Posts filed under 'Imports/Exports'
Replacing the U.S. Consumer: Is China Up To The Job?
China’s rapid growth is leading the recovery in the Asian and world economies, the International Monetary Fund says in its latest regional economic outlook. The fund now forecasts China will grow an outsize 8.5% in 2009 and 9% in 2010, driven by strong investment spending and surging loan growth. By contrast, Japan’s economy is expected to shrink 5.4% in 2009, and other Asian emerging markets are forecast to grow a combined 1.7%. But how much does China’s recovery help the rest of the world?
Some benefits from China’s boom have been spilling over into neighboring countries, the IMF argues: “A part of Asia’s export revival is due to the recovery of China’s domestic demand. …In particular, commodity exporters (such as Australia and Indonesia) and to a lesser extent capital goods exporters (Japan, Korea, and Taiwan Province of China) have benefited from the surge in China’s infrastructure investment.”(By Andrew Baston, The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2009)
November 4, 2009
Yuan’s Fall Annoys the Neighbors
HONG KONG — As the dollar continues to weaken, concerns are mounting in much of Asia over another descending currency: the Chinese yuan.
For more than a year, China has kept the yuan largely unchanged against the dollar. So, like the dollar, the yuan has been falling steadily against the currencies of China’s neighbors, including the Malaysian ringgit, the Indonesian rupiah and the South Korean won. That makes goods produced in those countries more expensive compared with China’s.(By ALEX FRANGOS, The Wall Street Journal, OCTOBER 26, 2009)
October 29, 2009
Chamber Members in the News: Expeditors International and A.N. Deringer Inc.
Expeditors International and A.N. Deringer Inc. are two of four brokerage firms selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to participate in a Broker Self-Assessment pilot program, American Shipper has learned.
The agency announced July 29 the selection of four companies out of 26 applicants to test whether a trusted compliance program should be instituted on a voluntary basis for customs brokers. CBP will not disclose the names of companies involved for privacy reasons.
OHL in Brentwood, Tenn., subsequently announced its Barthco International unit was chosen for the year-long partnership program. St. Albans, Vt., logistics and customs services provider A.N. Deringer will also self-police compliance with customs regulations, said Robert DeCamp, director of regulatory affairs and consulting. An official at Expeditors, one of the nation’s largest international freight forwarders, confirmed that the Seattle-based company was accepted into the Broker Self-Assessment (BSA) program.
All the companies were required to belong to the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, a voluntary security-based program in which importers receive fewer container inspections if they and their vendors follow approved security plans that meet minimum criteria (by E. Kulisch, American Shipper, October 2009).
Read More
To Learn More About the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, come to our next seminar, Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Register Today!
October 21, 2009
RD International Trade Seminar Series Office of Economics
RD International Trade Seminar Series
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: 500 E Street, SW Washington, DC
Room : Conference Room – 615P
Metro Directions:
Take the orange, blue, yellow or green lines to the L’Enfant Plaza stop. Use the exit marked “7th & D Sts.” Exit through the construction, down the stairs. Turn right and walk east to the corner of 6th and D Sts. (half a block). Turn right and walk south on 6th St. (2 blocks) to the corner of 6th and E Sts. The USITC building is on the left (SW corner).
October 15, 2009
Bureau International des Tarifs Douaniers
Sir/Madam,
I have the pleasure to announce that the English version of the 2008 Edition of the Customs Tariff of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has been published on the internet site http://www.bitd.org of the International Customs Tariffs Bureau (Bureau international des tarifs douaniers (BITD), which has the task of translating the world’s Customs tariffs into five languages (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish).
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you, if you think it useful, to create a link to the BITD on your web site.
