Commerce Department

The Commerce Department kicks off World Trade Week on Monday. It’s honoring 43 U.S. exporters. Thirty-three of them are small- or mid-sized businesses. But as it turns out, small businesses could be exporting more. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

The Commerce Department reports March housing starts Tuesday, giving us a snapshot of new home construction. U.S. housing production is finally returning to pre-recession levels, but a new report underscores that we’re still not building new homes fast enough to meet demand in 22 states. And while much of that demand is in the state […]

We got some number today hot off the keyboards of the folks at the Commerce Department. They show that retail spending in January was lower than December by 0.3 percent. That dip was notable because the consensus was actually that it would be slighter higher. A drop when you’re expecting an increase, that turned some […]

The Commerce Department announced new tariffs of 3 percent to 24 percent on Canadian lumber companies, saying the Canadian government unfairly subsidizes the industry. Some American companies will have to pay the fee retroactively for orders delivered in the last 90 days. This debate has been ongoing for decades, and Canada denies it unfairly supports […]

President Trump issued two executive orders dealing with trade today. One will start a 90-day clock for the Commerce Department to report back on countries unfairly subsidizing their exports to the U.S. That’s called dumping. Second, the administration will look into whether countervailing duties imposed by the U.S. when it finds another country is dumping are […]