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Ukraine, known as the “breadbasket of Europe” given it’s long been among the world’s top ten wheat exporters and supplied over $6 billion in agricultural products to the European Union in 2020, has issued an emergency order Wednesday banning the export of grains and other products.The ban includes the export of wheat, oats, millet, buckwheat, sugar, live cattle, meat, and other products considered vital to the global economy. But amid wartime, and with Ukraine’s government saying many of its citizens are now starving under Russian siege, Ukraine’s minister of agrarian and food policy Roman Leshchenko said the drastic action was...

Brothers Joe and Dror Sery are accused of sending technical drawings and specs of defense projects to China, India without licenses. The former CEO of a San Diego-based company that manufactures tungsten components for the U.S. military has been charged alongside his brother on accusations of violating arms export laws, according to an indictment unsealed Friday. Joe Sery, 77, who used to own and run Tungsten Heavy Powder & Parts, and his brother, Dror Sery, 70, have been indicted on charges relating to a conspiracy to export sensitive information about defense systems to China and India without a license. Joe...

This morning we listed some of the countries that are dangerously (and almost exclusively) reliant on Russia and Ukraine for their wheat imports, highlighting Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and others…… which are facing an “Arab Spring” style food crisis (and potential uprising) in the coming weeks unless the Ukraine conflict is resolved. And unfortunately, we can now confidently predict that the coming food crisis will strike every country that is using food fertilizer – which is all – because moments ago, Russian Interfax reported that as part of Moscow’s countersanctions, Russia has recommended fertilizer makers to halt exports, a move which...

Technical drawings alleged to have been exported (by Honeywell) to China, among other countries, covered components used on various military aircraft, and more. That document includes the following list of impacted platforms, with a caveat that this was only some of the examples, rather than a full accounting: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter B-1B Lancer Long-Range Strategic Bomber F-22 Fighter Aircraft C-130 Military Transport Aircraft A-7H Corsair Aircraft A-10 Aircraft Apache Longbow Helicopter M1A1 Abrams Tank Tactical Tomahawk Missile T55 Turboshaft Engine

China has been quietly exploring the economic damage it could inflict to US and European companies - including defense contractors - if they were to impose export 'restrictions' on 17 rare-earth materials, according to a report in the Financial Times.Notably, the US government relies on these rare earths for the manufacture of F-35 jets and other sophisticated weaponry, which use them for critical components such as electrical power systems and magnets."The government wants to know if the US may have trouble making F-35 fighter jets if China imposes an export ban," said one Chinese government adviser who spoke on condition...

Recent Chinese media reports revealed that Beijing was seeking to export COVID-19 vaccines at extremely low prices, while selling them at considerably higher rates—more than 22.5 times in one case—inside China. As countries race toward developing a safe vaccine, the Chinese regime has aggressively pushed for Chinese manufacturers to export their doses to foreign countries. One Chinese drug company said it would sell the vaccine to Brazil for around $2 per dose. But in interviews with Chinese media, the company’s CEO said it would sell the vaccine at 300 yuan (about $44) per dose in China. The $2 per dose...

Goods made in Hong Kong for export to the United States will need to be labelled as made in China after Sept. 25, according to a U.S. government notice posted on Tuesday. The move follows China’s imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong and a U.S. decision to end the former British colony’s special status under U.S. law, escalating bilateral tensions that were already rising over trade war tariffs and the handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The latest step will see Hong Kong companies subject to the same trade war tariffs levied on mainland Chinese exporters, should they...

The head of Florida's Division of Emergency Management has accused U.S. mask manufacturer 3M of shipping the critical protective equipment to foreign countries who outbid U.S. buyers -- even as hospitals and state officials desperately scramble to secure N95 protective masks for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Jared Moskowitz told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Thursday that he discovered that 3M distributors were prioritizing foreign buyers after they refused to sell him the essential equipment. "For the last several weeks, we have had a boiler room chasing down 3M authorized distributors [and] brokers representing that they sell the...

In a significant move, India has banned the export of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-Malaria drug that is believed to work as a medicine for treating Coronavirus infected patients as well. According to a late-night notification by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the export of medication and the composition ingredients used for its manufacturing have been banned. "The export of Hydroxychloroquine and formulations made from Hydroxychloroquine under any ITCHS Code... is prohibited with immediate effect," the DGFT under the ministry said in the notification. Recently, the national task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended...

Chinese consumers are not happy about higher prices and decreased supplies of food.  Yesterday, Chinese buyers snapped up "at least 10 boatloads of soybeans," according to Reuters, as the U.S.-China trade war showed signs of compromise.  The South China Morning Post reports: Beijing will allow Chinese businesses to purchase a "certain amount of farm products such as soybeans and pork" from the United States, according to the Xinhua report. "China's market is big enough and there's great potential to import high-quality US farm products." The official Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday that China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce made...

