World Trade articles from September 2004

World Trade archives from September 2004

Improving DSO in the International Trade Arena.(Advertorial)(Days Sales Outstanding)(Advertisement)
September 1, 2004... In an environment characterized by rising interest rates and narrowing margins, the strategic focus of corporations is on the optimization of capital--and rightly so. For if capital is the life-blood of business, the more effectively it is...

Supply chains aren't a back office anymore.(Inside World Trade)
September 1, 2004... Kurt Kuehn, who became UPS's Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Marketing a while back, rings an unusual background to his new job. Unlike most marketing counterparts elsewhere, he has extensive experience in corporate finance (among...

The dual tracks of global trade policy.(Policy Perspectives)
September 1, 2004... There's a popular cartoon where a tiny king, menaced by a rival, dismisses the invader's threat to destroy his castle by proclaiming that it is fully insured. "Ah," retorts the other king vengefully, "but that means your insurance premiums will...

Prototype planned for transport workers' ID cards.(Transportation worker (prototype) identification card)(Transportation Security Administration)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... An official with the federal Transportation Security Administration says the agency will launch a prototype identification card for transportation workers in mid-November. The prototype phase is the third step in TSA's development of a...

Transportation Services Index (TSI).(Tradewinds: the latest trends in the world of trade)(Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Transportation Services Index (TSI) reached its highest level in the 14-year period covered by the index with a 0.8 percent rise in April, the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported. The overall TSI...

Trucking industry's 'hours-of-service' rule overturned.(The Americas)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... In July, a U.S. federal appeals court overturned new rules governing how many hours truckers can spend behind the wheel before resting. The rules went into effect in early January, and were the first substantial overhaul of industry regulations...

Thailand to beef up customs agency, inspect more containers.(Asia-Pacific)(Central information technology unit )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Although Thailand has been criticized in the past for lax customs procedures, that's likely to change in the near future. The government has announced plans to create a central information technology unit for its customs agency, which is part...

China, U.S. reach open skies pact.(Asia-Pacific)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Officials from the U.S. and China have reached agreement on an open skies pact that will allow U.S. cargo carriers to establish hubs in China and increase their number of weekly flights to that country. Under terms of the deal, each country can...

India FDI down only slightly.(Asia-Pacific)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Foreign direct investment flows to India were down slightly from 2001 through 2003, reports the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Nonetheless, the 2.9 percent decline (from $5.3 billion to $5.0 billion) was substantially lower than the 16...

Japan--land of the rising economy.(Asia-Pacific)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Six years of deflation may finally be coming to an end, as the Japanese government has doubled its forecast for the rate of economic growth this fiscal year to 3.5 percent, the fastest pace in eight years After years of falling prices and...

Singapore investing millions in IT to expedite logistics.(Asia-Pacific)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Singapore says it plans to invest $29 million over the next five years to develop a web-based system to improve information exchange between companies in the logistics and transportation sectors. At present, many companies still rely on...

EU talks 'free trade' with Mercosur.(Europe)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The president of a Miami, Florida-based multinational research and consulting firm, which specializes in Latin America, says negotiations over a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur (the trade bloc comprising Argentina,...

Rotterdam box traffic continues to boom.(Europe)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Port of Rotterdam--the world's largest container port--announced that container traffic for the first half of the year hit 4 million TEUs. The figure represents a 12 percent rise, or 500,000 TEUs, over the same period in 2003. Willem...

Russia closer to WTO membership.(Europe)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... After 11 years of trying to join the WTO, Russia may finally be closing in on accession, says the country's chief negotiator. Russia could join by the end of 2005, providing it can reach the necessary bilateral accords this year. Under...

Oman, U.S. sign Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).(Middle East & Africa)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Oman and the U.S. have signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA)--a step towards creating bilateral ties in trade and investment between the two countries. According to the U.S. Trade Representative's office, Oman is the final...

Air cargo saves the bacon: whether in times of crisis or by design, air cargo is figuring more prominently in global supply chains.
September 1, 2004... "A lot of companies with fairly sophisticated supply chain designs are beginning to rise air cargo as a competitive advantage as opposed to just viewing it as a cost," says Ed Feitzinger, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Menlo...

Managing the global cold chain: as agricultural trade shifts to value-added non-bulk, perishable logistics must re-tool to serve expanding worldwide demand.
September 1, 2004... Four hundred frozen carcases were shipped on a two month voyage from Australia in 1880 to the United Kingdom using a simple refrigeration plant. That marked the beginning of modern global agricultural trade. Few sectors better exemplify...

3 years after 9/11: what have we learned about securing the supply chain? It's complicated, costly and critical.
September 1, 2004... Since 9/11, global commerce has experienced an unparalleled concern with supply chain security in the form of new regulations, requirements for stricter inspections and acceleration in development of advanced technology. There's been lots...

Export-Import Bank supports small business going global: Washington's 'best kept secret' gives traders added clout to transact international deals.(Finance)
September 1, 2004... In terms of providing the subsidy supports that industrial nations have traditionally used to advance their domestic businesses when they go global, the United States is a relative latecomer to the party. The Export-Import Bank of the United...

The 'other' Europe: economic development accelerates in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.(Geographical Focus)
September 1, 2004... Say the word "outsourcing," and most people in the United States will immediately think of Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. But in Europe, a growing number of businesses and workers are thinking Warsaw, Prague, and Bratislava. As East Central...

Getting small and medium-sized tech companies export-ready: trade reps can help build a knowledge-based export infrastructure to produce sustained sales.(Global Management)
September 1, 2004... It rarely fails to happen. When it comes to internationally repping small, understaffed and domestically focused U.S. manufacturers not conversant with the nuances and realities of foreign trade, there is a peculiar dynamic of sprinting and...

RFID leaves the warehouse for 'real world' supply chain laboratories: vendors are starting to offer shippers customized test simulations.(Technology)
September 1, 2004... With everyone and their brother promoting radio frequency identification (RFID) as the next killer app, two prominent trade management software vendors have posed the million dollar question: How actually to apply RFID outside a warehouse...

Export-Import Bank of the United States--www.exim.gov.(Corporate Profiles)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) assists U.S. companies compete in today's challenging global marketplace. This government agency assumes the credit and country risks that the private sector is unable or unwilling to...

Union Bank of California www.uboc.com.(Corporate Profiles)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... When cost effective international trade is integral to your company's success, choosing the right bank is critical. At Union Bank of California, we make it our business to provide our clients with the tools and expertise they need to navigate...

Euler Hermes ACI www.eulerhermes.com/USA.(Corporate Profiles)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Euler Hermes ACI is North America's oldest and largest provider of accounts receivable insurance. Euler Hermes ACI offers both domestic and global credit insurance policies, which insure clients against commercial and political risk in more...

FedExTrade Networks www.worldtariff.com.(Corporate Profiles)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... FedEx Trade Networks [WorldTariff.sup.SM] publishes customs duty and tax information for all customs areas worldwide. The WorldTariff team of editorial professionals continuously collects data from the world's customs authorities, then...

The first containership.(Great Moments In World Trade)
September 1, 2004... Malcolm McLean was impatient. In six short years, 1931 to 1937, the former gas station attendant had hurried to parlay a second-hand truck purchase into a reliable local transport business. Now he waited on a dock in Hoboken, New Jersey with a...