Is there any substance to the April 2017 softwood trade disputes Trump claims with Canada?

Alfonso Llanes, Political junkie

Written just now

There is substance to the dispute but not at the level of circus Trump-drama he loves to show off to make it a rabid dog effect. The Canada–U.S. softwood lumber dispute is one of the largest and most enduring trade disputes between the two nations.

Starting in 1982 the argument has had lasting effects still seen today. The crux of the disagreement is the claim that Canadian lumber industry is unfairly subsidized by federal and provincial governments. The argument is based on how lumber is priced in the two countries while most timber in Canada is owned by the provincial governments which charge a fee to milling companies per board-foot of wood while in the U.S. the price is set by bidding among the sawmill companies on the same measure of per board-foot. However, the US argues that the government of British Columbia, the major Canadian exporter of softwood lumber to the United States doesn’t charge enough fees therefore, it constitutes a subsidy to the Canadian producer.

In the meantime, The Globe and Mail report that Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, is firing back at Donald Trump’s anti-Canadian trade rhetoric arguing that “the U.S. is dependent on Canadian softwood because its own industry can’t meet its domestic demand.”

In a report by the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry, on 12 October 2016, a one-year moratorium on trade actions was agreed to since the expiration of the previous deal ended. The report continues, that negotiations were being conducted under a specified range, a mixed export tax and quota regime that would be implemented on imports of Canadian lumber. On Canada's part, the nation agreed to enforce regulations, such as in the form of taxes on lumber exports headed to the U.S. The provincial governments of Canada, specifically, were encouraged to make changes to their pricing systems. Such changes would allow for a non-subsidizing system.

Nonetheless, on April 25, 2017 the Trump administration announced plans to impose duties of up to 24% on most Canadian lumber, charging once again that lumber companies are subsidized by the government. The duties are on the five firms as reported by CNN: West Fraser Mills, Tolko Marketing and Sales, J.D. Irving, Canfor Corporation, and Resolute FP Canada. West Fraser Mills will pay the highest duty of 24%.

“The preliminary determination directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits for the duties on all new imports as well as softwood products imported over the past 90 days. To remain in effect, however, the duties need to be finalized by Commerce and then confirmed by the U.S. International Trade Commission after an investigation that includes testimony from both sides.”

How is it possible that German exports and E.U. exports are at the same level?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Written just now

According to OEC, Germany is the 3rd largest export economy in the world and the 3rd most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI). In 2015 the GDP of Germany was $3.36T and its GDP per capita was $48k.

Germany had by far the highest share of EU-28 trade in 2016 among the EU Member States, contributing 28.7 % of the total and 7.5% higher than the remaining 21 smaller countries. The next three largest exporters, the United Kingdom (11.1 %), Italy (10.5 %), France (10.5 %), the Netherlands (7.2 %), France (9.4 %), Belgium (5.7%) and Spain (5%), while the remaining 21 countries contributed (21.2%).

The question of: How is it possible that German exports and E.U exports are at the same level? This assertion is not accurate based on the statistical numbers released by the European Union in 2016…” contributing 28.7 % of the total exports and 7.5% above the remaining 21 smaller countries.”

Amazingly, Germany runs its economy in a way that is hardly a recipe for economic success, one would think. But Germany is Europe's industrial powerhouse and the world’s second largest exporter; Germany has single-handed stopped the Euro-zone from falling back into recession and the only nation with enough resources to save the euro currency.

Among the 34 members of the OECD only the Dutch work fewer hours, than the Germans while children spend 25% less time in the classroom than their Italian counterparts, and its workers are six more times more productive that other economies in Europe which make all of these remarkable facts.

So why is the German economy so commanding?

Starting with a common currency Germany partnered with more sluggish economies in southern Europe, when it adopted a much weaker currency than otherwise would have been in the case of its Deutschemark which would be a great deal stronger today than the euro. This alone provided a terrific boost to German exports, which makes its products cheaper in foreign markets.

