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...
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...
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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...
Cluck-cluck Cutlet of the Sea
It’s on menus everywhere, but is tilapia good for you? Americans ate 475 million pounds of tilapia last year the New York Times reports, citing US Department of Agriculture statistics. The so-called “aquatic chicken” tastes bland and, just like chicken cutlets, works...
Following Glencore
Trade data can shed light on a low-profile company’s x-border commerce Back on April 7, we took a look at what Datamyne trade data can reveal about Colombia’s consumption of US exports. We noticed then, but didn’t comment on, the fact that three of Colombia’s top five...
Top Pick: Chilean Fresh Grapes
New report from Datamyne covers players, trends in a leading US-Chile trade sector The Chilean Fresh Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) is projecting growth in exports for the 2010-11 season: from a 2% increase in apples to a 40% boost for kiwifruit, to a whopping...
Japan Food Alert
Governments issue orders to test or suspend imports As Japan reports radioactive contamination of plant and animal foodstocks in the prefectures nearest the still-to-be-contained nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, countries around the world are moving to block...
Japan Fall-out
Radiation fears cause shortages of iodine, drive demand for seaweed While the struggle to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants goes on, reports are coming in from Brooklyn – more than 6,600 miles away from the threat of radiation release – that upscale...
Floor Fight
Some US companies are siding with China in this USITC antidumping case The US International Trade Commission (USITC) is nearing preliminary determinations in its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into multilayered wood flooring from China, the Wall...
Japan Aftermath
The disaster reminds us of shared vulnerabilities and a need to know what’s going on The world’s third largest economy has been devastated by catastrophe upon catastrophe. Clearly, the repercussions in the global marketplace will be far-reaching, long-lasting and...