Yours faithfully,
Director of the
International Customs Tariffs Bureau
Frank Recker
BITD – Bureau International des Tarifs Douaniers
Postal address: Rue des Petits Carmes, 15 B-1000 Brussels – Belgium
Office address: Rue de Namur, 59 (6th floor) B-1000 Brussels – Belgium
Tel. +32 2 501 87 74
Fax + 32 2 501 31 47
E-mail: dir@bitd.org
Web site: http:/www.bitd.org
October 14, 2009
15 countries sign Rotterdam Rules
Fifteen countries, including the United States, signed the new United Nation’s Convention on the Carriage of Goods (Wholly or Partly) by Sea, the so-called Rotterdam Rules, at a ceremony in the Dutch city on Wednesday.
The signatories were Congo, Denmark, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Togo and the United States (by C. Dupin, American shipper Namaste, 9/24/2009).
October 2, 2009
Obama Administration Completes 2008 Annual Review of the Generalized System of Preferences
Washington, D.C. – Ambassador Ron Kirk announced today the outcome of the Obama Administration’s 2008 Annual Review under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. The GSP Program, in 2008, facilitated $31.7 billion in imports of nearly 5,000 types of products from 131 developing countries.
In keeping with GSP’s goal to advance economic development, the Administration will issue waivers that will prevent 112 exports from 16 beneficiary countries, with a 2008 trade value of $290 million, from being excluded from the program because they exceed statutory import ceilings. The Administration is also expanding the program by adding two agricultural products to the list of products eligible for GSP duty-free export into the United States from all beneficiary countries. In addition, as a result of their success under the GSP program, the Administration has also determined that 12 products from six beneficiary countries are now sufficiently competitive in the U.S. market to no longer need GSP treatment.
The Administration conducts an annual review of the countries covered under the GSP program and products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the program. The statute includes commercial thresholds and waiver provisions regarding imports of products. Interested parties also file petitions seeking changes in the treatment of countries and products.
In announcing these changes, Ambassador Kirk stated, “Expanded trade with the world’s developing countries is critical to boosting their growth, reducing income inequality, and providing people with hope for the future. The GSP program is an important step in helping to revive global trade and restoring our sense of faith in international commerce to help improve lives at home and abroad.”
July 9, 2009
AAEI says 10+2 costs will mount
The American Association of Exporters and Importers in comments filed last week urged caution over the costs of U.S. Customs’ Importer Security Filing interim final rule. ISF, also known as “10+2,” requires cargo information to be transmitted to CBP agents at least 24 hours before goods are shipped to the United States.
“AAEI expressed concern to U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the costs of ‘10+2’ compliance are still unknown,” the association said. “In the first months of implementation, the only cost CBP is capturing is the transaction fee for filing. However, AAEI notes that the true costs are much higher, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Plus, hidden costs of ‘10+2’ compliance will add up quickly due to delays and slowdowns in the supply chain.
“AAEI is also concerned about the lack of tangible benefits for voluntary participation in the costly C-TPAT program, and recommends that CBP allow C-TPAT members to satisfy ‘10+2’ requirements by providing routine data at the aggregate level for common shipments.”
This article is extracted from the 26 May 2009 edition of “American Shipper”
May 29, 2009
“10+2” Filings Late 70% of Time
U.S. importers and their agents are required to electronically file detailed data about cargo shipments 24 hours prior to vessel loading in a foreign port, but less than one-third of the documents submitted so far meet the deadline, according to the official in charge of the government security program. The news indicates that companies are still experiencing growing pains as they try to comply with the “10+2” rule that went into effect on Jan. 26 (E. Kulisch, American Shipper Namaste, April 7, 2009).
Learn More about the “10+2″ requirements at next NKITA Trade Education Seminar
April 13, 2009
Building Materials Manufacturer Lafarge Opens New Facility in Silver Grove, Kentucky
Building materials manufacturer Lafarge has begun cranking out product at its new state-of-the-art joint compound manufacturing plant.
This new, fully automated plant – adjacent to Lafarge’s Silver Grove gypsum wallboard plant – will make the complete range of Lafarge’s current joint compound product offerings including Rapid Coat, Classic Coat, Rapid Coat Mid-Weight, Rapid Deco and the new Rapid Coat Low Dust compound (Manufacturing & Technology eJournal, Tuesday, February 17, 2009).
February 20, 2009
PHOTO ALBUM
