(The Center Square) – Count North Carolina among the winners for enhanced trade alignment between the United States and the United Kingdom.

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the deal on Thursday, the 80th anniversary of Victory Day for World War II. The 78-year-old second-term Republican president noted agriculture exports, and the 62-year-old Labour Party leader praised protection and creation of jobs. Both said there is enhanced market access, all of which benefits already robust activity between the state and country.

British capital investment since 2014 exceeds $1.5 billion, says the public-private Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina created by state lawmakers. This includes more than 4,450 jobs and 54 expansions or new companies, lifting the totals to 293 British firms operating in the state and over 23,000 people working for United Kingdom companies.

Pharmaceuticals and medicines, aerospace products and parts, and electrical accessories and parts – including for vehicles – have been staples of North Carolina goods going across the Atlantic. Agriculture products, the state’s No. 1 industry, is fourth on the list. Financial, management and consulting, and activity related to bank lending lead the services sector exports to the United Kingdom.

Estimates on the value of trade between the country and the state are in the $2.5 billion to $3 billion range. Exports from the United Kingdom to North Carolina were about $1.9 billion in the most recent 10 years, and $1.1 billion from North Carolina to the United Kingdom.

North Carolina has several drivers with the British and other countries. The 2.25% corporate income tax is on the way to elimination by 2030; the bond rating is AAA for the Big 3 of Standard & Poor’s Global, Fitch and Moody’s; and electricity costs are nearly 20% lower than the national average. The manufacturing workforce is ranked No. 1 in the Southeast; total labor force exceeds 5.2 million; and colleges and universities number 110.

In 2022, then-Gov. Roy Cooper and Penny Mordaunt, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland minister for international trade, signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation and trade relations. She noted Honeywell and LabCorp among national players and said the UK “is continuing to seek out ways to remove barriers to trade at a state level as part of a wider U.S. trade strategy.”

The White House release says the deal “maximizes the competitiveness and secures the supply chain of U.S. aerospace manufacturers through preferential access to high-quality U.K. aerospace components,” and “creates a secure supply chain for pharmaceutical products.”

On the former, North Carolina is home to HAECO Americas, Collins Aerospace, Honda Aircraft Company, Lockheed Martin and Spirit AeroSystems. For the latter, heavyweights in the state are Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Merck and Eli Lilly.

(The Center Square) – Legislation pending in the Carolinas legislatures would authorize each state to join a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to limit the power and spending of the federal government.

The federal governments has accumulated a “crushing national debt through unsustainable budgeting and spending,” says a resolution which has already passed the North Carolina House of Representatives and is pending in the Senate.

The U.S. Constitution allows two methods of enacting amendments, North Carolina state Rep. Dennis Ridell, R-Alamance, one of the sponsors of the resolution, told the Senate Judiciary Committee 1 this week. One is by Congress, the other is through a convention of states, the legislator said.

“What this bill does is helps North Carolina join the other 19 states that have already accepted and passed this resolution word for word,” Ridell said.

The resolution has three components: term limits for Congress, imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, and limits on the power and reach of the government.

“We as state legislators have the power to initiate amendments to the Constitution,” Ridell said. “We don’t have to sit by and wait for Washington to get it right. We actually have a role here.”

In 2020, the national debt was $24 trillion, Riddell told the committee. Today it is $37 trillion.

“If you think that is sustainable and that’s not a problem, you are living in a fantasy world,” he said.

The convention would only be allowed to consider the three issues defined in the resolution, Ridell explained.

It would take 34 states approving the resolution before the convention could be called, he said. He was asked if Congress had tried to adopt solutions to those same three issues.

“If it’s been tried by Congress, it’s failed,” he said. “A balanced budget amendment – we keep waiting for it, no sign of it.”

The North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee approved the resolution, sending it the Rules Committee.

In South Carolina, a similar resolution, House Bill 3007, calling for a Convention of States, is pending in the state Senate.

