Tug of War over PotashCorp

BHP bid signals realignment in global N-P-K sector It’s a pretty safe bet: As the world’s population increases, so too will demand for food. That makes fertilizer – and its three primary ingredients nitrogen (N), phosphate (phosphorus or P) and potash (potassium or K)...

Sugar Rush

A U.S. federal court ruling is a global market changer Global sugar supplies were already tightening because of the Russian drought, Pakistan’s floods, and weather delays at the ports of top exporter Brazil, when a potentially huge hit to U.S. stocks emerged from the...

Lower Tariffs, Lift Exports

Cutting the cost of imported inputs should help U.S. producers compete on price “Before U.S. companies are exporters, they are producers. And as producers of goods, they are consumers of capital equipment, raw materials, and other industrial inputs and components....

What They Said

Commentators sound off on export policy at TPCC’s invitation (As of August 13) 168 commentators responded to the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) June 30th invitation to advise the federal government on what it should do to boost exports by filing...

Stop Thief!

Most cargo thefts occur in transit By Bill Armbruster What’s the annual cost of cargo theft in the U.S.? Estimates range from less than $2 billion to $30 billion. There are several reasons for that huge disparity. They include the lack of a national database and the...

Brookings’ Export Nation

The path to more U.S. exports is through the nation’s metro areas “To reset its economic trajectory, the United States needs to connect the macroeconomic goal of increasing exports with metropolitan reality of export production.”  So concludes a major study from the...

Ripple Effect

The oil spill continues to roil the Gulf ecosystem and economy The idea was to push the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill back from coastal areas with torrents of fresh water by opening several Mississippi River diversions. Unfortunately, it appears that the...

Nuts & Bolts

Brush up on exporting basics with summertime webinars The U.S. Foreign Commercial Services (USFCS) and the law firm of Husch Blackwell Sanders will host a webinar Wednesday, July 21, on the factors every U.S. exporter should weigh when drawing up an export distributor...