Another big ticket item in the German economy and just as important is the relatively low levels of private debt. While the rest of Europe satiated itself on cheap money throughout the 1990s and 2000s, German companies and individuals refused to spend beyond their means. One reason for this is that real interest rates in Germany remained stable, unlike those in other economies where zero interest rates were not uncommon.

In bankers opinions the UK, Italy, Spain and Portugal have higher inflation meaning that real rates moved down, providing a huge incentive to borrow money. But cultural differences are just as significant as Germans are uncomfortable with the concept of borrowing money and prefer to live within their own means.

Labor Legislation

Germany's current economic pre-eminence in Europe has other, deep-rooted reasons and amazingly but in fact, the relatively low number of hours spent at work and in the classroom and yet, it is the most productive economy in OECD.

Germany adopted a program of fundamental labor market reform in 2003, ignited perhaps by the excesses of post-unification wage increases. It followed that it enacted strong employment protection legislation and placed a degree of trust on behalf of the workforce in well-capitalized companies that had not borrowed cheap money. This resulted in the Social Democratic party being able to extract concessions from the labor unions to push for moderation in wage increases. The reforms laid the foundation for a stable and flexible labor market. While unemployment across Europe and the US soared during the global recessions, in Germany the jobless number barely glimmered. German workers were simply willing to work fewer hours, knowing that they would keep their jobs because of it. They were all willing to moderate wage demands due to a strong bond that exists between workers and employers which, is not comparable with many other countries.

Job Training

Still, one of the more important issues to Germany's industrial strength is the education system. Hours learning at school for aged 7-14 ends at mid-day for lunchtime across much of Germany and is designed to allow children to spend more time with their families. In the later years of schooling the German model really stands apart from other nations.

Almost half of all youngsters in upper secondary school are in vocational training, and the other half of these youngsters are in apprenticeships. Apprentices between the age of 15 to 16 spend more time in the workplace receiving on-the-job training than they do in school. After three to four years of OJT they are almost guaranteed a full-time job in their chosen industry. Moreover, in Germany, there are fewer stigmas attached to vocational training and technical colleges than in many countries were a college degree is given more importance. However In many countries, management training comes from those who attended business school, but in Germany, one can make it to the top of even the very leading companies without a college degree.

Therefore, the German education system is a continuous purveyor of highly skilled workers that meet the specific needs of the country. Additionally, the country has a long-established and powerful manufacturing base, which is ingrained in stable, small businesses that have long provided the backbone of the economy. There is much to learn from the German model, but vision less replication may not be the answer for other cultures.

Nonetheless, there are limits to value added in manufacturing and if a country wants to move up the value chain, it needs to do it in services. For this branch of economics, perhaps one day Germany will once again look to others for creativeness.

What were some of the social, economical and environmental consequences of imperialism?

To explore the relationship between environment and colonialism one must argue that the insights are important for understanding contemporary imperialism. By focusing on key themes such as business and trade, technology and infrastructure, government and policy and knowledge and expertise will shows that the study of colonialism is important for a least four contemporary explanations: Environmental problems such as climate change, rain-forest loss, collapsing fisheries and water scarcity represent some of the most serious challenges facing society and it seems likely that many of these societies will get worse in the future.

Imperialism, according to Edward Wadie Said (1994), refers to the “practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory‟. Super-power today, is focused in the relationship between core and periphery and associated asymmetries of power among countries. For hundreds of years a varied range of commodities were transported from the colonies to Europe where they became consumer goods. One of the negative effects is that by deference to the neo-colonial masters of ruling elites, the needs of the population are often ignored, leaving issues of living conditions like education, development, and poverty unresolved.

In the nascent United States, only a few years prior to the rebellion against Britain, a staggering 44% of all the wealth being generated in the New England colonies was accumulated by just 1% of the property-owing population. It is difficult to understand without the racial context how a largely impoverished population of white indentured servants could find common cause with the relatively small plantation-owning class.

