Do surging shipments and dropping prices signal dumping? Potential scandal aside, Solyndra’s August bankruptcy filing, close behind the failures of Evergreen Solar and SpectraWatt, signals a fast and hard shake-out of the US solar energy industry. A global glut of...
What Brazil Is Buying
Cotton and ethanol leap into Brazil’s top 5 imports from the US by Bill Armbruster, blog anchor China has roared past the US to become Brazil’s top trade partner, but the US is still the top exporter to the Latin American giant, and those exports – plus the US surplus...
CBP’s Bonding Falls Short
DHS report documents multimillion write-off on failures to collect by Peter Quinter, guest columnist The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a report criticizing US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In a June...
Practical Tools
In Miami: Seminar equips food importers to meet CBP, FDA rules It’s become an annual event in Miami. This year’s seminar on importing food to the US, Practical Tools for Trade in the Food Industry, will be held Wednesday, September 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at...
A World of Alternatives
Datamyne’s bread-and-butter application: multiplying sourcing options “I HATE MY CABLE COMPANY.” It’s a staple of online community bulletin boards. People post a rant about the take-it-or-leave-it service provided by the cable TV company, or the phone company or pet...
Troubled Waters
Hurricanes, oil spills, and now flooding feed the dead zone The Gulf of Mexico’s “dead zone” is forecast to cover 8,500 to 9,421 square miles – an area the size of New Hampshire – this summer, surpassing the record set in 2002, reports the National Oceanic and...
Bruised Rep
Not another Weiner story: this time it’s homegrown apples A Wall Street Journal story that the US Department of Agriculture found residues of 48 different pesticides in a recent sampling of apples bruises the reputation (and possibly sales) of America’s second most...
Made in Korea?
Gearing up to crack down on false claims to FTA tariff treatment The Korea Customs Service (KCS) announced it is proactively starting to prohibit third-party goods from falsely claiming Korean origin. This in expectation that false claims will rise as free trade...
With Apologies to Meryl Streep
When the actress plays a role, it’s artistry. When tilapia is passed off as snapper, it’s fraud. We called it “cluck-cluck cutlet of the sea” – without much flavor of its own, tilapia takes on the flavors of the other ingredients in a range of recipes. Now the New...
Handy Tool
Look up tariffs for imports and exports between free-trade partners online The International Trade Administration (ITA) has a new online tool that’s handy for looking up tariff information on 85% of the goods going to 20 country markets with which the US has...