News from TAHOCO: Weekly Updates

An updated list of recently published US government memorandums, notices, regulations and decisions for the week ending November 5, 2010 is now available on our website here.

Economy Gets Modest Boost from Stronger U.S., Steady Canadian Job Creation

(CBC News – Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press)

Prospects for the North American economy brightened a shade Friday with the release of fresh data showing job gains entrenching in Canada and finally emerging in the critical U.S. market. Canada’s unemployment rate slid to 7.9% last month – the lowest since June – on thin net job creation of 3,000 and fewer people looking for work.

More important for the overall economy is that the U.S. finally appears to be coming out of the doldrums. October saw 151,000 new jobs created, more than twice what had been expected, and revisions added 100,000 jobs to the previous two-month tally.

“Arguably, the U.S. employment report is more important to Canada than Canada’s employment report,” explained Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist with BMO Capital Markets. “The reasoning is, if the U.S. economy does well, then the global economy does well and commodity prices do well and Canada benefits from a strong U.S. economy.”

Manufacturers and exporters also stand to benefit from a stronger U.S. economy, particularly if American households resume spending on autos and homes. Read more here.

U.S. Midterms and Canada: We Must Defend Our Interests

(The Globe and Mail – Alan Gottlieb and Colin Robertson)

U.S. The U.S. Congress has undergone another sea change as a result of Tuesday’s midterm elections and the Republican wave with a Tea Party crest. What has not changed is the requirement for vigilance in defence of Canadian interests. Those interests are our economic prosperity, our need for a wider and enhanced international trading system, and an open border between our two countries.

From the standpoint of our interests, Congress is the organ of government of greatest concern to Canada. In the U.S. system of checks and balances, the three branches of government are said to be co-equal, but they’re not, by constitutional design of the Founding Fathers. Congress, not the presidency, is primus inter pares.

When the levers of power are divided between the two principal adversaries in Washington, there’s a better chance for bipartisan rule-making than when power is monopolized. This is because without a deal, there’s no legislation. Such is the potential for economic benefit or harm caused by decision-making in an economy the size of the United States, slowness of response may well be preferable to hasty action and, if gridlock or paralysis is a result, it might well be preferable to bad legislation.

The world is likely to be better off through avoidance of monopolization of the levers of power by one party in Washington. But foremost of the countries that would benefit would likely be Canada, because our dependency on the economic health of the U.S., even if diminishing somewhat, has no equal. Read more here.
Related: U.S. election is good news for Canada (Montreal Gazette) Allan Gotlieb, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States, is senior adviser to Bennett Jones LLP. Colin Robertson, the first head of the Washington embassy’s advocacy secretariat, is vice-president of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute and strategic adviser to McKenna Long and Aldridge LLP.

EU to Rewrite Air Cargo Security Measures

(Journal of Commerce Online – Bruce Barnard)

Aviation security experts to present tighter rules in December

The European Union Nov. 5 gave its security experts a month to draw up tighter air cargo security measures in the wake of two foiled bomb plots on U.S.-bound flights. The European Commission, the EU’s executive, will present concrete proposals at the next meeting of transport ministers from the bloc’s 27 member states on Dec. 2, EU transport commissioner Siim Kallas said.

Kallas chaired a meeting in Brussels Friday of European aviation security experts who discussed ways of improving security and identifying loopholes in the air freight transport chain. The meeting was prompted by the discovery Oct. 29 of one bomb at East Midlands airport in the UK after it arrived on a flight from Cologne, Germany, and another in Dubai. Both originated in Yemen.

On Friday, the UK introduced tougher security checks on air cargo shipments from the Middle East, south Asia and North Africa, revoking more than 30 transshipment exemptions. Read more here.

Rare Earths Stand Is Asked of G-20

(New York Times – Keith Bradsher)

An unusually broad coalition of business groups in North America, Europe and Asia has sent a letter to the heads of state of the Group of 20 major economies, asking them to make a commitment at their meeting this month in Seoul that trade in crucial rare earths will not be interrupted because of industrial policies or political disputes.