The American “Revolutionary” War was fought for the benefit of wealthy proprietors, landowners and plantation masters who were the ruling elites who had displaced the formal colonial masters. The promise of sovereignty was actually the establishment of a regime of lower class whites who were indoctrinated to believed that revolutionary freedom would preserve white supremacy for all eternity with the token promise of social upward mobility. This was used as the enticement for making lower classes fight in order to replace colonials with an elite settlers which only resulted in an exchange of tyrannical rulers. The so-called “revolution” was never intended to establish a democracy for anyone other than the minority ruling elite and as it continues to be apparent today with an electoral process which it is controlled by those with the most money to spend to our very present day elections.

Expansion of markets is a necessary ingredient for the essential dynamics of capitalism to exist: overproduction and competition among producers drives wages down, in a cycle that leads to a crisis of under-consumption and under performing national economic. The only way to prevent economic collapse is to find new markets to absorb excess consumer goods.

Victor Hugo, first published Les Misérables in 1862, which is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. His reflection on the sufferers and the deprived that started in 1815 climaxed in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris. Hugo’s novel follows the lives and interactions of several characters, in particular, the struggles with this period of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption.

Neo-colonialism or neo-imperialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization and cultural imperialism to influence a developing country in lieu of direct military control (imperialism) or indirect political control (hegemony). These issues are discussed in the works of Jean-Paul Sartre (1964) and Noam Chomsky (1979).

The dependency theory is a theoretical description of economic neocolonialism. It proposes that the global economic system comprises wealthy countries at the center, and poor countries at the periphery. Economic neocolonialism extracts the human and natural resources of a poor country to flow to the economies of the wealthy countries. It claims that the poverty of the peripheral countries is the result of how they are integrated in the global economic system. Dependency theory derives from the Marxist analysis of economic inequalities within the world's system of economies, thus, under-development of the periphery is a direct result of development in the center.

Today, the spectacular economic rise of China has inflicted enormous costs to the environment which will only be aggravated when other countries join the race to development with a tremendous collateral damage to the planet.

Here is a reference for further reading on the subject.

Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), School of Earth and Environment,

The University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/resea...

What are some of the most controversial ethical issues in biotechnology?

Alfonso Llanes, In the past 12 years I've been an automatic freight information system

Written Fri

Biotechnology is a big ticket item in international forums concerned with studying the ethical issues and making sound recommendations to national governments for policy enactment. The most controversial issue is of course related to biotech healthcare which is not only about fighting disease but also human reproduction and its artificial procedures- the challenge is defining its ethical boundaries.

OECD REPORT: International Futures Project on “The Bio-economy to 2030: Designing a Policy Agenda”

Biotechnology: Ethical and social debates

Prepared by: Nicolas Rigaud

Biotechnology and bioethics. International Food Policy Research Institute

GM crops and GM food Biofuels. Warming as World's Top Environmental Threat

Bioprospecting. Global Trade and Biodiversity in Conflict

Animal welfare. Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission

Private Genetic Information. Genetics & Public Policy Center

Stem Cell Research (+xenotransplantation). The Pew Research Center (2005)

Available in pdf format:

https://www.oecd.org/futures/long termtechnologicalsocietalchallenges/40926844.pdf

The burning issues

In an age when medical technology is improving at a rapid rate, the availability of new treatments increases almost as quickly. With new advances, come dilemmas such as scientific, financial, and especially moral questions. These challenges are likely to increase as groups with vastly different views and resources struggle over the direction of health policy.

Biotechnology Healthcare has identified five topics that dominate ethical issues of biotech medicine. These questions will continue to cause controversy in the conceivable future, on third-party participants, employer—employees, and health care providers that must deal with policy implications on some of the issues or all of them for years to come.

Clinical trials with protection for human subjects.

In 1999, 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger died in the process of a gene therapy trial at the University of Pennsylvania. The institution was broadly criticized for failing to disclose essential information on consent documents, relaxing standards for accepting volunteers, and enrolling volunteers who were not eligible.

Cost control and affordability

The rising cost of healthcare and the cost of medications has become a political hot potato and will remain so in the foreseeable future. No matter what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the pharmaceutical industry’s argument make that research and development are funded by today’s prices and that price controls could retard R&D, a large swath of the public don’t buy it.

Privacy

Protecting patient privacy is a growing concern, because this technology is making it possible to decipher the human genome. But as scientists become proficient at deciphering a person’s genetic material, it is a growing concern that compromising information about a person’s future health is going to become available.

