US China Trade

Trump vows to ‘take back’ Panama Canal, increase tariffs

President Donald Trump reiterated in his inaugural speech Monday his desire to acquire the Panama Canal.

During his first official day in office, Trump also said he would impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada — the United States’ two largest trade partners — starting Feb. 1.

Trump repeatedly vowed during his campaign to take ownership of the Panama Canal, and he refused to rule out using military force in pursuit of his goal. The U.S. signed over ownership to Panama in 1977.

“...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trump-vows-to-take-back-panama-canal-increase-tariffs

Auto parts executive slams China’s alleged end run around US tariffs

It took a bit of detective work for David Rashid to figure out how a China-based competitor was reportedly evading U.S. tariffs by using countries like Thailand as a springboard to the American market.

Rashid, executive chairman of auto parts maker Plews and Edelmann, did everything from hiring Mossad agents to investigate a Bangkok factory, to combing through corporate filings, to meeting with U.S. officials in order to convince them that Qingdao Sunsong Co. has been evading U.S. tariffs by...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/auto-parts-executive-slams-chinas-alleged-end-run-around-us-tariffs

US top importer of Christmas trees, decor from China, Vietnam, Mexico

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The United States is the biggest global importer of Christmas trees, lights and decorations each...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-top-importer-of-christmas-trees-decor-from-china-vietnam-mexico

Viewpoint: The hard truth about the trade deficit

No matter what rhetoric rolls off the lips of politicians, the flow of trade tells the truth. The U.S. trade deficit has garnered many headlines this week, but if you follow the flow of containers, you aren’t surprised.

Since 2018, the United States has been the big loser in the U.S.-China trade war. The overpublicized phase one “Trade Agreement” was a TV event and nothing else. China has failed to meet any of the quotas, with no repercussions.

But the trade war is only one hurdle for U.S....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/viewpoint-the-hard-truth-about-the-trade-deficit

‘Just so big’: China’s outsize role in trade at Texas border crossings

Though well behind Mexico, China ranks second for international trade at the three largest United States-Mexico border crossings in Texas: Laredo, El Paso and Pharr.

Its status on the border is buoyed by imports of auto parts, cellphones, electrical circuit boards and other goods, say public officials and industry experts.

Teclo Garcia, Laredo’s economic development director, said cellphones were the top imports from China through Port Laredo during 2020.

“We had $1.16 billion in total trade with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/just-so-big-chinas-outsize-role-in-trade-at-texas-border-crossings

LNG Exports To China Might Drop Due To Weather Conditions

Natural disasters along the Texas Gulf Coast in the US that have disrupted many sectors may mean lagging liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases by China under the phase one trade deal, Chinese experts have warned, citing the deep freeze’s ripple effect on the natural gas supply/demand chain and commodity prices, says an article published in Global Times.

Biden’s disaster declaration approval for storm disaster

In the aftermath of a winter storm that claimed the lives of at least two dozen people...

https://mfame.guru/lng-exports-to-china-might-drop-due-to-weather-conditions/

How trade policies affect retailers — Point of Sale

Point of Sale header

Every piece of the retail supply chain ultimately has to bow to trade policies and tariffs enacted by overseeing governments. On this episode of Point of Sale, host Andrew Cox explores the ins and outs of U.S. policy with retail analyst, Forbes contributor and former American Apparel & Footwear Association President Rick Helfenbein. 

The Trump administration put several policies into place that severely impacted the retail industry. One of the earliest was the Chinese 301 tariffs, which were...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-trade-policies-affect-retailers-point-of-sale

Port of LA’s Seroka calls for US focus on exports

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka called for a national export program to narrow the trade gap between the United States and China during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” this week.

“We are now at five imports to every export and that’s the widest trade gap we’ve witnessed at the Port of Los Angeles in some time,” Seroka told hosts Rosanna Lockwood and Sri Jegarajah on Thursday.

He said that import-export imbalance puts pressure on the port’s service providers and does...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/port-of-las-seroka-calls-for-us-focus-on-exports

Talking TEUs and tequila

Container lines and shippers commiserated over the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on their businesses during an Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) virtual conference Wednesday.

“COVID-19 obviously has had a significant effect on the global economy, on the U.S. operations and here in Asia. It’s like we’ve almost doubled down  on the complexity of the U.S.-China trade dispute we all faced together in 2019,” said Ocean Network Express (ONE) CEO Jeremy Nixon.

“After Chinese New Year here we...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/talking-teus-and-tequila

Shippers Face A ‘Bumpy Ride’ As Container Shipping Shows Slow Growth

According to Drewry’s outlook, the container industry remains ‘soft’, despite the good news of the phase one trade agreement signed between US and China today, January 16, reports Safety4Sea.

According to its predictions, the world container port throughput is set to rise by 3.3% this year, following an estimated 2.3% increase in 2019.

Container Shipping Decline

For the time being, Drewry explains that the current estimations see a decline of 0.7 points on the previous outlook given at the end...

http://mfame.guru/shippers-face-a-bumpy-ride-as-container-shipping-shows-slow-growth/

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