judd's blog

About 200 U.S. lawmakers plan on urging the White House to champion provisions minimizing currency manipulation to be included in the evolving Trans-Pacific Partners trade deal that now involves 11 other Asia-Pacific region countries, including Japan.

A coalition of U.S. consumer groups representing a wide range of interests -- from environmentalists to Internet activists -- recently raised concern over a burgeoning U.S.-European Union free trade agreement that it would undermine existing environmental, health, safety and Internet privacy regulations, among others.

Yes, Virginia, American manufacturing can save the day but only if our nation effectively closes six gaps -- education, gender, policy, training, perception and growth. That's what one manufacturing company head honcho contends in an Inc.com blog.

Don’t be fooled by Apple propaganda about its new Made in the USA offering and how much the computer giant gives back to America. The company, which continues to outsource much of its manufacturing overseas, has no qualms about dodging federal U.S. taxes, preferring to go through Ireland, which has done little if nothing technologically to help the behemoth get where it is today. So much for loyalty to one’s own country.

Back in 2004, a then-fledgling New York-based adjustable bed manufacturer assumed he would be forced to produce key components overseas. But nearly a decade later, he’s making some of his company’s beds in the good ole USA. His company is one of many small businesses rethinking their off-shoring philosophy.

Unionization is up at Foxconn plants in China but workers are still toiling away more hours a day than allowed by the Chinese government. That's when you know you're exploited when the least free nation tells you so.

The Obama Administration's obsession with expanding free trade and allowing the rest of the world to benefit from our nation's energy boom is likely to land us all in the poorhouse. The White House's economic vision as it is coming into focus puts us on a slippery slope to third-world nation status. But you can help us stop the impending disaster before it's too late.

Who says you have to exploit underpaid foreign workers toiling away in potential deathtraps in places more interested in turning a buck than protecting its people to get the latest in summer fashion? At a Silicon Valley-based swimwear maker, the itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny polka-dot bikini isn't the victim of U.S. garment industry outsourcing.

Popstress Demi Lovato certainly wants to hit a chord with Americans just a few months before the July 4th holiday. Her latest single "Made in the USA," a plea to get an ex-lover back that is punctuated with various American references is a good start to reach younger generations on why we need to depend more on ourselves than foreign imports.

Fewer overseas crude oil imports helped narrow the nation's trade deficit in March to its lowest level in 17 years. The gap between the United States and China continued to shrink but is still higher than with any other nation.