1. Emily Maris, Briana-Capri Thadison, Zihan Zhang
Dollar is big piece of trade puzzle Joe Taschler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 12:02 p.m. CT Feb. 4, 2017
Emily Maris, Briana-Capri Thadison, Zihan Zhang

2. Dollar is big piece of trade puzzle
-Currency valuation makes international trade complex and controversial -Strong USD hurts U.S. companies but helps U.S. consumers which is “a delicate balancing act with no easy solutions” -This is complicated and there is no correct answer

3. Strong USD can hurt U. S. companies. U. S
Strong USD can hurt U.S. companies. U.S. goods in foreign markets are not as price competitive which makes it not as profitable for U.S. firms to sell into those markets
Strong USD helps U.S. consumers because they can purchase foreign goods at a lower price 
Weak USD hurt U.S. consumers because it raises the price of goods from foreign markets 
USD is stronger when the U.S. economy improves faster than their trade partners

4. Strohwig
Strohwig has been losing work to Canadian competitors because of the strong USD
Strohwig cannot compete because the Canadian dollar is low compared to USD

5. Example
A U.S. manufacturer and a Canadian manufacturer make a very similar tool. The tools were both priced at $100 in the U.S. and 100 Canadian dollars in Canada.
1 USD = 1 Canadian Dollar
Now USD = 1.3 Canadian Dollars ↓
U.S. dollar has strengthened

6. Solution
The Canadian producer has to decide how to price the tool in the U.S. The producer could just keep the price the same, and it would be 30% more profitable
The Canadian producer could lower the price all the way to $ and still be just as profitable as before.
In short, in Canada, if the U.S. producer doesn't change the price, suddenly it's not as profitable. To stay as profitable, the firm would have to charge 130 Canadian dollars, but that's not price competitive anymore when the Canadian produced tool is still 100 Canadian dollars

7. Question If you were the Canadian company would you keep the price at 100 and be more profitable or would you lower the price and be as profitable as before? Also, how would you price the tool if you were the U.S. company? Would you leave it at the price before and lose money or would you charge 130 to be as profitable as before?

8. ManpowerGroup
When USD is strong, revenue of U.S. companies earned overseas in foreign currencies will be worth less when exchanged into USD 
Not only does the strong USD hurts small manufactures but it also hurts big multinational companies
ManpowerGroup had their 2016 earnings reduced by 15 cents per share because of foreign exchange rates. This equals more than 10 million when multiplied by the number of shares outstanding

9. Trump Administration
Talk of the U.S. dollar is absent in the discussion about the Trump administration's talk of reshaping U.S. trade policy
Trump and his administration intends to reshape U.S. trade policy
Regardless of what Trump and Congress end up doing to restructure U.S. trade policy, there still will be winners and losers

10. References
big-piece-trade-puzzle/ / president-trump-meeting-harley-davidson-executives-and-union

11. Follow-up Questions
If you were in the administration what would you do for reshaping the trade policy?
If you had to choose, would you pick consumers or companies to benefit from trade polices? 
What do you think of the Trump’s dollar policy？