The range of countries and industries whose business groups signed the letter underscores the level of worry in corporations around the world about recent export restrictions placed on rare earths by China, which mines 95% of such materials. The minerals processed from them are needed for products and processes like cellphones, cars, clean energy and the production of missiles and sonar. Read more here.

Lacey Act Implementation – Re-opening of Comment Period for Proposed Rule regarding Definitions of “Common Cultivar and “Common Food Crop”

The U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is reopening the comment period for its proposed rule that would establish definitions for the terms “common cultivar” and “common food crop”. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

APHIS will consider all comments received on this Docket No. APHIS-2009-0018 on or before November 29, 2010. For a copy of the proposed rule with the definitions, as well as the regulatory impact analysis, please refer to the  Federal Register and APHIS supporting materials.To submit comments directly go here.

NAFTA Surface Trade Gains 25.3% in August

(Transport Topics)

Surface transportation trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 25.3% in August from a year earlier, the Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

Trade among the North American Free Trade Agreement partners increased to $68 billion year-over-year, DOT’s Bureau of Trade Statistics said in its monthly report.

Freight trade value rose 10.9% from July but was 5.9% below the level of August 2008, DOT said.

U.S.-Canada trade improved 21.1% to $39.9 billion and the value of truck imports to the U.S. rose 23.2%, while truck exports gained 19.8%. Read more here.

DHS Steps Up Cargo Screening

(HS Today)
US homeland security officials Wednesday engaged shipping companies and other nations alike on increasing the screening of cargo being shipped to the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke directly with international shipping companies, including DHS, FedEx, TNT, and UPS, to discuss methods of strengthening the screening of cargo on their planes in the wake of last week’s discovery of explosives sent to US destinations from Yemen onboard cargo planes.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could offer technical assistance to the companies to boost screening and operations to protect US-bound cargo, Napolitano told the companies. DHS also would provide terrorism awareness training to some of the more than one million employees total working for the companies.

Napolitano also reached out to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an airline industry group, to talk about ways of working with the private sector and international allies to protect the global supply chain from terrorist threats. In a conversation with IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani, the secretary stressed the need to coordinate activities at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) with private businesses to run background checks on personnel who handle cargo, to train employees, and to set cargo screening procedures. Read more here.

China Trade: The ‘Dalai Lama Effect’

(CNN)

Countries whose top leadership meet with the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, lose on average 8.1 percent in exports to China in the two years following the meeting, according to a recent study.

Called the “Dalai Lama Effect,” the study by the University of Gottingen in Germany found the negative impact on exports began when President Hu Jintao took office in 2002.

The study is the first empirical analysis demonstrating the economic consequence of such meetings. Machinery and transportation equipment exports suffered the most consistent negative impact, following meetings with the 14th Dalai Lama, according to study authors Andreas Fuchs and Nils-Hendrik Klann.

“We wanted to find out the impact of the rising role of China in the world ... to find out what we should expect of China’s role in the world in the coming years,” researcher Fuchs told CNN. “It is clear that politics has played a huge role in China’s commercial relationships.”

China says it opposes politicizing trade and economic ties. However, prior to each of the Dalai Lama’s meetings with leaders, the Chinese government often openly threatens that such meetings will lead to damaged trade relations with China. Read more here.

WTO Says 32 States Took Anti-Dumping Actions in H1

(Engineering News)

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has stated that 32 WTO member states reported taking anti-dumping actions during the first half of 2010. This came after the meeting of the committee on anti-dumping practices, where a number of these actions were questioned, and the members concerned were urged to follow WTO rules.

The WTO secretariat previously reported that during the second half of 2008, initiations of new anti-dumping investigations increased 17% compared with the corresponding period of 2007, while there were 208 initiations of new anti-dumping investigations in 2008, as compared to 163 in 2007, and 202 in 2006. No statistics on anti-dumping investigations were released for 2009. Read more here.

Thomas Melvill, Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne All Are Part of CBP History?

(CBP)

All three of these prominent men in American history at some point in their lives served as officers of the U.S. Customs Service during the period from 1789 to 1885. They also shared interpersonal ties through family or friendship.

