Free Republic

<p>At the docks here, the stacks of shipping containers that used to loom above the highway overpass are gone. Logistics managers say they negotiate deeper discounts every week on ships that are leaving half empty.</p> <p>In nearby Guangdong Province, so many factories are closing without paying employees that some workers are resigning pre-emptively and demanding immediate pay before their employers go bankrupt.</p>

CALGARY, Alberta — Walk into the downtown Calgary office of U.S. Consul General Tom Huffaker, and he’ll show you his well-worn plastic bag of bitumen. Huffaker, the U.S. government’s eyes and ears spanning a huge chunk of Canadian real estate covering two western provinces plus the expansive Northwest Territories, likes to pass around the bag containing several of the spongy, black chunks — made up of oil, sand, water and clay — as an icebreaker. Up close, the tar-like bitumen may not seem like anything of particular value, but when complex, costly processing methods are applied, it becomes liquid gold....

Somehow, the AP found a way to spin an excellent yield in crops this summer, despite flooding earlier in the midwest, into a doom and gloom article. US grain exports snagged by infrastructure delays

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit has gone on a diet, helped by strong exports of farm products and manufactured goods and by Americans spending less as the economy limps along. The deficit for June fell by 4.1 percent to $56.8 billion. That's the lowest level in three months and a surprise to economists who had expected an increase reflecting a big surge in oil prices during the month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. While oil prices did rise to a record level, exports of everything from soybeans and corn to aircraft engines and heavy machinery surged by the...

Russia has threatened criminal action against tobacco manufacturers after accusing US corporations of perpetrating "nicotine genocide" against the Russian people on the behalf of their capitalist masters. Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's combative chief public officer, said he had instructed state lawyers to explore the possibility of criminal prosecution of tobacco companies in the "service of US state capital". He accused them of causing a health crisis among young Russians by peddling cheap tobacco with high tar levels. The Soviet-style rhetoric of Mr Onishchenko's tirade and his reputation as a Kremlin attack dog will alarm foreign investors in Russia, who are likely...

Trade Facilitation by: Ben Giles, July 15, 2008 The Cato Institute’s Daniel Ikenson and World Bank’s Simeon Djankov presented the findings of a new Cato trade policy analysis at the Rayburn House Office Building on July 11. Ikenson’s paper, entitled Protection without Protectionism: Reconciling Trade and Homeland Security, highlights the disconnect between Americans’ perception of the economy and the realities of international trade. “The polls tell us that Americans have soured on trade…” said Ikenson. “It’s because Americans are barraged nightly by reports on the news that they’re losing their jobs and that the economy is imperiled by globalization and...

With gasoline prices zooming toward $4 a gallon — and beyond — readers are looking for relief and explanations. If fuel is in such short supply, why are refiners shipping some of it out of the country? I just read that refineries are exporting diesel. Is that true? And if it is true, then it proves how the oil companies are manipulating the prices!

A quantitative assessment of future net oil exports by the top five net oil exporters By Jeffrey J. Brown and Samuel Foucher There is increasing concern worldwide about global oil supplies, especially in the context of a global oil production peak. However, what really matters to oil importing countries is world net oil export capacity, and we are deeply concerned that the top five net oil exporting countries, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway, Iran and the UAE (United Arab Emirates), collectively accounting for about half of current world net oil exports, in aggregate are going to show an ongoing decline in...

Blistering Editorials Condemn Pelosi Decision to Close Colombia Market to U.S. Goods Boehner: "It's a Vote to Kill the Colombia Free Trade Bill" Washington, Apr 10 - Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) ramped up the Democrats’ War on American Jobs yesterday, deciding to unilaterally close the Colombian trade market to U.S. goods and kill a bilateral trade agreement that is being counted on by American farmers, ranchers, small business owners, and other exporters who are currently being denied fair access to an important and growing South American market. Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) called Speaker Pelosi’s move a decision to “kill...

Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher today announced the opening of the Ohio Department of Development's new international office in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The next site will cost taxpayers $50,000 a year.