The elephant in the room-Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research is the abomination for the religious right and has worked its way into national politics and elections.

California, which is the birthplace of the biotech revolution and a state hardest hit by the high tech collapse of the past, has excited stakeholders with the potential economic value of stem cell research and overwhelmingly passed Proposition 71, which guarantees $3 billion in state funding over the next decade.

Protecting the United States against Bio-terrorism

Security is hugely important, and public fears over terrorism are not likely to go away. The federal government wants “Project Bioshield” be the incentive of development for treatments, with preventive medications and vaccines that can be available in sufficient quantities for the protection of the largest number of people.

Specific examples and international comparisons are drawn from a vast geographical area: Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. All these countries have introduced some ethical deliberation, sometimes specific to these countries, other times shared by a more international audience with shared concerns.

Should global trade come to a complete halt?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Positive and negative features of international trade under current practices

For the most part enthusiasts of globalization argue that it has the potential to make this world a better place to live and prosper; while solving many of the deep-seated economic world problems like unemployment and poverty.

POSITIVE ISSUES

· Free trade is supposed to reduce obstacles such as tariffs, value added taxes, subsidies, and other barriers between nations but as long as currency manipulation is not restricted it tilts the balance of trade that favors violators.

· The advocates of free trade contend that it promotes global economic growth; creates jobs, makes companies more competitive, and lowers prices for consumers.

· The Competition among countries is supposed to drive prices down. In many cases however, this does not happen when countries manipulate their currency to obtain trade advantage.

· Open global commerce also provides poor countries, with infusions of foreign capital, technology, and opportunity to develop economically and spread prosperity. It is also suppose to create the conditions in which democracy and respect for human rights may flourish. This is an fragile goal which hasn’t been achieved in most countries

· It must be a worldwide market for companies and consumers who have access to varieties of products from different countries with diverse quality and price levels.

· With trade, there is more interchange of information among countries, which do not have anything in common whether culturally or economically. As a result, there is cultural intermingling and each country learns more about the other.

· Since we share the same planet financial interests, corporations and governments are trying to sort out ecological problems for each other.

· Labor can move from country to country to market their skills and universities as well as industry can take advantage of diverse know-how and a variety of intellectual capacity.

· Transnational companies installing plants in other countries provide employment for the people in those countries often getting them out of poverty making them consumers of goods from the parent country.

NEGATIVE ISSUES

• The general complaint about globalization is that it has made the transnationals richer while making the labor workers in the capital exporting company poorer.

• Globalization is supposed to be about free trade where all barriers are eliminated but there are still many barriers on either by distorted taxation methods or by imposition of tariffs.

• The biggest problem for developed countries is that jobs are lost and transferred to lower cost countries and a pace in which a dislocated number of workers in the labor force are left with little time for retraining in other skills or occupations.

• Workers in developed countries like the US where pay for work favors employers using the threat of exporting jobs overseas in order to keep wages low. This has created a culture of fear for many in the labor force who have little leverage in this global game.

• Large multi-national corporations have the ability to exploit tax havens in other countries to avoid paying taxes and therefore their own nations fall short of the revenue needed for retraining of displaced workers and provide safety nets.

• Multinational corporations are accused of social injustice, unfair working conditions, as well as lack of concern for environment, mismanagement of natural resources, and permanent ecological damage.

• Multinational corporations, which were previously restricted to commercial activities, are increasingly influencing political decisions. Corporatocracy, is a latest term used to denote an economic and political system controlled by corporations or corporate interests. It is most often used today as a term to describe the current economic globalization, especially, in the United States. Many think there is a clear and present danger of corporations ruling the world because they are gaining power, due to the shifting balance of economic and political control in the global sphere of corporations.

• Making high-tech products overseas puts the property of technologies at risk of being copied or stolen when countries do not respect patents or copyrights.

• The anti-globalization activist claim that global trade is not working for the majority of the world. During the most recent period of rapid growth in global trade and investment inequality worsened both internationally and within countries. “The UN Development Program reports that the richest 20 percent of the world's population consume 86 percent of the world's resources while the poorest 80 percent consume just 14 percent”.

