Celebrating imports from Mexico Cinco de Mayo commemorates the 1862 Batalla de Puebla at which Mexican forces soundly defeated the French army, which had been dispatched by Napoleon III to secure an empire in the Western Hemisphere. While the French wouldn’t quit...
Who’s Open for Business?
World Bank’s annual report is a treasure trove of free information by Bill Armbruster, blog anchor Want to know how many documents it takes to ship a container to China? Or the cost of export compliance in Brazil? Then check out the World Bank’s annual Doing Business...
The Latin American Decade
LATAM may be on course for growth, but diversification is needed Writing in the Miami Herald earlier this month, Andres Oppenheimer asks whether 2011 will be the dawn of the “Latin American decade” – as a recent Standard & Poor’s webcast argues [you can access a...
Reading Tea Leaves
Yerba maté arrives in Hamburg … and a hackers convention in New York Forget coffee or green tea … have a latte made from a South American shrub, a species of holly (Ilex paraguariensis), actually. Yerba maté bars are springing up in Starbucks territory, the Pacific...
Low Expectations
U.S. consumers are pessimistic; confidence is back in Asia, Brazil The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index (released Feb. 23, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households through Feb. 17) now stands at 46.0 (1985=100), down from a relatively optimistic 56.5 in...
Trade Winds – The Americas
Still some room at the forumOne of the most important regions for U.S. exports is the Americas, market for more than $525 billion in U.S. merchandise in 2008. The Trade Winds Forum, to be held this year in São Paulo April 25-30, is the signature event of the U.S. and...