Manufacturing is the key AMID the heady decadence of the Roaring Twenties in Berlin there arrived a man carrying a suitcase containing everything he owned. In his pocket he had a few Reichsmarks but barely enough for a city revelling in extravagance and extremes. He looked provincial, which he was, and decidedly out of place. But Gustav Krone had not exchanged the blackened skyline and smokestacks of the Ruhr to abandon himself to the fleshpots of Berlin. He was the eldest of a family of 10 children from Remscheid and was out to make his fortune. Within a few short...

As the dollar skids, dropping earlier this month to a 12-year low against the yen and another record low against the euro, U.S. exports are surging. That is providing a lone bright spot in an otherwise-gloomy economy and distinguishing this downturn from the last recession. When the U.S. faced recession in 2001, the greenback's value was riding high relative to other currencies, which hobbled exporters. This time, the opposite is occurring. Exports have already helped to counteract the impact of the beleaguered housing market. Over the past six quarters, exports have contributed, on average, nearly one percentage point to economic...

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) — Hugh Quinn has seen the ever-weakening dollar shatter his ability to sell hand-cut Irish lead crystal to American customers. Ingolf Haas says profit at his family-run cuckoo clock business in Germany has dropped at least 10 percent since the U.S. currency's latest decline began. Roberto Anselmi now sells more of his Italian white wine to Canada than to the United States. Times are tough for small and artisanal businesses across Europe that traditionally target Americans as their No. 1 buyers, since the swooning dollar shrinks their revenues from U.S. sales but their costs remain in expensive...

Canada and the United States must take steps now to unclog their border for exporters, who are hurting from costly delays and fees due to post-2001 security concerns, business leaders said on Wednesday. A joint report on reducing border costs by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce laid out 17 recommendations for both governments to deliver over the next 18 months. Canada-U.S. trade is worth about $1.5 billion a day -- the world's largest bilateral trading relationship. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attacks on the United States, shippers on both sides of the border...

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez sent a soothing message to American motorists on Sunday, saying that Venezuela is not preparing to cut off oil shipments to the United States. The socialist leader rattled oil markets last Sunday when he threatened to halt shipments to the United States in retaliation for Exxon Mobil Corp.'s success in convincing courts in the U.S. and Europe to freeze Venezuelan assets. "We don't have plans to stop sending oil to the United States," the socialist leader said Sunday during a visit to heavy-oil projects in Venezuela's petroleum-rich Orinoco River basin that were nationalized last...

WASHINGTON – Only exports stand between the economy and recession, setting up another national argument about how to handle the rising flow of goods in and out of the country. Transportation fights are usually about who pays to build the roads and transit systems, with little said about trade. The Bush administration and Gov. Rick Perry have supported tolls and steadfastly opposed higher gasoline taxes. A new national study urges paying for desperately needed improvements any way we can, but one thing it specifically recommends is an increase in the federal gas tax of 40 cents a gallon over the...

Contrary to popular wisdom, China's rapid growth is not hugely dependent on exportsMOST people suppose that China's economic success depends on exporting cheap goods to the rich world. If so, its growth would be seriously dented by a stuttering American economy. Headline figures show that China's exports surged from 20% of GDP in 2001 to almost 40% in 2007, which seems to suggest not only that exports are the main driver of growth, but also that China's economy would be hit much harder by an American downturn than it was during the previous recession in 2001. If exports are measured...

WASHINGTON – The Mexican government is considering blocking U.S. exports, such as pork and rice, should Congress cut off funding for a cross-border trucking program, as is expected to happen within days. Even if Congress ends funding for the contentious program through the catch-all spending bill that is under consideration, there is a growing expectation that the Bush administration will find a way to continue it in what some say would be an act of defiance and others say would be compliance with the law. “We anticipate that they'll find a way to keep it going,” said Leslie Miller, a...

