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Chapter 10: Trade & Currency Wars

Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Parts for the
fuselages come from Italy, the cargo doors from
Sweden, the landing gear doors from Canada, and the
engine landing gear from England.
American manufacturing has to import 100% of
19 strategic metals. The U.S. has domestic resources for
18 of these 19 metals and minerals, but a maze of
government regulations has made mining difficult.
Without mining reform, these excessive regulations will
starve the U.S. for the resources it needs to build
everything from phones to weapons systems. The U.S.
is militarily vulnerable because of its dependence on
foreigners for many primary metals. Restrictions can
cause bottlenecks as these laws cause rigidity in the
face of changing market conditions.
The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim
nations—Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore,
Vietnam and Japan—signed the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) on Feb. 4, 2016. These countries
represent 40% of the world’s economic output.
President Donald Trump withdrew the United
States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on
his first day of taking office. Mr. Trump believes that
America is a nation-state,
so he prefers to bargain
NAFTA is a 1994 trade
with individual countries. agreement between
He also is in the process Canada, Mexico, and
of renegotiating the North the United States.
America Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA).
NAFTA is a trade agreement signed into law in 1994
under President Bill Clinton by Canada, Mexico, and

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