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New research on trade from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including Brexit, and analysis of the world economy's structural imbalance.
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Is It Time to Consider Lifting Tariffs on Chinese Imports?

Re: James L. Heskett

Many of the tariffs levied by the Trump administration on Chinese goods remain in place. James Heskett weighs whether the US should prioritize renegotiating trade agreements with China, and what it would take to move on from the trade war. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

by James Heskett

Toyota and other companies have harnessed just-in-time inventory management to cut logistics costs and boost service. That is, until COVID-19 roiled global supply chains. Will we ever get back to the days of tighter inventory control? asks James Heskett. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

China Tariffs and Coronavirus a Double Hit to American Retailers

by Michael Blanding

American retailers have yet to pass along higher prices caused by Chinese tariffs, but shrinking product demand caused by the coronavirus could change that, warns Alberto Cavallo. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Has COVID-19 Broken the Global Value Chain?

by Sean Silverthorne

4Questions Companies and consumers depend on the global value chain to create and distribute products around the world. What happens when the chain breaks? Insights from Laura Alfaro and Ester Faia. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Is There a Winner in Huawei’s Digital Cold War with the US?

Re: William C. Kirby

Bill Kirby discusses his case study of China-based Huawei’s growth and ultimate confrontation with the United States government, and China's response to the coronavirus. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Impact of Technology and Trade on Migration: Evidence from the US

by Marius Faber, Andres Sarto, and Marco Tabellini

Labor mobility can re-equilibrate local labor markets after an economic shock. Both robot adoption and Chinese import competition between 1990 and 2015 caused large declines in manufacturing employment across US local labor markets (commuting zones, CZs). However, only robots were associated with a decline in CZ population, which resulted from reduced in-migration rather than by increased out-migration.

Tariff Passthrough at the Border and at the Store: Evidence from US Trade Policy

by Alberto Cavallo, Gita Gopinath, Brent Neiman, and Jenny Tang

Collecting and analyzing microdata on prices and the reaction of importers, retailers, and exporters to US trade policy since 2018, this study finds most of the tariffs’ incidence rests with the US firms.

Why the US-China Tariff Standoff Hurts American Companies More

by Danielle Kost

US exporters have been slashing the prices of goods they sell to China to offset higher trade costs, but Chinese exporters are passing those costs to American companies, research by Alberto F. Cavallo says. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Free Trade Needs Nurturing—and Other Lessons from History

by Staff

Global free trade is not the natural order of things, so it needs to be carefully tended to and maintained. Sophus Reinert and Dante Roscini discuss trade over time and what history teaches. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Are Free Trade and Free Markets Quaint Ideas From the Past?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Free trade and free markets are great concepts but are often corrupted by politics, globalization, and the relative power of consumers and workers, our readers suggest. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Should Intellectual Property be Protected in International Trade?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP To do business in China, American firms often lose some of their intellectual property. James Heskett's readers think that price is too high. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Op-Ed: The Trouble with Tariffs

by Willy C. Shih

The world's economies are interconnected by globalization, which makes threats of tariff wars doubly dangerous, says Willy Shih. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Op-Ed: Trump’s Tariffs Could Harm Allies as Much as Opponents

by Dante Roscini

President Trump's duties on steel and aluminum could produce immediate political gain but long-term economic pain for some American industries and global allies, says Dante Roscini. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Trade Creditors' Information Advantage

by Victoria Ivashina and Benjamin Iverson

Trade credit represents about a quarter of the liabilities of US firms. There are several theories explaining this fact. This study reexamines whether suppliers hold private information about their trade partners, by analyzing their behavior in bankruptcy.

Is China About to Overtake the US for World Trade Leadership?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP. It's better for the United States if China is an economic ally rather than a competitor for world trade leadership, James Heskett's readers conclude. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Why Brexit is a Big Deal

by John Quelch

The consequences of Britain's vote to leave the European Union will be far-reaching. John Quelch shares his thoughts on the ramifications of Brexit. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

by Dina Gerdeman

Historian Laura Phillips Sawyer unearths the story of little-known drug store owner Edna Gleason who, in a man’s world, helped fire a progressive movement to protect small-business owners from price-slashing chains. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

by Carmen Nobel

How did a world-class coffee region arise out of a land once decimated by smallpox and measles? Casey Lurtz discusses the rise of a coffee economy in a desolate region of Mexico. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The End of Chimerica

by Niall Ferguson & Moritz Schularick

Economic historians Niall Ferguson and Moritz Schularick of Freie Universität Berlin consider the problem of global imbalances and try to set events in a longer-term perspective. First published in 2009. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.