• Globalization has led to exploitation of labor in many countries. Prisoners and child workers are used to work in appalling conditions. Safety standards are non-existent to produce cheap goods for a more robust bottom line of the corporation.

• Social welfare schemes or “safety nets” are under great pressure in developed countries because of deficits, job losses, and other economic consequences of unrestricted global trade with a maze of loopholes that provide escape routes and avoid paying due taxes or worker’s benefits.

We need progressive leadership and politicians who are willing to confront the swindlers. Most of the many practices are illegal under WTO rules so there are sound legal basis to put some kind of levies on transnationals and its corporate bosses.

As long as trade is only good for Wall Street and the multi-national corporations that eliminate jobs in America and expand their fortunes— everyone else will have to carry the deficit of free trade. Moreover, national treasuries will be stretch to the limits by greedy corporations with its supporting infrastructure of banks and financial institutions that are“laundering” ill-gotten profits.

How do customs brokers handle import documents?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

A Customs Broker is a multi-function operation licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission to conduct third party representation and logistics on behalf of shippers. Their main activity is to insure that shippers comply with laws and regulations at the ports of entry, clear merchandise through Customs and pay duties and taxes on behalf of owner of the shipment as stated on the Bill of Laden by the carrier.

Here is a reference list of duties normally assigned to a Customs Broker:

· Classify goods according to the harmonized tariff coding system.

· Examine product information to ensure compliance with regulations.

· Arrange for payment of, taxes and duties on shipments.

· Prepare import and export documentation according to customs regulations.

· Sign documents on behalf of clients, using power of attorney.

· Clear Merchandise through customs and to their destinations.

· Coordinate logistics or other business operations.

· Update knowledge of changes in import or export laws or regulations.

· Compile necessary import documentation, such as customs invoices, certificates of origin, and cargo-control documents.

· Advise customers on import and export restrictions, tariff systems, insurance requirements, quotas, or other customs-related matters.

· Monitor or track the location of merchandise in transit.

· Post bonds for the products being imported or assist clients in obtaining bonds.

· Quote duty and tax rates on goods to be imported.

· Obtain line releases from Customs for frequent shippers of low-risk commodities, high-volume entries, or multiple-container loads.

· Arrange for transportation, warehousing and distribution of imported or exported products.

· Coordinate logistics or other business operations.

· Inform importers and exporters of steps to reduce duties and taxes.

· Apply for tariff concessions or for duty drawbacks and other refunds.

· Provide advice on transportation options, types of carriers, or shipping routes.

· Prepare papers for appeal duty charges.

· Prepare regulatory or compliance documentation.

· Suggest best methods of packaging or labeling products.

· Insure cargo against loss, damage, or pilferage.

IMPORT AND EXPORT ENGINEERING 

By examining the diverse economic systems that characterize a world economy in rapid transition, the complex processes of globalization and its impact on regions, cities, and countries these issues must to be mastered. Also, the organization of economic activities and resources in the world economy such as evolving patterns of commerce, international compliance framework, theoretical foundation data and location strategies of international business need to be compiled with the practical day-to-day operations of an export/import business.

USA government resources:

http://2016.export.gov/caribbean...

“Connect with the right partners and prospects. International business development is a labor-intensive endeavor for any company. The U.S. Commercial Service can jump-start your efforts by helping you to identify, screen, and meet prospective Caribbean partners, agents, distributors, and customers.”

Geographic information systems:

http://doc.arcgis.com/en/open-da...

“Once you've found data, choose the format you want to use. You can download a spreadsheet (CSV), KML, or shapefile, and access the API for all vector datasets. Downloads are available as a file geodatabase for select datasets (this is an administrator-set function and is not automatic). You can download a PNG, JPG, TIFF and access the API for raster datasets.”

