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| U.S. Customs eyes two more CEEs by October |
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
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The number of Industry Integration Centers for Excellence and Expertise within U.S. Customs devoted to centralizing the import process for trusted shippers could double to four this fiscal year, Acting Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski recently said. Customs and Border Protection last fall established two Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE) - one in New York that deals with the pharmaceutical industry and one in Los Angeles responsible for electronics - as ...
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| U.S.-South Korea FTA enters force March 15 |
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
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The White House on Tuesday said the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement will enter into force on March 15. The announcement followed the completion over the President’s Day weekend of work by the United States and South Korea to review each other’s laws and regulations related to the implementation of the agreement. The United States has exchanged diplomatic notes with South Korea in which each side confirmed that they had completed their legal requirements and proc...
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| Export reform update at Silicon Valley seminar |
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
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The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Eric L. Hirschhorn on March 1 will meet with leading Silicon Valley companies to update them on the reform of the country’s export control regulations. The two-hour seminar, scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at SAP in Palo Alto, Calif., is sponsored by Women in International Trade – Northern California. The seminar will include a preview of proposed rulings and how companies are impacted by the e...
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| FMC report could revive regulation debate |
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Friday, February 17, 2012
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The debate about how the container shipping industry should be regulated may be revived with the release of a major report by the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission on Thursday about the decision by the European Union to end the so-called "block exemption" for liner companies under EU competition law in 2008. In a telephone interview, FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky Jr. said the central conclusion of the report was positive for U.S. shippers. "Most armch...
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| STB to examine Buffett's BNSF buy |
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Friday, February 17, 2012
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The U.S. Surface Transportation Board said Thursday it will hold a March 22 public hearing to explore the impact of Berkshire Hathaway's acquisition of the BNSF Railway in 2010 on certain costing determinations. Berkshire, headed by the billionaire investor Warren Buffett, paid $43 billion to acquire BNSF. STB said the Western Coal Traffic League (WCTL) and other parties argue that BNSF's acquisition price produced an $8.1 billion write-up in the r...
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| ATA files suit on driver fatigue rule |
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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As anticipated, the American Trucking Associations on Tuesday filed a petition asking a federal court to review the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s recently published final rule changing the hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers. The new rulemaking retained the 11-hour daily driving limit for truck drivers, which the agency considered shortening by an hour. But it increased the required rest period for drivers at the end of each wee...
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| Obama signs FAA bill |
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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President Obama signed into law Tuesday legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration for $63 billion over four years and paving the way for accelerated development of the NextGen air traffic control system. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 sets the direction and spending priorities of the agency for the first time in a decade. The previous multi-year blueprint expired more than four years ago, requiring almost two dozen short-term extens...
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| ESC bemoans 'shocking' piracy levels |
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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The European Shippers’ Council (ESC) said the state of piracy, while improving, is still at a "shocking" level. “A year on from our last press statement on this issue, the ESC remains alarmed by the latest figures released by the ICC's International Maritime Bureau,” the council said. “Although figures show a decreasing number of piracy attacks, the damage done is still unacceptably high.” ESC referred to a reported 37 attacks in 2012, coming on the heels of 420 at...
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| Budget increase sought for DOT, Army Corps |
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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President Obama is proposing a fiscal year 2013 budget for the Department of Transportation of $74 billion, 2 percent, or $1.4 billion, above the 2012 enacted amount. It's one piece of a $3.8 trillion plan that raises spending to support the middle class through incentives for domestic manufacturing, lower payroll taxes, infrastructure investment and other steps while raising revenue through taxes on the wealthiest Americans and reductions in subsidies for the ...
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| U.S., Peru urge end to yarn forward rule |
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Monday, February 13, 2012
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U.S. import and Peruvian export advocates last week sent a letter to Peruvian Foreign Trade Minister Jose Luis Silva and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk urging elimination of a “yarn forward” rule of origin on apparel as part of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The Peruvian Associación de Exportadores (ADEX) and members associations of the U.S. Trans-Pacific Partnership Apparel Coalition sent a joint letter on behalf of U.S. and Peru apparel producers, reta...