The U.S. current account deficit narrowed during the third quarter as exports of capital goods and motor vehicles increased. The current account deficit shrank to $178.5 billion during July through September from a revised $188.9 billion in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Monday. The second-quarter deficit was originally reported as $190.8 billion. The current account balance combines trade of goods and services, transfer payments, and investment income. About 90% of the deficit is accounted for by the balance in goods and services.

The weak dollar is threatening the survival of European planemaker Airbus, chief executive Tom Enders told workers in Hamburg on Thursday. And the firm once again warned that its cost saving plan would have to cut deeper to counter the impact of the weakening US currency. Airbus is owned by European aerospace and defence group EADS. "The dollar's rapid decline is life-threatening for Airbus," Mr Enders said in the speech to employees.

Fred Thompson took the stage in Michigan this afternoon in his first presidential debate. Thompson entered the race just over a month ago, announcing his candidacy on late night tv -- in an effort to upstage his opponents sparring that evening in another debate. Some political observers called this the most important performance of Thompson's life. Over the past three weeks, support for Thompson has slipped in the polls, while rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney noticed steady increases. The moderators started the debate, " Senator Thompson this is your first debate, and we kick it off with you." Answering...

Road plans in Texas have conspiracy theorists in an uproar I am driving along a mostly empty road in rural Fayette County, Texas, about an hour east of Austin, looking for the NAFTA superhighway -- the one that Stephen Harper, George W. Bush and Felipe Calderón mocked as a conspiracy theory when they were asked about it at their trilateral meeting in Montebello, Que., in August. Critics, who say that behind the leaders' denials lurks a larger, nefarious plan to unite North America, fear that such a roadway will eventually be a four-football-stadium-wide artery connecting Mexico, the U.S. and Canada,...

"Reports of the death of U.S. manufacturing have been greatly exaggerated." This is the opening line in a revealing and timely economic analysis aptly titled "Thriving in a Global Economy — The Truth About U.S. Manufacturing and Trade." =============================================================== The Good News is we're doomed! Part II 9/3/07 Early Tuesday morning I was tuned to Squawk on the Street on CNBC. Big economic report about to be released. During the wait, the ominous drumbeat from the TV box: 'Period of anxiety', 'period of uncertainty', 'period of fear', 'worst yet to come', 'credit collapse', 'credit crunch', 'subprime collapse', 'housing collapse', 'recession...

The safety problems affecting Chinese goods spread from toys to textiles on Monday as New Zealand said it would investigate allegations that imported children’s clothes contained dangerous levels of formaldehyde. The government ordered the probe after scientists hired by a consumer watchdog programme discovered formaldehyde in Chinese clothes at levels of up to 900 times regarded as safe. Manufacturers sometimes apply formaldehyde to clothes to prevent mildew. It can cause skin rashes, irritation to the eyes and throat and allergic reactions. The Warehouse, a New Zealand retailer, issued a recall at the weekend for children’s pyjamas made in China after...

I distinctly remember reading/hearing/seeing a recent news item about how American exports had exceeded imports. Now that I come to search for a source for that news item, I cannot find any mention of it anywhere. I am certain that I did not make it up, and am wondering if perhaps I the news was restricted to one certain sector of the market, or in relation to one specific country, or some such overlooked detail. Are there any newshounds who can confirm, deny or clarify this clear but unsourced memory of mine? I have already searched Drudge, FR, Fox, Google...

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican media conglom Televisa aims to produce its first content in Mandarin Chinese by year-end as it moves to gain a foothold in the growing Chinese market and deepen its relationship with government-operated China Central Television (CCTV). Televisa's corporate VP of TV Jose Baston said Thursday that Mexico's top web would partner with Chinese producers to adapt telenovelas as well as formats like competish "Dancing for a Dream" for the Chinese market... Baston will lead a mission to China in June to close Televisa's first co-production deal with Chinese producers and discuss the distribution of its pay...

