In This Issue:

- Indiana University Launches a New Initiative on U.S. Manufacturing and Public Policy

- Trade Promotion Authority Update: It's Halftime and Still Anyone's Ballgame

- Senators Baldwin and Coons Lead "Manufacturing Jobs for America" Campaign

- China Issues Its First Ten- Year Plan to Boost the Manufacturing Sector

- News Of Note

.. China Announces Elimination of Export Duties on Rare Earth Elements

.. Seychelles Becomes the 161st Member of the WTO

.. New Report Highlights the Impact of Trade in All 50 States

- Excerpt from Indiana University Launches a New Initiative on U.S. Manufacturing and Public Policy:

Until late April of this year, there was not a cross-disciplinary university initiative dedicated to studying U.S. manufacturing public policy issues and developing solutions relevant to the manufacturing sector. Though there are university cross-disciplinary initiatives dedicated to many other public policy issues, such as housing, tobacco, healthcare, and aging, there simply was not one focused on U.S. manufacturing. Yet the opportunities and problems of the manufacturing sector in the United States are deeply impacted by public policy issues, including international trade, tax, regulatory, energy, research & development, and education policy.

On April 14, Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) announced that it was launching a public policy initiative to strengthen U.S. manufacturing. The cross-disciplinary effort will study U.S. manufacturing policy issues and develop solutions. As SPEA Dean John Graham noted, the initiative will focus on three fundamental questions...