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| DTAG seeks new members |
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Friday, February 10, 2012
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The Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG), a private-sector panel that provides advice to the federal government on the policy and regulation of U.S. defense trade, is now accepting membership applications for the upcoming 2012-2014 term. “Membership on this panel presents an exciting opportunity to participate in the administration’s Export Control Reform Initiative, seeking to better align the export control process with emerging global security challenges,” the State De...
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| New in-bond rule to be published soon |
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Wednesday, February 08, 2012
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New regulations modernizing the in-bond transportation process that enables importers to defer entry and duty payment at the port of arrival until reaching another port are expected to be issued in the next few days, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Tuesday. Homeland Security leaders and the Office of Management and Budget have signed off on the final rulemaking, Acting Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski said during a lunch speech at the National ...
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| U.S. zeros out ‘zeroing’ |
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Tuesday, February 07, 2012
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The United States in Geneva on Monday signed agreements with the European Union and Japan that will bring an end to longstanding trade disputes over “zeroing.” Zeroing is a label sometimes used to describe a methodology used in antidumping calculations for aggregating unfairly-traded (“dumped”) transactions with other transactions. The disputes started nearly nine years ago, when the EU first requested World Trade Organization consultations over the use of zero...
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| $15 million penalty upheld for Jones Act violation |
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Tuesday, February 07, 2012
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to reduce a $15 million penalty assessed against a company that moved an oil rig part of the way on its voyage from the Gulf of Mexico to Cook’s Inlet in Alaska on a Chinese ship instead of on a U.S.-flagged Jones Act vessel. The Jones Act requires cargo to be moved between U.S. ports on ships built and registered in the United States and crewed by Americans. “It is the decision of the chi...
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| Judge declines to prevent NY-NJ toll hike |
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Tuesday, February 07, 2012
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A federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday denied a request from the Automobile Club of New York and the Automobile Club of North Jersey (AAA) for a preliminary injunction against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to keep the agency from raising tolls on its four bridges and two tunnels. The toll hikes have upset some commuters and truckers in the region. Tolls vary according to time and day of use and whether a vehicle has an EZ pass radio-frequency tag. For ex...
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| Hazardous waste cargo seized in Indonesia |
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Monday, February 06, 2012
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Several environmental groups reported a shipment of 113 containers of toxic waste discovered last month at the Jakarta Tanjung Priok Port in Indonesia points up the continuing problem of hazardous waste being shipped to developing countries. Indonesia Toxics-Free Network, the Basel Action Network, Ban Toxics, and BaliFokus urged all world governments to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment and enforce the Basel Convention which seeks to control...
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| Open U.S.-Canada wheat trade sought |
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Friday, February 03, 2012
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The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) each passed a resolution calling for an open border with Canada that provides reciprocal bilateral wheat trade. Under a December 2011 law, which still faces some legal challenges, the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) will lose its grain marketing monopoly Aug. 1, allowing western Canadian farmers to sell their wheat and barley in the open market. The United States is routinely Canada’...
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| WTO slaps China’s export restraints |
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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The World Trade Organization Appellate Body on Monday found China’s export restraints on several industrial raw materials used as key components in the steel, aluminum, and chemicals industries to be inconsistent with the country’s WTO obligations. The Appellate Body affirmed a WTO dispute settlement panel’s July 2011 finding, agreeing with the United States and rejecting China’s attempts to portray its export restraints as conservation or environmental protection measur...
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| Mississippi River pilots seek 44-foot draft |
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Friday, January 27, 2012
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The Crescent River Port Pilots Association has decided to increase its maximum draft recommendation from 42 feet to 44 feet on the Lower Mississippi River. Capt. A.J. Gibbs said he made the recommendation Thursday after "reviewing the most current survey in the Pilottown Cubit's Gap area, and due to the successful transit of the two 44 feet test vessels." Sean M. Duffy Sr., executive director of the Big River Coalition, said the recommend...