NAFTA SUPERHIGHWAY | An urban myth or reality? Super suspicious foes The government denies any such plans, but campaign against it continues. By MATT STEARNS McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON | If the government really has a secret plan for a 12-lane road-and-rail NAFTA Superhighway that will split the heartland from Mexico to Canada, it is playing with a great poker face. “There is absolutely no U.S. government plan for a NAFTA Superhighway of any sort,” said David Bohigian, an assistant secretary of commerce. Sen. Kit Bond, a Missouri Republican and a powerful member of committees that would authorize and pay for...

A proposed North American “super corridor” would relieve overburdened highways and promote economic growth in three countries, supporters say. But others wonder whether the proposal might bring in cheap exports and put unsafe Mexican trucks on U.S. roads. The issue takes center stage at a three-day conference that begins today in Fort Worth, Texas. More than 350 transportation, logistics and economic development specialists from the United States, Canada and Mexico are meeting. The conference is sponsored by Dallas-based North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition. The nonprofit coalition, whose members include public- and private-sector organizations, wants to develop an integrated transportation system linking...

The Economy: You used to know good economic times were nearing an end when stock leadership rotated into such "late cycle" plays as steel, chemicals and machinery. But that, as they say, was then. And this, as they also say, is now. And when it comes to shares of these and other "basic" industries, now is wow! Unlike past bull markets, when "quality" leadership was synonymous with new-age jack rabbits grouped in the tech, medical and retail sectors, slower-moving old America is stealing the show. Credit a global economic boom that the U.S. not only made possible by defeating communism...

Daniel Drew, the legendary 19th century Wall Street insider, reputedly said that all he wanted in any deal was "a little unfair advantage." Most of America's trade competitors seem to want the same thing, or even a big unfair advantage. Imagine how it would help the competitiveness of American exporters if U.S. companies could cut their prices an average of 19 percent in Europe and 17 percent in Asia. Imagine what it would also mean if foreign imports into the United States from overseas were raised by the same percentages. U.S. financial generosity to our allies after World War II...

China surpassed the United States as the world's second-largest exporter last year and now makes more cars than Detroit, among the latest signs that the Asian giant is rapidly ascending to what many analysts expect will be the world's largest and most influential economy as soon as a decade from now. The road of China's ascent has been paved with exports of a broad range of goods from cars to computers and toys sent to countries around the world, with the U.S. being its top export market. But China's huge population of 1.3 billion also promises to become the world's...

A two-year ban on long-term toll road leases with private companies, pockmarked with exceptions and thus largely symbolic, cleared a Texas Senate committee Wednesday on a unanimous vote. However, the more meaningful action on toll roads should begin in the next two weeks, when a large bill addressing a wide range of concerns over tollways will be introduced in the Senate. The much-publicized moratorium bill by Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, Senate Bill 1267, has an excellent chance of passing the Senate, given that 29 of 31 senators have either signed on as co-sponsors or voted for it in committee. But despite...

The Bush administration yesterday accused 63 trading partners, including China and the European Union, of erecting unfair barriers to American exports. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab released the new report, which the administration is required to prepare as a way of informing Congress of its priorities in trying to tear down harmful trade barriers. "A significant amount of work remains to knock down trade barriers and ensure that American exporters have new economic opportunities across the globe," Mrs. Schwab said. "The report demonstrates that the administration continues to use all enforcement tools at its disposal to ensure fair treatment in...

SHANGHAI, China — A tightening of U.S. export controls over technology shipped to China has reached the bureaucratic endgame, igniting fears that U.S. high-tech gear bound for one of the world's fastest-growing economies will become mired in a tangle of red tape that encourages buyers to shop elsewhere. The changes, championed by the Bush administration, may fall into place as early as April and are intended to cast a wider net over commercial technology products that might make a "material contribution" to the ad- vancement of China's military. The proposal, known as the "military catchall," is pitting hawks in the...

