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Posts Tagged ‘NAFTA’
May 25th, 2018 at 8:50 am
Stephen Moore: Trade Deals Must Protect Intellectual Property Rights
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CFIF recently highlighted the importance of strengthening intellectual property rights as part of ongoing trade negotiations in a piece entitled “Intellectual Property:  NAFTA Renegotiation Priority #1.” Days later, Senator Pat Toomey (R – Pennsylvania) echoed that call in his Wall Street Journal commentary.

This week, celebrated economist Stephen Moore added his voice in a brilliant commentary entitled “Trade Deals Must Protect Intellectual Property Rights”:

American investments, ingenuity and entrepreneurship have made intellectual property one of our nation’s most important assets.  IP-intensive industries, including software, biotechnology and entertainment, now support nearly one-third of all U.S. jobs.  But too often, our foreign trading partners take unfair advantage of our IP innovations to enrich themselves at our expense.”

Moore proceeds to highlight the pharmaceutical sector as one particularly abused by foreign governments, and notes the enormous cost of IP theft to the U.S. economy by nations like China, then stresses the ominous danger if we fail to act:

Intellectual property is every bit as vital to our economy – if not more so – than steel or aluminum.    America leads the world in computer software;  drugs;  artificial intelligence;  patents;  trademarks;  and music, entertainment and other creative industries.  But how long can that last when competitor nations are ripping off our entrepreneurial companies to the tune of half a trillion dollars a year?”

It’s an excellent piece worth the read, and a welcome call from someone to whom the White House listens.

May 11th, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Sen. Pat Toomey in WSJ: Strengthen IP Rules During NAFTA Renegotiation
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In this week’s Liberty Update, we emphasize how intellectual property (IP) protection should be priority number one for the Trump Administration as it renegotiates the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) this month.

In that vein, we’re pleased to see Senator Pat Toomey (R – Pennsylvania) echo that point in his commentary in today’s Wall Street Journal:

[T]he administration can accept the advice from many members of Congress and others to modernize Nafta in ways that expand trade opportunities without curtailing American consumers’ freedom…  Nafta’s pre-internet intellectual property rules could be strengthened.”

Well said, and hopefully the message resonates within the Trump Administration to continue its remarkable recent string of economic and international successes.

December 19th, 2017 at 6:16 am
CFIF Joins Coalition Urging Strong IP Protections for Any Renegotiated NAFTA Deal
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In a letter sent to Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative, the Center for Individual Freedom joined with a coalition of 25 organizations to urge strong intellectual property protections for any renegotiated NAFTA deal.

The letter, which was organized by the American Conservative Union, can be read by clicking here.

January 10th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Ralph Nader Cheering the Tea Party?

Believe it.  In an op-ed for BusinessWeek, the scourge of concentrated wealth and power sees a lot to love in the new, Tea Party-infused legislators walking around Capitol Hill.  Specifically, Nader isolates five issues that could bring the movement’s limited government mantra into conflict with establishment Republicans.

(1)   Ron Paul’s fight to curb the power of the Federal Reserve

(2)   Heightened criticism for corporate welfare programs (e.g. everything from ethanol subsidies for biofuel to “green” initiatives designed to get federal tax dollars)

(3)   Trimming the military budget (Apparently, Defense Secretary Robert Gates already got the memo; sort of)

(4)   Renewal and expansion of the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, etc.

(5)   Whistleblower protection for bureaucrats and corporate workers

The limited government foundations of the Tea Party movement will make predicting voting outcomes this session iffier than when Republicans could be assumed to oppose any Democrat plan.  If necessary, we’ll see how many of the new Constitutionalists in Congress are ready to buck convention and vote their principles instead of their party.