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| AAFA holds emerging market seminar |
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Friday, January 27, 2012
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The American Apparel & Footwear Association will host a seminar Jan. 31 in New York to discuss overseas retail growth. The seminar, Retail Hotspots: Developing a Strategy to Globalize, will focus on market entry, operation models, and consumer demographics in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations. Speakers include Dr. Harry Broadman, PriceWaterhouseCoopers' chief economist and emerging markets practice leader, and former White House trade ne...
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| White House releases global supply chain security plan |
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
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The Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled its global supply chain security strategy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The document is a whole-of-government approach towards balancing security and international trade that acknowledges to properly manage cross-border commerce extends beyond the Department of Homeland Security. The objective is to have a holistic approach for preventing, mitigating and responding to supply chain...
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| U.S. export reform to keep space industry in flight |
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
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The Aerospace Industries Association warned in a report this week that the U.S. space industry is losing its competitive edge and risks falling short of future national security requirements unless the federal government quickly reforms the country’s Cold War-era export control system. “A strong and globally competitive space industrial and supplier base is a major national security asset,” said AIA President and Chief Executive Officer Marion C. Blakey, in a ...
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| China, Vietnam wind tower dumping investigated |
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Friday, January 20, 2012
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The U.S. Commerce Department this week initiated an antidumping and countervailing duty investigation of imports of utility scale wind towers from China and Vietnam. Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells a product in the United States at less than fair value, while countervailable subsidies are financial assistance from overseas governments that benefit the production of goods from foreign companies and are limited to specific enterprises or industries, or are cont...
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| NIT League urges STB action |
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Monday, January 16, 2012
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The National Industrial Transportation League has renewed a call for reforms so that captive rail shippers have better access to competing railroads. The NIT League filed comments last week with the Surface Transportation Board as part of the agency's review of existing regulations to evaluate their viability and determine whether they are effective in addressing problems faced by railroads and shippers. This effort is part of an overall review being undertaken...
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| ILWU plans to walk 'narrow path' in EGT protest |
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Friday, January 13, 2012
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The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is preparing for a protest this month when the first ship is expected to call at the EGT grain terminal in Longview, Wash. The union said its members should get jobs at the new EGT terminal and are upset the operator has switched work to a subcontractor that has signed a contract with a rival union, the Operating Engineers. "We believe that at some point this month a vessel will call at...
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| Donahue urges focus on economy |
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Friday, January 13, 2012
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The United States can't afford for Congress and the White House to avoid addressing critical issues such as infrastructure and job creation because it is an election year, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donahue said in his annual State of Business speech Thursday. Inaction would be particularly harmful at a time when the economy is still underperforming and unemployment is at 8.5 percent, he said. The head of the world's largest business fed...
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| Reduced Mississippi dredging could cost U.S. billions |
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
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A study on the impact of reduced dredging of channels on the Mississippi River finds that exports could be reduced by 12.4 percent and imports 5.5 percent if channel depths were reduced from 45 to 38 feet. The study, prepared by economist Timothy Ryan for the Big River Coalition, was unveiled Tuesday at a press conference at the headquarters of the Port of New Orleans. Ryan said over 20 percent of U.S. waterborne commerce passes through the Lower Miss...
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| Aguilar: Bersin to spread CBP best practices within DHS |
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
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In his new job as the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for international affairs and chief diplomatic officer, Alan Bersin will likely try to replicate across multiple agencies the types of management, policy and structural reforms that became the hallmark of his 21-month term as U.S. Customs commissioner, his successor at Customs and Border Protection said Monday. David Aguilar, acting commissioner of CBP, told a handful of reporters during an ...
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| Aguilar says trade facilitation to remain CBP priority |
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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There will be no letup in the rapid pace of reforms underway at U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reduce red tape associated with trade enforcement so that legitimate cargo can be cleared and processed as efficiently as possible, Acting Commissioner David Aguilar said 10 days into his new job. In an invitation-only meeting with three reporters, Aguilar emphatically pledged to build on the initiatives begun by his predecessor, Alan Bersin, to ...
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| Customs chief Bersin returns to DHS post |
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Tuesday, January 03, 2012
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President Obama on Friday named Alan Bersin assistant secretary for international affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, keeping him in the fold to continue pursuing initiatives on cross-border trade and travel in a different position. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano made the announcement at a ceremony in Washington in which leadership of Customs and Border Protection was transferred from Bersin to Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar. ...