In addition, all three men shared a tendency to manipulate the spelling of their surnames. Thomas Melvill did not use the traditional "e" at the end of his surname. When asked why he did not use the "e" he would simply reply that his father did not. His grandson, Herman Melville was born a Melvill, but sometime after his father's death in 1832 his family added the "e," which continues in use by the descendants of Allan Melvill. Hawthorne was born Nathaniel Hathorne, Jr. and shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College and the start of his writing career he decided to present himself as Hawthorne, with a "w" included. Read more here.

IATA Calls for Global Coordinated Cargo Security

(eyefortransport)

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on security regulators around the world to work together in addressing the challenges related to cargo security and data collection.
IATA also unveiled plans to lead a global effort to build an airport checkpoint of the future, which will tighten security and ease passenger hassle. Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general & CEO, said: “The events in Yemen have put cargo security at the top of our agenda. Airfreight drives the world economy. The products that we carry represent 35% of the total value of goods traded internationally. In 2009, airlines carried 26 million tonnes of international cargo. By 2014, that will increase to 38 million tonnes. Transporting these goods safely, securely and efficiently is critical.”

While Bisignani commended all the governments for their swift, coordinated and targeted response, he noted four principles to drive air cargo security programs… Read more here.

Forwarders to Pay US $50.3 Million

(CargoNews Asia)

Six international freight forwarding companies have agreed in the USA to plead guilty to price fixing and pay a total of US$50.3 million in criminal fines.

The US Justice Department says BAX Global has agreed to pay a fine of US$19.7 million, Panalpina World Transport (Holding) US$11.9 million, Kuehne + Nagel US$9,865,044, EGL Inc US$4.5 million, Schenker US$3.5 million and Geologistics International Management (Bermuda) US$687,960.

“The Department’s investigation uncovered six different conspiracies in the United States and across the globe,” said Christine Varney of the Justice Department’s antitrust division. “Our investigation continues,” she said.

Eighteen airlines already have pleaded guilty or agreed to do so in connection with the investigation, including Qantas, British Airways, Korean Air Lines, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air France, EL AL Israel Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines Co and China Airlines.

China Accuses US of Fomenting Currency War as Fed Stimulus Looms

(International Business Times – Jijo Jacob)

China took the fight to the enemy camp on Monday by squarely blaming the U.S. policies for a spate of currency interventions by countries like Japan, South Korea and Thailand and that the continued weakness of the U.S. dollar is threatening to intensify the currency war.

“The continued and drastic U.S. dollar depreciation recently has led countries including Japan, South Korea and Thailand to intervene in the currency market, intensifying a ‘currency war’,” China’s commerce ministry said in report, days ahead of an much anticipated decision by the U.S Federal Reserve to launch a second edition of quantitative easing (QE) which will put further downward pressure on the U.S. dollar. China’s commerce ministry also said a weak U.S. dollar threatens to hit the profitability of its exporters, in a bid to blunt the long-held U.S. view that China’s currency policy has tilted global trade in favor of Beijing. The spiking of rhetoric from Beijing comes at a time when signs of increasing aggression, both economic and political, from the world’s second largest economy is rattling many in the U.S. as well as the rest of the world. Read more here.

Japan and Vietnam Agree on Mining of Rare Earths

(The New York Times)

Vietnam has chosen Japan as a partner to mine rare earth minerals and develop nuclear power in the Communist country, Prime Minister Naoto Kan of Japan said on Sunday. Mr. Kan made the comments to reporters after meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, in Hanoi. He said it was a sign of the “strategic partnership between the two countries.”

Japan announced plans last month to begin mining in Vietnam for rare earths used in the manufacture of products like laptops, cellphones and hybrid cars, in a bid to reduce its dependence on China. Although deposits of rare earths are found in various parts of the world, including the United States, China produces about 95 percent of the world’s supply. Rare earth mining and processing can be environmentally dangerous, creating toxic byproducts, so other countries have tended to avoid or abandon production. Only recently have countries started to foster their own mines. Read more here.