Datamyne Blog

Companies in diverse sectors, including consumer electronics, automobiles and automotive parts, pharmaceuticals, and apparel are warning they are mere weeks away from running out of production-critical supplies as Chinese factories shut down and cross-border commerce is contained to limit contagion. There are few precedents for projecting the knock-on effects of…

Approved by Congress and signed by President Trump on January 29, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is one big step closer to entering into force. Mexico was first to ratify the trade pact on June 19, 2019. Canada’s House of Commons will be taking up the USMCA this February. For the time…

President Donald Trump and China’s Vice Premier Liu He have signed an initial agreement that commits China to policy changes on intellectual property (IP), technology transfer, financial services, and currency management. China also promises substantial purchases of goods and services from the U.S. Announced in mid-December, the U.S.-China Phase One…

U.S. tariffs on imports from China consigned the traditional peak shipping season to the ghosts of Christmases past this year. The U.S.-China trade war pushed the U.S. import shipping volume trend line for 2019 to an early peak in July before driving TEUs on a downward path…

While negotiations between the U.S. and Japan are continuing with a view to a free trade agreement in 2020, the trade partners on September 25 announced a partial deal – an “early harvest” – that will open Japanese markets to more U.S. agricultural exports and reduce U.S. tariffs…

In the first half of this year, Descartes Datamyne trade data shows, the U.S. swung from net importer to exporter of methanol , a basic petrochemical derived from natural gas. The trade surplus might have been more substantial had shipments to…

As the UK nears its latest deadline for departing the EU, what will happen next remains unclear.  Descartes Datamyne international data – including our new UK database – keeps Brexit’s ongoing effects on global trade in sharp focus. “Entrenched uncertainty” – that’s how Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of…

Starting in March of 2018, the Trump Administration has deployed tariffs and import quotas on select steel and aluminum products under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which authorizes these measures to control imports in the cause of national security. The aim has been to protect…