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| Bill would allow federal review of toll hikes |
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Tuesday, January 03, 2012
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Two New York-area lawmakers have introduced legislation they say would allow the federal government to "determine whether toll hikes are fair to drivers and to give the Department (of Transportation) authority to prescribe more reasonable tolls." Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Michael Grimm, R- N.Y., introduced their Commuter Protection Act last month following the decision in August by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to raise tolls on the four bridge...
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| Bersin leads international policy at DHS |
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Friday, December 30, 2011
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Bersin President Obama has named Alan Bersin assistant secretary for international affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, keeping him in the fold to continue pursuing initiatives on cross-border trade and travel in a different position. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano made the announcement this morning at a ceremony in Washington in which leadership of Customs and Border Protection was transferred from Bersin to Deputy Commissioner David Ag...
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| FMC allows chassis pool amendment |
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Friday, December 30, 2011
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The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission will allow Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM), which manages about 125,000 chassis for about 20 liner companies, to amend an agreement that allows it to work collectively when operating chassis pools. FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky Jr. said he agreed to vote in favor of the changes in the CCM agreement based on the understanding that CCM was "not seeking authority to lease chassis directly to entities who do not co...
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| Truckers seek Supreme Court review of LA port case |
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Thursday, December 29, 2011
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The American Trucking Associations last week filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of its case against the Port of Los Angeles. The ATA prevailed on the major issue in its dispute with the port when the 9th Circuit of Appeals ruled in September that the Port of Los Angeles could not ban the use of independent contractors at the port in favor of employee truck drivers. The court found that requirement in the port’s ban was preempted by a...
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| FMC seeks to improve NVO tariff filing |
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011
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The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has issued a notice of inquiry seeking comments on ways to make the tariff filing exemption provided to licensed non-vessel-operating common carriers earlier this year more useful, including giving foreign-based NVOs not licensed by the agency, the ability to enter so-called "negotiated rate arrangements" (NRAs). In 2008, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America filed a petition with the FMC se...
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| Solar group wants ITC petition dropped |
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
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A coalition of pro-trade solar panel developers and installers want SolarWorld Industries of America to drop its petition to the U.S. International Trade Commission and Commerce Department against Chinese-made panels, citing potential detriment to the overall industry. “The severe tariffs SolarWorld seeks would have a very damaging effect on the solar industry in the United States and would fundamentally undermine many years of effort by all of us who care about the futu...
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| ACE manifest test bears fruit |
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
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Test transmissions and processing of electronic sea and rail manifests for the new Automated Commercial Environment are going well, putting U.S. Customs and Border Protection on track to soon transition transportation providers to the new system, the agency announced Friday. A sea/rail manifest pilot program involving one rail carrier and one ocean began in November. On Monday, OOCL identified itself as the first liner carrier to migrate to the new system. The ...
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| GAO: Quarter of port security funds drawn |
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
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Only a quarter of the nearly $1.7 billion awarded from fiscal year 2006 through 2010 under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Port Security Grant Program has been drawn down by grantees, according to a report released earlier this week by the Government Accountability Office. GAO said an additional one-quarter of the funds, which are to be used to protect critical maritime infrastructure and the public from terrorist attacks, remains unavailable. The...
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| Maritime cyber security report warns threats |
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
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The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) said it has published its first report ever on maritime cyber security challenges and threats. The report covers key insights, existing initiatives, precautions and recommendations, and a baseline for cyber security. ENISA said all sectors that deploy information and communication technologies (ICT) are vulnerable to threats. The body noted there have been recent, deliberate disruptions to automati...
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| European shippers fear air cargo 'chaos' |
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Monday, December 19, 2011
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The European Shippers Council (ESC) said it's becoming increasingly concerned about the impact on supply chains from European Commission regulation 185/2010 which will amend the air cargo security regime after April 29, 2013. On that date, known consignors will need their security procedures and measures validated by an officially approved inspector. Otherwise the air freight must be made secure by a regulated agent or a carrier by scanning. &nbs...
