson

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1 month ago

#EU #EU economy #Macron #Protectionism

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1 month ago

#Asia #Beijing #China #Chinese #Hong Kong #Multilateral #Protectionism

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1 month ago

#globalization #Middle East #Protectionism

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1 month ago

#Free Trade #Protectionism

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1 month ago

#China #Chinese #commission #economic power #Emmanuel Macron #European Commission #global trade #Macron #power #Protectionism #Tariffs #trade wars #Ursula von der Leyen #Von der Leyen

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1 month ago

#AI #artificial intelligence #government #intelligence #Protectionism

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1 month ago

#agreement #Asia #Cybersecurity #EU #India #Negotiations #Protectionism #Russia #Mordor 💀 ☭★ #Scholz #Ukraine #SlavaUkraini 🔱 🌻 💪🏼 #war

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1 month ago

Trade, Tariffs, and Treasuries: The Hidden Cost of Trump’s Protectionism | Council on Foreign Relations While the Treasury market is likely to remain stable next year, longer-term trade and fiscal trends—such as additional tariffs, questionable foreign demand, as well as rising deficits—r...

#agreement #EU #European Union #Free Trade #global trade #India #Modi #Narendra Modi #Protectionism

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Arty-san

@arty-san.bsky.social

1 month ago

Racketeering is the only thing Trump knows. Inflict pain, and then extract payment from the victim to back off and stop inflicting pain.

It's a form of extortion, a mob tactic. It's illegal.

#Trump #racketeering #extortion #protectionism #mob

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ParkSlopeFoodCoop-Trade

@psfc-trade.bsky.social

1 month ago

www.cfr.org/articles/tra...

Trump's dangerous policies may cause other countries to lose their trust in US treasury bonds, a reduction in the value of the dollar and an increase in the cost of the US government to borrow to cover the expenses of the OBBB.

#tariffs #treasuryrates #protectionism

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YesPunjab.com

@handle.invalid

1 month ago

Pakistan suffering from lack of policy discipline on tariff structure: Report - Yes Punjab News Pakistan’s FY26 tariff data shows a clash between reform and protectionism, raising concerns over exports, competitiveness and policy discipline.

Pakistan suffering from lack of policy discipline on tariff structure: Report yespunjab.com?p=210123

#PakistanEconomy #TradePolicy #TariffReform #Protectionism #IndustrialPolicy #SouthAsia #EconomicAnalysis #GlobalTrade #Manufacturing #Exports #PolicyWatch #WorldEconomy

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1 month ago