In taking over Jim Beam, makers of the world’s best-selling bourbon, Suntory is not only aiming for a bigger presence in the US market, say analysts. The Japanese company is also banking on the world’s growing thirst for the spirit that Congress declared a...
LatAm Chemical Trade Stats Point to Savings for US Purchasers
by Brian J. McCormick, guest columnist Chemcost’s search for “the New Cheap”* winds up this month with a big opportunity story in Latin American trade. Last month we focused on Brazil (see Brazil’s In-Balance Trade Offers One Sweet Saving Opportunity). This month our...
SolarWorld Moves to Close Loophole in Anti-Dumping Orders
SolarWorld has petitioned the US International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce to close a loophole in year-old trade remedies – through which, it claims, Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers are dumping under-priced solar panels on the US market. It was...
What to Expect from CBP in 2014: 10 Predictions
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist Here is my annual list of predictions for US Customs and Border Protection in the year ahead: 1. President Obama will nominate and the Senate will confirm a new, permanent CBP Commissioner. 2. CBP’s...
The Boxes under the White House Christmas Tree
Over at the World Bank blog The Trade Post, the stacked cargo shipping containers under the Christmas tree on the Ellipse south of the White House in Washington, DC, are seen as a signal of US support for an open and revived international trading system – one more...
Brazil’s In-Balance Trade Offers One Sweet Saving Opportunity
by Brian J. McCormick, guest columnist As promised last time, Chemcost’s search for “The New Cheap”* changes course this month and heads south to Brazil. What we find is that Brazil’s trade in the 10 chemical commodities that make up Datamyne’s US Best Price Benchmark...
For Lululemon, Changes at the Top (in Supply Lines Too?)
There might have been a chance that Lululemon’s decision to return the too-sheer pants it had recalled in March to stores in October as “Second Chance Pants” would be judged a brave (if misguided) attempt to snatch merchandising victory from the jaws of a marketing...
Venezuelan Trade Dilemma: Lift GDP or Lower Inflation?
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Latin American team reports Venezuelan GDP has slowed to 1.1% in the third quarter from 2.6% in the second quarter. The EIU analysts are particularly struck by a third-quarter contraction in Venezuelan imports of goods and services of...
Getting off an A-List No One Wants to Be on: FDA Import Alerts
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the responsibility under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics (FD&C) Act to stop any adulterated or mislabeled food products from entering the United States. Foreign companies that...
Commerce Dept. Wants Your Input on Advancing US-Mexico Economic Dialogue
Here’s a chance to weigh in – and maybe help shape – trade policy. The Department of Commerce is seeking public comment on the topics to be addressed by the US-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) initiated by Presidents Barack Obama and Enrique Peña Nieto in...