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| Truck fatalities press fatigue rule |
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Friday, December 16, 2011
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Recent data showing a substantial increase in the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks during 2010 probably eliminates the remote chance that the White House might rollback a Department of Transportation proposal that seeks to reduce the daily hours commercial drivers can work, John Larkin, managing director of transportation market research for Stifel Nicolas, said Thursday. The number of people killed in large-truck crashes increased 8.7 percent to 3,...
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| NLRB ends case against Boeing |
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
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The business community won a major victory Dec. 9 when the National Labor Relations Board decided to withdraw its complaint against Boeing Co. for opening a second production line for its new 787 Dreamliner aircraft in South Carolina, a right-to-work state. The NLRB has become a focal point of industry anger with the Obama administration because Democratic appointees are perceived as making a series of activist pro-labor decisions as a political favor to lab...
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| ILA, NIT League wary on chassis pools changes |
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Monday, December 12, 2011
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The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and National Industrial Transportation League are both expressing concern to the Federal Maritime Commission about plans by around 20 liner companies to alter their chassis pool agreement on file with the commission, questioning whether it will improperly extend antitrust immunity to companies not regulated by the Shipping Act of1984. Some of their concerns echo those raised by the Institute of International Container Lessors in...
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| Ports, carriers call for weighing containers |
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Monday, December 12, 2011
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Four major trade organizations representing both ports and carriers are calling on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to amend the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to require, as a condition for stowing a loaded container on board a ship, that the ship and the port facility have a verified actual weight of the container. The four groups are: the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), World Shipping Council (WSC), the International Chamber ...
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| USDA helps fund fortified food aid |
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Wednesday, December 07, 2011
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest more than $8.5 million to help six organizations develop improved food aid products under the Micronutrient-Fortified Food Aid Products Pilot Program. This program is funded by the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition (McGovern-Dole) Program, and recipients will focus their efforts over the next three years in Cambodia, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Mozambique and Tanzania. "O...
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| Airline association rebrands itself |
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Thursday, December 01, 2011
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The Air Transport Association on Wednesday changed its name to Airlines for America, along with a new logo and tagline of "We Connect the World." The 75-year-old trade association represents the mainline passenger carriers and cargo airlines such as FedEx, UPS, Evergreen International, Atlas Air and ASTAR Air Cargo. The changes, along with a redesigned web site, reflect the organization's renewed focus on international markets that have become the primary area...
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| ICS, OxFam, WWF seek mandate for IMO on ship CO2 |
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
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The International Chamber of Shipping, joined by OxFam and the World Wildlife Fund called on the delegates to the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa (COP 17) "to give the International Maritime Organization (IMO) clear guidance on continuing its work on reducing shipping emissions through the development of Market Based Measures." In a statement issued on Tuesday, the three groups said "an effective regulatory framework for curbing emission of CO2 from in...
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| NAM seeks to get "quickie" union elections blocked |
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
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The National Association of Manufacturers on Tuesday sent letters to all 435 members of the House urging support for a bill that essentially would block the National Labor Relations Board from implementing rules designed to make it easier for unions to organize. In August, the NLRB allowed company employees to form micro-unions that represent subsets of workers with specialized tasks rather than a single bargaining unit across a facility or company. Business groups...
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| FMC asked to change NVOCC regulation |
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Monday, November 28, 2011
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The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America has asked the Federal Maritime Commission to consider revising regulations that affect ocean transportation intermediaries. Ed Greenberg, general counsel for the NCBFAA, submitted the suggestions last week in a letter sent in response to an FMC notice issued on Nov. 4, seeking comments on how to improve FMC regulations. NCBFAA asked the FMC to look at possible revisions to its rules having to...
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| Costly pro-union rulings inundate industry |
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Monday, November 28, 2011
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Our captains of industry are frustrated with the Obama administration’s efforts to rewrite the rules governing labor relations. They disagree not only with the substance of many of the proposals, but also in the blatant attempt to avoid normal procedures and transparent debate. Business groups are rightly upset with several rulings by the National Labor Relations Board that together represent a backdoor attempt to implement "card check" legislation that would mandate unions...