The South Carolina Legislature also approved a Convention of States resolution in 2022 which was signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster.

(The Center Square) – Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx said Saturday she will seek to return for a 12th term in the U.S. House of Representatives representing North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District.

Victim of Hurricane Helene last fall, chairwoman in the 119th Congress for the Committee on Rules and in the 118th for the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the 81-year-old New York City native has more consecutive years (20) in Washington than any other from the state. Her conservative principles align with the Trump administration efforts almost perfectly, focusing on a halt to wasteful spending, encouraging economic growth and strengthening national security.

“I don’t know about you, but I am definitely not tired of winning!” Foxx wrote on social media late Saturday morning. “I am pleased to announce that I will be running for reelection in the 2026 midterms to continue fighting for North Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District and President Trump’s America First agenda!”

To date, there are no opponents for her.

The Federal Election Commission says her campaign cash on hand is $3.1 million. Foxx has won each of her 11 campaigns for House snagging 57% or more of the vote regardless of redistricting map authors.

State House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, was among the early responders.

He wrote, “I’m so glad @foxxforcongress will continue representing us in Washington. She is a fierce advocate for NC and the America First agenda!”

The state’s worst natural disaster left the home of she and her husband cut off from the main road. In the days after the storm slammed the mountains of the Carolinas and Tennessee, Tom Foxx was stranded inside the home. Foxx was apart from him and remained proactive for storm victims, in particular keeping an eye on efforts by FEMA.

Helene killed 107 in the state and caused an estimated $60 billion in damage. Across seven states, 236 lost their lives because of the storm.

Following the Oct. 7, 2023, escalation of war between Hamas and Israel, college campuses became focus points for antisemitic protests. Foxx was among the most outspoken to quell the unrest and led congressional hearings that led to more probes and the separation from respective top leadership jobs for Dr. Claudine Gay at Harvard, Dr. Liz Magill at Penn and Dr. Minouche Shafik at Columbia. Dr. Martha Pollack resigned from the presidency at Cornell and said the decision was before headline-grabbing protests on campus.

In his Jan. 14 choosing of Foxx to lead the powerful Committee on Rules, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said, “For two decades, Dr. Foxx has been a stalwart in the House and a leader in multiple policy areas. Her drive and personality have established her as among the most universally respected members of our Republican Conference. Dr. Foxx is an example of how members should serve, and our conference will benefit greatly with her at the helm of the influential Rules Committee.”

Foxx turns 82 on June 29. Her district is the northwestern region of the state that borders Tennessee and Virginia. The counties include a dip into northwestern Guilford, and all of Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Caldwell, Alexander and Wilkes. Her congressional map was drawn by Democratic majorities in the Legislature for her first three terms, Republicans for seven, and judicial special masters for one (2022).

Foxx has won when presidential elections were won by Republican George W. Bush (second term), Democrat Barack Obama twice, Republican Donald Trump twice and Democrat Joe Biden. She’s won when gubernatorial elections were won by Democrats Michael Easley (second term) and Bev Perdue, Republican Pat McCrory, and Democrats Roy Cooper twice and Josh Stein.

Foxx’s wins have all been against Democrats. She in 2004 defeated Jim Harrell Jr. 58.8%-41.2%; in 2006 defeated Roger Sharpe 57.2%-42.8%; in 2008 defeated Roy Carter 58.4%-41.6%; in 2010 defeated Billy Kennedy 65.9%-34.1%; in 2012 defeated Elisabeth Motsinger 57.5%-42.6%; in 2014 defeated Josh Brannon 61%-39%; in 2016 defeated Brannon again 58.4%-41.6%; in 2018 defeated DD Adams 57%-43%; in 2020 defeated David Wilson Brown 66.9%-31.1% in a three-candidate race; in 2022 defeated Kyle Parrish 63.2%-36.9%; and on Nov. 5 defeated Chuck Hubbard 59.5%-40.5%.