The United States remains an attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) destination for a variety of reasons, including its large consumer base, a productive workforce, a business environment that encourages innovation and its legal protections. As a result, foreign firms make investments in the United States on a regular basis by establishing new operations, purchasing existing operations of...

The expected introduction of autonomous, or “self-driving,” vehicles (AVs) promises to have a potentially profound impact on labor demand. This paper explores this potential effect by identifying the occupations most likely to be directly affected by the business adoption of autonomous vehicles. In 2015, 15.5 million U.S. workers were employed in occupations that could be affected (to varying...

The U.S. Census Bureau has been collecting data on retail sales since the 1950s and data on e-commerce retail sales since 1998. As the internet has become ubiquitous, many retailers have created websites and even entire divisions devoted to fulfilling online orders. Many consumers have turned to e-commerce as a matter of convenience or to increase the variety of goods available to them. Whatever...

The Key Elements of the Deal The Department of Commerce and the Government of Mexico and the Mexican sugar industry have reached agreement on final amendments to the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) suspension agreements on sugar from Mexico. The Department finalized these amendments after careful consideration of the comments received from interested parties and other...

The initial strength of the rebound in manufacturing after the Great Recession has cooled off in recent years. 1 Although limited, the available data so far for 2017 indicates that there may be some renewed momentum for growth. Additionally, a monthly survey of manufacturers indicates that the sector is growing. However, the U.S. manufacturing sector is made up of many industries that produce...

Following one more round of technical consultations between the United States and China, China is to allow imports of U.S. beef on conditions consistent with international food safety and animal health standards and consistent with the 1999 Agricultural Cooperation Agreement, beginning as soon as possible but no later than July 16, 2017. The United States and China are to resolve outstanding...

1. What is the purpose of a Section 232 Investigation? Section 232 investigations are initiated to determine the effects of imports of any articles on U.S. national security. In this case, the Commerce Department is determining the effect of steel imports on the national security. Generally, steel products fall into one of the following five categories (including but not limited to): Flat products...

1. What are anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders? If a U.S. industry believes that it is being injured by unfair competition through dumping or subsidization of a foreign product, it may request the imposition of antidumping or countervailing duties by filing a petition with both the Department of Commerce and the United States International Trade Commission. The Department of...