In her first interview since taking office, given on March 28th, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai affirmed that the previous administration’s tariffs on goods from China would not be removed any time soon. But how much does the decision represent a fundamental shift from neoliberal consensus, for lack of a better term, in the approach to U.S. trade policy?

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is generally viewed as a modernizing update to NAFTA with only moderate changes for most industries, but with potentially significant impacts on a select few.

The deficit for petroleum products has declined by approximately $41 billion while the deficit for non-petroleum products has expanded by approximately $10 billion. This suggests that increased U.S. production of energy, not improved productivity or in-sourcing, is the main driver of the change in U.S. trade flows thus far in 2013.