Archive for Global Trade
100% Cargo Inspection: A Means to What End?
· CommentsInspecting 100 percent of all ocean cargo for ‘weapons of mass destruction’ or other contraband sounds reasonable, unless you’ve worked in manufacturing and understand that the need for inspections is a symptom of poorly designed and controlled processes.
The call to inspect all inbound ocean containers began shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the requirement was included in the 9/11 Act passed by Congress in 2007. The… Continue reading
Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the Finance Committee he chairs in the U.S. Senate have been in the spotlight the past few months over healthcare reform. But did you know that he and Senator Chuck Grassley (R‐IA) introduced a bill back in August to facilitate trade processes? The Customs Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2009 aims to rebalance the focus of U.S. Customs and Border Protection… Continue reading
In case you don’t regularly check our News Roundup section on Logistics Viewpoints, here are some important developments that occurred this week:
Hours of Service (HOS) trucking rules are back on the drawing board. After years of legal challenges, the “final” rule was published last November. But earlier this year, Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Truck Safety Coalition, and the International Brotherhood… Continue reading
Managing the flow of goods, information, and money across borders is a highly complex, regulated, and dynamic process—and becoming more so every day! Therefore, companies can no longer rely on manual processes to manage their global trade operations, which is why the Global Trade Management (GTM) systems market is one of the fastest growing segments of the software industry.
The scope and capabilities of GTM solutions have evolved… Continue reading
(Not) Walking the Talk on Protectionism
· Comments“We reaffirm our commitment to maintain and promote open markets and reject all protectionist measures in trade and investment.”
This statement was issued by the leaders of 17 countries, including the United States, at the G-8 Summit earlier this summer. Last Friday, the Obama administration announced that it was implementing duties between 25 percent and 35 percent on tires imported from China. A few days later, China announced… Continue reading
World Trade to Decline 10 Percent in 2009
· CommentsLast Wednesday, the World Trade Organization released its annual report highlighting trends and statistics in global trade (see “World Trade Report 2009”). The WTO is forecasting a 10 percent decline in world merchandise trade this year (the WTO had predicted a 9 percent decline back in June, so their outlook has darkened). World merchandise trade slowed down significantly in 2008, growing only 2 percent in real terms, compared to… Continue reading
India Says ‘No Thanks’ To Carbon Limits
· CommentsThe big news last Thursday on the “green” front was Walmart’s announcement of its Sustainable Product Index. Just three days later, India’s Environmental Minister, Jairam Ramesh, underscored the large hurdles that exist in establishing global standards and agreements on climate change and sustainability. “There is simply no case for the pressure that we [India], who have among the lowest emissions per capita, face to actually reduce emissions,” Ramesh
Last week, I wrote about how Mexican truckers are suing the United States for $6 billion for not complying with the trucking provision of NAFTA (which follows the $2.4 billion in punitive tariffs Mexico slapped on U.S. exports back in March). Now our neighbors to the north are proposing taking action against the U.S. in response to the “Buy American” provision included in the stimulus package passed by… Continue reading
