The UK should expect the US to impose the same tariffs as now apply to China, Brazil and India, should it opt out of the European Union, Michael Froman, the US Trade Representative, told Reuters October 28. British voters will decide before the end of 2017 whether to...
On a Roll: American Lobster Exports
We were surprised to see lobsters break into the top 25 US agricultural exports for the first time in our latest monthly ranking report, based on the value of trade in August. Typically, the ag trade ranking reports are dominated by in-season commodities such as...
Fueling Speculation: Gigafactory’s Need for Lithium
We called it a new HS code for Tesla – the new Harmonized System tariff code that distinguishes lithium-ion batteries imported to run electric vehicles from all the rest of Li-Ion batteries destined for digital devices, appliances and power tools. But, of course,...
A New HS Code for Tesla (and Other EV Makers)
Yet another sign that electric cars are catching on: A new 10-digit Harmonized Tariff System code has been established for the lithium-ion batteries used to power electrical vehicles: HS 8507.60.0010. Until now, the HS codes did not distinguish between EV batteries...
Warning Signs in Trade Data on China Presaged Drop (Says WSJ)
Global stock markets had a rude awakening last week when signs that China’s economy is slowing became unmistakable. Not so the astute market observers who have been tracking the trade data on China – or so reports the Wall Street Journal. According to the WSJ, one...
Trade Data on China: Eye on Export Competition
China’s currency devaluations aimed at making its goods more attractively priced for global markets have prompted the Obama administration to urge the world’s leading exporter to rely less on foreign sales and more on domestic consumption to stabilize and grow its...
Trade Data on Tianjin, China: Traffic in US Imports
The repercussions from August 12’s deadly Tianjin blast continue to be felt across global supply chains. Generally ranked among China’s (and by extension the world’s) top 10 ports, Tianjin handled US$45,681,904,539 worth of exports, accounting 6.10% of the country’s...
Steelmakers Pushback against Low Price Imports
A trade complaint concerning hot-rolled steel filed with the Department of Commerce and US Trade Commission Tuesday is the latest move in a US steelmakers pushback against low price imports that “have been flooding our shores, substantially reducing selling prices,...
Trade Data on China: US Exports Take a Hit
The Mercosur countries feeling the pinch of China’s economic rebalancing act with its cutbacks in imports (as we wrote yesterday in Mercosur’s Falling Currencies Failing to Lift Exports) are not alone: Any country that counts on China as a customer for its exports is...
Mercosur’s Falling Currencies Failing to Lift Exports
One benefit of a weakening currency should be exports priced to move in the global marketplace. So the slide in value of, for example, Brazil’s real should be translating into rising exports. But that’s not happening in Brazil or other key emerging markets that the...