People who import-export say the most surprising things By Peter Quinter, guest columnist I have been an international trade attorney for over 20 years. In that time, I have represented a few thousand companies involved in the importation, exportation, and...
Verify, Trust
The ISO celebrates the standards that make the world accessible. Today (October 14) is World Standards Day. The ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, along with the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and IEC (International Electrotechnical...
Something Fishy from China
Kansas City Star uses Datamyne to trace origins of fish oil supplements Fish oil sales in the U.S. are on the rise, from $35 million in 1995 to $359 million in 2005, and just under $1 billion last year, the Kansas City Star reports. Sold in capsule form, fish oil is...
Talk of the Trade
Incoterms 2010 simplify the rules by Bill Armbruster Incoterms are a vitally important component of international trade. They are an internationally recognized set of terms that define which party in a transaction is responsible for arranging transportation and...
America’s Top (Ag) Export
U.S. growers want to open more markets to soybeans It’s the time of year when U.S. soybean growers are asked to send in samples to provide a preview of new-crop soybean quality for international purchasers. Growers underwrite the cost of the annual quality survey with...
Food Supply Chains: Secure Enough?
The FDA mandates registration of imported food facilities By Peter Quinter, guest columnist On December 12, 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. That Act basically required that companies shipping food to the U.S....
Aiming High
The NEI report to the president recommends a program to double exports The White House has released a report on the National Export Initiative (NEI) nine months into the five-year goal of doubling U.S. exports set by the president in his state-of-the-union address in...
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...
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....