Your eco-friendly, reusable shopping bag may be loaded with lead Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) yesterday called on federal agencies to police reusable shopping bags that contain unacceptably high levels of lead, getting out ahead of a story that’s been developing for...
A Cassava by Any Other Name
Yuca, manioc, tapioca … it’s still one versatile tuber Cassava (manihot esculenta) is getting a lot of attention as a pro-poor biofuel that could be a comer in the international ethanol market. But the tropical plant’s starchy root has myriad uses and figures...
Faking True Religion
Chinese counterfeiters threaten designer jeans brand abroad and at home Last month, U.S. Customs & Border Protection announced that a joint operation of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Los Angeles Police Department had seized a container load of...
From Few to Many
Approximately 80% of world potash is traded across borders Every farmer needs it, but there are few producers of potash, one of the three essential components of fertilizer (the other two are nitrogen and phosphate). According to Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc.,...
Oyster Po’boys Are off the Menu
Prices rise as buyers stockpile Gulf seafood Expecting shortages as the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill continued to spread in the Gulf of Mexico, seafood purveyors rushed to stockpile and helped drive up the prices of shrimp and oysters. Now, as the Independent of...
Closely Watched Ship
Taicang Dragon inaugurates TCC’s no-frills transpacific service Norwegian carrier The Containership Company (TCC) launched its new port-to-port service with the first of the start-up’s five vessels arriving May 2 at the Port of Los Angeles laden with cargo from...
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...
Sea Change for Bottled Water?
U.S. imports of water from Fiji are down sharply CNN Living poses the question — has bottled water become the new eco-no-no? — and answers, not quite yet. But trade statistics do show a marked drop in U.S. imports of “unsweetened water” (HS code 2201) from top sources...
Miss Swaziland’s "Dubai"
There’s a name for re-exported, pre-owned, repurposed cars News that General Motors sold more cars in China than in the U.S. in March sent us to the data on U.S. car imports and exports. Among other searches, we looked for 2009’s top destinations for U.S. “passenger...
U.S. Imports Surge
Latest stats from The Datamyne show 15.9% jump in February The Datamyne’s latest statistics from its U.S. imports bill of lading database show imports recovering this February as compared with February 2009, but still short of prerecession levels. Here are the TEU...