Here are some of the skills specifically relating to the value-added exporting of U.S. manufactured products, services and technology for management or entrepreneurial positions in a wide range of international markets. Writing data tables in spread sheets or developing software for internal use which must include:

• Creating a new library of products data
• Searching database capability
• Adding an existing data source
• Removing a data source from the list
• Enable the editing of a data source
• Save a data source changes

Other data points in a spreadsheet can include:

- Direct to end-user

- Distributors in country

- Supplier to the U.S. government in a foreign country

- A third-party e-commerce platform where you handle fulfillment

- A third-party e-commerce where they handle fulfillment

- Supplier to a large U.S. company with international sale

- Franchise your business.

Today’s global trading system is ideal for the smaller company employing more than one marketing and sales force to sell into multiple overseas markets. The smaller the company, the less likely it is to export to more than one country. For example, according to the International Trade Administration (ITA) 60 percent of all exporters with fewer than 19 employees sold to one country market in 2005.

Here is a good private company which offers various services to the import and export markets for small and medium size companies.

https://upscapital.com/

Cargo Insurance

Flexible Parcel Insurance

Credit card payment form

Flexible Parcel Multi-Carrier Coverage

Flexible Parcel Insurance Time-In-Transit

Global Asset-Based Lending

UPS Capital Cargo Finance®

C.O.D. Payment Options

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Steel and metals are critical industries worldwide and heavily traded commodities. In recent years, the global demand for metals has negatively impacted steel industries across the world. Along with shifting trade patterns,. As a result, international markets prices have been have been on a downfall since early 2011, and the financial outlook for many companies has declined. The 2008-2009 global financial crises were particularly difficult for these industries. The year 2015 was also a period of decline for the industry, as weak global demand caused regressions in other indicators.

An excellent source of information of market data, trend, volumes, and values etc. is published by:

http://trade.gov/steel/pdfs/0719...

SOME European traders and suppliers

PROSIDEX BELGIUM

Prime steel traders Prosidex bvba since 1992 in prime steel and prime stainless steel products.

TRANSSYLVA TRADE NETHERLANDS

Supplier of:| Wire mesh | Industrial hardware | metal gates.

C.D. WÄLZHOLZ FRANCE SAS FRANCE

Supplier of: | Industrial hardware

ACIERS UK LIMITED UNITED KINGDOM

Steel traders Aciers UK Limited, involved in the export of secondary, declassified, surplus

iron and steel flat rolled products.

DIETLIN ET CIE SA SWITZERLAND

Supplier of: Metals, precious and special | Patents and trademark protection | Patent lawyers | Trademarks - registration and protection.

JENS OLAF BRELLE GERMANY

Supplier of:| Metals, precious and special | Patents and trademark protection | Patent lawyers | Trademarks - registration and protection.

How do you calculate landed costs?

How do you determine the true costs of product that you're importing/exporting?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Written just now

Definition

Landed cost of merchandise is the total cost of the product form origin to destination after the shipment has cleared Customs at the port of entry and all inter-modal transportation, tariffs, taxes, insurance and fees have been accounted for the total or landed cost of the merchandise.

There are however several variations of a typical outlined shipment described in a sales terms and delivery contracts. i.e., Point-to-point costing, Free on Board (FOB) Cost Insurance and Freight (CIF) Free Along Side (FAS) etc.

Once the contract of sale and delivery are completed a pro-forma invoice should follow listing all the components of an ordinary domestic invoice as a pre-shipment formal quote price: It should include a description of the product, and packaging the itemized listing of charges and sales terms. For example two boxes of toys priced at $100 per unit. Total cost for the order is $200 at factory.

Pre-shiment selling price: $200 in U.S. Dollars

Inland transport both ends: $15

Ocean transport: $25

Duty: $2

Fees: $3

TOTAL LANDED PRICE: $245.00

This amount should be used as the pro-forma quotation for invoicing the buyer. Once such amount is entered no additional changes should be made to the transaction by anyone during the duration of the contract period and before the expiration date of the sales contract. The terms of payment must have also been agreed prior to delivery and before the Bill Of Lading and invoice can be presented to the receiving bank for payment of the merchandise. if such terms of payment were negotiated using a conditional letter of credit from an issuing bank, all stipulations stated in such letter of credit must be met before the release of payment is made.