Sweden 'needs war to sell fighter planes' Sweden's military leadership wants to see JAS Gripen fighter planes sent into combat in Afghanistan and Africa, partly as a means of showcasing the planes for the export market. If the government accepts the military's forthcoming proposals, it will be the first time since a 1962 UN mission to Congo that Swedish Air Force planes are used in armed battle. Speaking to Sveriges Radio, Major General Jan Jonsson foresees JAS Gripen fighter aircraft being deployed in direct battle situations. "We can't rule out using air force back-up in difficult situations where our ground...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly fell for a third straight month in November as exports of commercial airplanes and other products hit an all-time high and the bill for foreign oil declined to the lowest level in 16 months. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit fell by 1 percent to $58.2 billion in November, the lowest monthly total since July 2005. The deficit hasn't declined for three consecutive months since early 2003. Click here to visit FOXBusiness.com's Economy Center. The November improvement came as a surprise. Analysts had forecast a slight increase from October's deficit of...

"India-Sweden trade hits $1.7bn NEW DELHI: Trade between Sweden and India has doubled between ’02 and ’06 to about $1.7bn per year. With Swedish exports to India increasing by 42.5% in ’06 alone, the country is optimistic that the future of bilateral trade relations between the two countries is bright. Launching the second edition of the Sweden-India Business Guide ’06-’07, Harald Falth of the Swedish embassy pointed out that trade had multiplied in both directions. “India is the third-largest export market for Sweden in Asia. And Indian export to Sweden is steadily increasing. The two-way future of Swedish-Indian trade sure...

Actress-turned-activist Bo Derek is spearheading a campaign to stop the export of horsemeat to Europe and Japan. Three European-owned factories in the U.S. send some 26 million pounds of horsemeat overseas each year. Now Derek, who first came to national attention in the 1979 movie "10,” has joined other celebrities and horse lovers in an attempt to shut down the plants — two in Texas and one in Illinois. In September, the House of Representatives passed the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which bans the transportation and sale of horses for human consumption. But it’s unclear whether the Senate will...

" While Danish milk products were dumped in the Middle East, fervent rightwing Americans started buying Bang & Olufsen stereos and Lego. In the first quarter of this year Denmark’s exports to the US soared 17%. The British writer Christopher Hitchens organised a buy-Danish campaign. Among the thousands of emails sent to Rose was one from an American soldier serving in Iraq. “He told me he was sitting in Iraq, watching a game of football and drinking a can of Carlsberg,” Rose said. Rose is not the only person to have prospered from the crisis. Re-elected last year, Mr Rasmussen...

Although most economists keep insisting that their discipline is all about peaceful competition, it’s increasingly clear that they need to do violence to language and logic when defending today’s U.S. globalization policies. The latest example: Arthur B. Laffer’s recent suggestion in a Wall Street Journal article that the term "trade deficit" is a misnomer. Instead, insisted the "Father of Supply-Side Economics" and former guru to President Reagan, Americans should call their country’s bloated excess of imports over exports a "capital surplus" – reflecting the borrowing from abroad needed to sustain it. Unfortunately for the United States, word games can’t possibly...

Between 1990 and 2002 more than 174 million people escaped poverty in China, about 1.2 million per month.[1] With an estimated $23 billion in Chinese exports in 2005 (out of a total of $713 billion in manufacturing exports),[2] Wal-Mart might well be single-handedly responsible for bringing about 38,000 people out of poverty in China each month, about 460,000 per year. There are estimates that 70 percent of Wal-Mart's products are made in China.[3] One writer vividly suggests that "One way to think of Wal-Mart is as a vast pipeline that gives non-U.S. companies direct access to the American market." [4]...

[...] The current round of trade talks was launched in 2001 at Doha, Qatar, an authoritarian location conveniently off- limits to protesters. [...] The trade agenda has been set by business elites who would impose one economic model on the world -- the model of laissez-faire. This model rejects more than a century of Western history, during which democracies have relied on government regulation and social investment to temper the instability and income extremes of a pure market economy. The elite model would also coerce Third World countries to give up their successful development strategies, in which government helps local...