China is threatening to take the trade war to the next stage: cut off rare earth metal supplies to US technology and defense industries. That’s according to a couple of Globaltimes editorials.” US faces squeeze on rare earths,” says one editorial. “US need for rare earths an ace on Beijing’s hand,” goes another. “Without a reliable domestic supply, the US must rely on rare earths from China to supply industries of strategic importance,” acknowledges Hu Weijia, author of the second editorial. “Rare earths are vital to many modern technologies and a wide array of weapon systems used by the US...

The US economy surged “unexpectedly” in the first quarter of 2019 to 3.2% growth. Economists predicted a 2.5% growth. Jack Posobiec ✝️ ✔ @JackPosobiec 🔥 Piers Morgan ✔ @piersmorgan BREAKING: US first-quarter GDP rockets by 3.2%, vs 2.5% expected growth. Brace yourselves Trump-haters, if the economy keeps doing so well, President @realDonaldTrump will be almost unstoppable in 2020. 277 9:11 AM - Apr 26, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 113 people are talking about this This won’t make many headlines… The US economy was boosted by a SHRINKING trade gap. Via the Wall Street Journal.

BMW announced this week that, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, it again leads America in automotive exports by sales value. This is thanks to the plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, BMW’s biggest global plant and the producer of most of its X crossovers and SUVs. BMW said the plant—which makes all the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 models and their M and hybrid versions sold worldwide—exported 234,689 cars abroad in 2018, a value of more than $8.4 billion. BMW said 356,749 SUVs were made there in total.

The United States became a net oil exporter last week for the first time in almost 75 years, a significant step toward achieving “energy independence and dominance,” as promoted by President Donald Trump. The United States had been a net oil importer since 1949. In the last week of November, however, weekly U.S. net imports of crude oil and petroleum products fell to minus 211,000 barrels per day (bpd), meaning the country became a net exporter of that amount, according to data from U.S. Energy Information and Administration. The news came on the back of a surge in crude exports...

The United States trade deficit dropped in May to the lowest level in 19 months as exports rose to a record level. The Department of Commerce announced the May trade deficit — the difference between what America sells and what it buys in foreign markets — decreased 6.6 percent to $43.1 billion — the smallest imbalance since October 2016. Exports climbed 1.9 percent to a record $215.3 billion. Imports were up a smaller 0.4 percent to $258.4 billion. The Trump administration followed through with imposing tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese products on Friday. China retaliated in kind, starting what...

India is set to emerge as a key market for American crude exports in coming months, as refineries are ramping up "test" purchases of US grades to diversify their imports. US exports recently set a weekly record with nearly 2 million barrels of crude a day sent overseas. But shipments to India+ have been rare, with just a few deliveries since the US lifted its ban on crude exports in late 2015. Indian refineries are starting to increase purchases as the country seeks to secure more supply from outside the Middle East. Refiners are testing both US sweet and sour...

The first shipment of U.S. anthracite coal to Ukraine is now heading from the U.S. port Baltimore, with a ceremony to mark the launch of the trade broadcast live on Facebook by the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States on Aug. 21. Pennsylvania-based XCoal Energy and Resources signed a contract with Ukrainian state energy company Centerenergo on July 31, guaranteeing the provision of 700,000 tons of anthracite coal in the next few months. The deal followed talks by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s with U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s administration in June. The first shipment of 62,000 tons, which cost...

[snip]Of all the egregious forms of modern day slavery, none is more despicable or far reaching than the export of slave labor by North Korea. It's estimated that North Korean slave labor is utilized in over 45 countries around the world.... [snip]In addition to their trade activity, these various organizations also operate hotels, Korean themed restaurants and gift stores selling traditional crafts, principally in China and Russia, all of which are staffed by North Korean laborers.

Suppressors are currently under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC). That means suppressors may not be sold to individuals overseas, only to approved governments. Suppressors are not extraordinary high technology. Sophisticated suppressors are not secrets. They can be produced by any concern with modern machinery. The current restrictions were put in place by a memorandum from the Department of State in 2002, a few months after the attack on 9/11.  While U.S. manufacturers are forbidden to sell to individuals overseas, foreign manufacturers are not.  A bill was introduced in the House of representatives in 2016...

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Do you know what your country’s biggest export is? Now, thanks to this map put out by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, you can find out. The map does not include the export of services, but highlights some interesting insights and global trends. Part of their Transforming World Atlas, the report highlights “how many countries in the world are dependent on commodities as the primary source of foreign income.” In a volatile global commodities market, it is a reminder of the risk posed by falling oil prices to economies around the world. The...