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| Maryland governor leads trade delegation to India |
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Monday, November 28, 2011
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O'Malley Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is scheduled to arrive in India Monday with representatives from 43 companies, educators and state officials on a six-day trade mission to Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. Prior to arriving in India O'Malley and Christian Johansson, secretary of business and economic development, will make a brief stop in Doha, Qatar, to discuss foreign direct investment opportunities in Maryland. The governor will work to convince Indian comp...
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| Conflict mineral certification launched |
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011
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The U.S. government, along with a coalition of private sector and humanitarian organizations, on Monday announced the formation of the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade to help the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African governments deny violent militias from using extorted mining proceeds to support their activities. The State Department and the U.S. agency for International Development are trying to help establish a system of responsible ...
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| Senate Committee approves surface bill |
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Thursday, November 10, 2011
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The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill authorizing surface transportation programs for two-years at existing funding levels of $85 billion. But Congress must still find $12 billion to cover a shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund before the legislation can move forward. The HTF is where fuel tax and other receipts from highway users are deposited. The government no longer collects enough to meet current obligations to states as ca...
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| STB delays inquiry into competitive rail switching |
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Monday, November 07, 2011
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The Surface Transportation Board said Friday that it is putting off consideration of a request by the country's largest shipper organization to revise its rules having to do with competitive railroad switching. The National Industrial Transportation League asked the STB in July to adopt new rules so captive shippers served by a single railroad could gain access to competing carriers more easily. The League said existing competitive access rules did not work, and that no shipper...
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| Lloyds Register cautions against mixing refrigerants |
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Friday, November 04, 2011
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Lloyd’s Register is warning of the danger of mixing different types of refrigerant gases, saying that it has received reports that “refrigerant gas in refrigeration and air conditioning plants is being recharged or ‘topped up’ with different types of gas.” The classification society said this mixing of gases may have been a contributing factor to explosions in refrigeration systems of reefer containers, explosions that have killed three workers in Asia and Brazil. ...
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| NCBFAA seeks clearer FDA agent designation |
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Thursday, November 03, 2011
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The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revise its process for designating a U.S. agent before implementing foreign facility re-inspection fees under the Food Safety Modernization Act. U.S. agents designated under FDA’s current process, which was developed under the Bioterrorist Act (BTA), serve for the limited purpose of notification, the Washington-based organization said in a Nov. 1 letter to...
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| FMC to discuss TSA "non-compliance" |
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Tuesday, November 01, 2011
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The Federal Maritime Commission said it will receive a staff briefing later this week on alleged non-compliance with an FMC order for special reporting by the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement and the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, the two major discussion agreements for container shipping lines on the Asia-U.S. routes. The FMC said the briefing will be held during its public meeting on Thursday and will then be discussed by commission members during a close...
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| Great Lakes carriers tout job creation |
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Friday, October 21, 2011
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Weakley The Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) said a new study shows cargo hauled on the Great Lakes in U.S.-flag vessels is responsible for more than 103,000 jobs in the United States that pay an average annual wage of $47,000. The group noted the study found the value of economic output tied to those cargoes topped $20 billion in 2010. Federal, state and local taxes totaled more than $2.2 billion. “The value of U.S.-flag Lakes shipping has never before been s...
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| Solar panel makers accuse China of dumping |
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
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Several manufacturers of solar panels have filed a complaint against Chinese companies, saying they are dumping product at below cost. The Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing, which says it represents a significant majority of U.S. production of crystalline silicon solar cells and panels, filed complaints Wednesday with the U.S. Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission. They include the U.S. subsidiary of Germany's SolarWorld Group, which said in a pres...
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| U.S. industry wants robust TPP |
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
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A group of more than 35 industry associations in a letter Wednesday to the White House voiced their support for the United States’ effort to negotiate an updated, robust Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). They also urged the administration to continue the country’s longstanding and bipartisan approach of seeking a comprehensive TPP agreement that covers every commercial sector and sub-sector of the U.S. economy. “In an integrated global economy, U.S. competitiveness ...
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