$100 billion in annual exports is India's new target. Add to that 25 million new jobs within the next 4 years. These are India's new economic goals. India expects its low-cost labor force and expertise in engineering to continue to draw investment into the country's manufacturing sector. India, of course, is known as a services hub. She would like to add to that growth in: 1. Engineering 2. Textiles 3. Drugs (legal) & 4. Auto Parts In any event, India will grow and grow and grow... Do you have plans for business with India? Why or why not?

Denmark endured a brief if intense boycott in the wake of its free press offending those Muslims who wish to impose Shari’a law restrictions on the entire world with regard to their Prophet Muhammad. A reader from Denmark who will remain anonymous (Denmark is a small country with inflamed jihadis readily able to identify individuals for repraisal) wrote us: The MSM in Denmark yesterday cited a brand-new report from the Danish ‘Institut for Konjunktur-Analyse’ that unambiguously shows that the “cartoon crisis” has had a positive impact on Danish exports. The export business is literally booming and the result for the...

According to this report, China is making inroads into India's domestic market. Imagine that: China can produce textile raw material and export it to India CHEAPER than India can do it on its own. The increase in imports to India from China is growing at a 33% a year rate. The reasons: 1. India has lower-scale operations. 2. India cannot fulfill large-scale orders. 3. India cannot produce specialized fabrics. Thus, India has to rely on imported fabrics. It appears that the quality of products produced in China and Taiwan is higher. These products have more uniform shades and fewer defects...

(06/09/2006 10:51 AM EDT) WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department has withdrawn proposed changes to export rules that would have tighten restrictions on foreign researchers working in the U.S. The department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said last week it is withdrawing two "deemed" exports proposals that originated with the Defense Department. They would have limited foreign researchers' access to sensitive U.S. technologies. According to the Commerce Department, "An export of technology or source code (except encryption source code) is 'deemed' to take place when it is released to a foreign national within the United States." The bureau said in...

BEIJING -- The U.S. will soon propose changes to its security controls on the export of high-technology products to China as the administration rethinks its approach to the system, according to a top U.S. trade official. The export controls are designed to monitor trade in "dual-use" goods, or products that can have civilian and military uses. The designation covers a widening range of technology products as a result of the growing role of information and communication systems in modern warfare. Balancing security and business concerns is difficult for U.S. policy makers. The widening trade deficit with China has increased the...

(GRD Photos) (GRD Photos) Al-Basrah Oil Terminal Improvements Increase Oil Exports By Lisa J. Anderson Gulf Region Southern District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Base Camp Adder (Ali Base) Iraq – The Al-Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT) Hydraulic Bridge System Repair is now complete. After years of neglect and disrepair, the telescopic platform bridging systems at Berths 1 & 2 (Platform A) and Berths 3 and 4 (Platform B) were removed, repaired and reinstalled. Hydraulic power units, directional control valves and other system-critical equipment was also repaired and reinstalled. This refurbishment will make terminal operations more efficient which will increase the terminal’s...

SAN DIEGO - A Pakistani who spent five years in prison for selling missile parts to Iran in the 1980s was convicted Friday of illegally exporting military aircraft parts to Belgium, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. Arif Ali Durrani was convicted in U.S. District Court on four counts of exporting engine parts and other components for the F-5 fighter jet and the Chinook helicopter, said Jennifer Silliman, assistant special agent in charge for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego. Durrani was also convicted on one count of conspiracy to export parts, she said. The ultimate destination for the...

JERUSALEM: Israel’s defence ministry has authorised Israeli companies to resume the export of military hardware to China after months of trade blocked under US pressure, an official said Thursday. “Procedures for granting export permits is open again,” an official from the ministry told AFP on condition of anonymity. The director of the ministry, Yaakov Toren, was quoted as saying in the Israeli press that some export permits were issued “in cooperation with the United States”. “Companies will come and see us (at the defence ministry) and we will judge on a case by case basis with or without consultation with...