Executive Summary: In response to the Chinese government’s threated export controls on rare earth minerals, the Trump administration has signed frameworks for cooperation on rare earth mining and processing with several countries. Almost all of these frameworks specifically mention price floors and other pricing controls as a potential policy tool. Though China is certainly engaging … Continue reading
Tag Archives: trump
Betting on Trade: Prediction Markets & Tariff Uncertainty
Executive Summary: President Trump’s frequently changing tariffs increased uncertainty for many businesses owners. This uncertainty could potentially damage the economy by reducing investment and new research and development processes. Polymarkets allow anyone to bet on an outcome by buying a yes share or a no share, with the price of a yes share corresponding to … Continue reading
Trump’s policies will increase home prices in a long-suffering housing market
Executive Summary Housing in the United States reached a new low in terms of affordability in May 2025, according to The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Home Ownership Affordability Monitor, largely because of a lack of supply in the housing market. President Trump’s main policy strategies, raising tariffs and decreasing the immigrant population in the … Continue reading
‘Golden share’ of U.S. Steel extends president’s reach into the private sector
Executive Summary Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel was blocked by both Biden and Trump until Nippon, a Japanese company, gave the federal government a “golden share” of U.S. Steel. The share gives the executive branch permanent control over U.S. Steel’s board of directors, job relocations, and capital investments. The executive influence over this deal … Continue reading
What will sector-specific tariffs cost?
Executive Summary Although President Trump has paused his April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days, he continues to threaten imposing sector-specific tariffs in the near future. The threatened sectors include pharmaceuticals, copper, lumber, chemicals and minerals, semiconductors, and energy, which combined account for roughly 20-percent of U.S. imports. This research estimates that if the … Continue reading
How Biden Helped to Create Trump’s Unilateral Trade Policy Process
Executive Summary The second Trump Administration has used more executive power than most previous administrations when creating trade law. President Biden also used historically strong executive authority when making trade law, including his Section 232 tariffs, emergency export restrictions, and CFIUS capital outflow clamps. The resulting new bipartisan consensus on using executive authority to make … Continue reading
Playing Chicken with a Coyote: Why the U.S. has Less Leverage over Mexico than Trump Believes
Executive Summary Tomorrow, the United States will impose blanket 25% tariffs on Mexico, which has promised retaliation. Mexico has much stronger incentives to follow through with retaliation than they did during their first trade dispute with President Trump in 2018. They also have a large arsenal of economic tools at their disposal to put pressure … Continue reading
Trump’s H-1B Policies Are Neither Buying American Nor Hiring American
Three months after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order enacting a trademark promise of his campaign: “Buy American, Hire American.” Among other things, the order directed his administration to review the current immigration system and determine policies for the United States to promote higher wages and employment for American workers. One the … Continue reading
Politicking National Security: A Hack Job
In case you missed it, a presidential candidate invited a foreign government to break into either a private citizen’s email account and steal information or break into the servers at the United States Department of State. I am in a state of disbelief. These were his words (with my editorial comments in parentheses): Russia, if … Continue reading
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