“The State of Trade” What Laredo Does for the U.S.,

What Washington Does for Laredo

Ken Roberts

• Contributor to Forbes.com since 2017.

• One of dozen members of Federal Reserve Trade and Transportation Advisory Board, in second term.

• Founder of WorldCity, USTradeNumbers.com, publisher of Port Laredo TradeNumbers, similar publications in more than 20 markets.

• Host of weekly Trade Matters videos.

• Speaker on international trade to fortune 500 companies, national trade organizations and more.

@TradeDataGuy

Posts at Forbes.com Five monthly columns at Forbes.com on trade-related issues.

Monthly data updates online At USTradeNumbers.com, you’ll find individual pages, updated monthly, for every country, more than 450 airports, seaports and border crossings plus 1,800 specific products.

TradeNumbers for download

Downloads available for a

wide variety of

TradeNumbers publications

available at

worldcityweb.com

Visit

youtube.com/ustradenumbers

for weekly updates on

important trade issues.

#TradeMatters: Weekly videos

Connect

• kroberts@worldcityweb.com

• Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn or at

Forbes.com @TradeDataGuy

Question: What do these things have in common?

Question: What do these things have in common?

Question: What do these things have in common?

Question: What do these things have in common?

Question: What do these things have in common?

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

More than 50 percent of all U.S. imports of these products

enter at Port Laredo

Take 2: What do these things have in common?

Question: What do these things have in common?

Question: What do these things have in common?

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

More than 50 percent of all U.S. exports of these products

exit from Port Laredo

One last time: What do these things have in common?

One last time: What do these things have in common?

One last time: What do these things have in common?

One last time: What do these things have in common?

One last time: What do these things have in common?

One last time: What do these things have in common?

One last time: What do these things have in common?

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

Port Laredo ranks first among more than 450 U.S. airports,

seaports and border crossings for these U.S. imports

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

Port Laredo ranks first for 73 specific

import commodities.

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

Port Laredo ranks in the top five for 245 of the 1,265 specific

import commodities – about 20 percent of all categories.

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

Port Laredo ranks first in the nation for exports

among the 450-plus U.S. airports, seaports and border crossings.

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

Port Laredo is the first U.S. port to top $100 billion in U.S. exports,

accomplished in 2018.

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

Port Laredo is the nation’s second-ranked port,

trailing only the Port of Los Angeles.

Port Laredo helps power the U.S. economy

Connect

• kroberts@worldcityweb.com

• Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn or at

Forbes.com @TradeDataGuy

Bill Lane • Executive Director of Trade For America,

a coalition supporting the modernization of

NAFTA and KORUS

• Named one of Washington’s top public

policy officials by The Hill newspaper for

11 consecutive years

• A 40-year veteran at Caterpillar, where he

ultimately oversaw global trade policy.

Trade For America Seeks to Highlight the Economic and Strategic Benefits of Trade for the U.S.

The Key to Success... ...is to continually improve U.S. competitiveness—better infrastructure, lower taxes, fewer regulations and better education.

Traditionally, The Biggest Beneficiary Of Trade Is The

Consumer (i.e., You)

Trade and investment

liberalization policies save

the average American

family of four more than

$10,000 per year.

Trade: Front Page News Since 2016

• Safeguard Tariffs On Solar

Panels And Wash Machines

• National Security Tariffs On

Steel And Aluminum

• Intellectual Property Tariffs On

China... Followed By More

And Larger Tariffs

• Aid & More Aid To Farmers

• TPP Without the U.S.

• New Congress

• Threat of Immigration Tariffs

NAFTA/USMCA

USMCA is Better than NAFTA & NAFTA was a Big Improvement

Source: "Trade in Goods," U.S. Census Bureau

Change In U.S. Goods And Services Traded With

Canada And Mexico (1993-2017, In Billions Of Dollars)

$211.66

$81.50

$293.16

$581.58 $557.58

$1,139.17

$0

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

Mexico

Go

od

s A

nd

Se

rvic

es T

rad

ed

(I

n B

illio

ns)

Canada Total

1993 2017

Approx. 3 Fold

Approx. 7 Fold

Approx. 4 Fold

• 232 National Security tariffs are an obstacle

• TPP-11 work around could prove costly

Mexico And Canada Are The United States' Largest Export Markets

$600

$500

$400

$300

$200

$100

$0 $42B Korea

$179B Total

Other FTA Countries (18)^

U.S

. G

oods E

xport

s (

In B

illio

ns)

$49B Germany

$31B France

High Population Countries (8)#

$184B Total

$116B China

$137B Other

High Income Countries (4)*

$199B Total

$63B Japan

$55B UK

$68B Other

NAFTA Countries

$496B Total

$267B

$230B

Destination Of U.S. Goods Exports

#High Population Countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia *High Income Countries: France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom

^Other FTA Countries: Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,

Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore

Canada Mexico

China: Is One Wall Enough?

We had other options for

dealing with China

Who Wins in a Trade War?

No One? 1

The United States? China? 2

Those On The Sidelines

• Soybeans—Brazil (Rain Forest?), Argentina

• Wheat—Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan

• Remember the Soviet Grain Embargo

3

4 Beware of the pre-buys, followed by no-buys!

"Just In Time" vs. "Just In Case" inventory 5

Auto Tariffs Are Next Or is it time to start treating allies like allies?

Trade Prognosis

New Congress: Core partisan beliefs will soon be tested 1

Allies: Car tariffs will test relationships 3

USA/China: World economy slowing, twin engines of

global economic growth at odds 2

USMCA/NAFTA: Failure is not an option 4

TPP: May soon be rediscovered 5

The Best Lobbyist I Have

Ever Met

46

A Personal Note

• Allies are the key to resolving our differences with China.

• Unilateral sanctions are almost always costly and

counterproductive. Damage to export markets will be lasting.

• Never lose sight of the importance of improving

competitiveness.

America’s best and worst trade agreement