FedEx agreed to acquire Cargex S.A., a Colombian freight forwarder that specializes in customs brokerage services, FedEx said in a news release. "This addition strengthens the FedEx air freight forwarding and customs brokerage capabilities in Colombia and the broader Latin American region," FedEx said. "The acquisition is expected to close later this year and is subject to customary closing conditions, as well as a Colombian regulatory filing." After the purchase is completed, Cargex will be a subsidiary of FedEx Logistics, FedEx said. Terms of the deal weren't released.
The escalating trade rhetoric between the U.S. and China should make all companies “realize (if you have not already) that this is not a temporary dispute and is not likely to be resolved anytime soon,” customs lawyer Ted Murphy with Baker & McKenzie blogged on Aug. 9. “The two sides are doubling down and digging in.” With 2020 elections “inching closer” and China’s 70th birthday of the People's Republic festivities set for October, “the political considerations associated with these events make it less likely that a deal will be reached,” he said. “As a result, companies should be re-examining/re-adjusting their supply chains and pursuing additional Section 301 mitigation strategies,” while taking “a view to the medium/long term,” Murphy said.
Tariffs Hurt the Heartland says importers paid $6 billion in tariffs in June, up $2.5 billion, or 74 percent, from the same month in 2018. The report, based on Census data, covers the first month when Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in imports from China were at 25 percent rather than 10 percent. The advocacy group also noted that June was the 11th month in a row that American exports targeted for retaliation declined by more than 15 percent.
Avalara, a tax compliance software company, bought Portway International, Avalara said in an Aug. 2 news release. Portway, which is based in Canada "provides customers with Harmonized System classifications and outsourced customs brokerage services." Scott McFarlane, CEO of Avalara, said that by "combining Portway’s experience and knowledge of cross-border compliance with Avalara’s advanced technologies and expansive product content, we can help businesses reach new customers in new regions with confidence.” Terms of the deal weren't released.
Imports from China to the U.S. fell 12 percent in the first half of 2019 compared with the January-June period in 2018, and exports to China fell by nearly 19 percent, a new Commerce Department report found. Although imports and exports to Canada were also down, Canada has now surpassed China as the second-largest U.S. trading partner in goods. Mexican imports were up 6.7 percent in the first half the year, and it is now the top trading partner in goods, with $311 billion in two-way trade from January to June. Canada was at $306 billion, despite a decline in both import and export volume. China's two-way trade with the U.S. was close to $290 billion.
George Mason University will open a new Anti-Illicit Trade Institute within the existing Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, the university said in a news release. David Luna, CEO of Luna Global Networks and a former U.S. diplomat, will help lead the program, GMU said. The new institute will also be led by Louise Shelley, a GMU professor, it said. "Beginning in 2020, the AITI will include a core of anti-illicit trade executive-tailored courses and online instruction related to developing effective strategies for fighting illicit markets; investigating and prosecuting illicit trade (the importance of intelligence -- and information-sharing across borders); targeting webs of corruption and criminality by following the money and 'value' (money-laundering/trade-based money-laundering); tackling cybercrime and dismantling online markets related to Intellectual Property (IP) crime including counterfeit and pirated goods; and other important anti-crime and criminal justice areas," it said.
E2open finalized its acquisition of Amber Road, the company said in a July 2 news release. The companies announced the deal in May (see 1905130057). "The combination of E2open and Amber Road brings together two complementary platforms to create a premier global trade management network solution, enhancing customers’ ability to operate their entire end-to-end supply chains from one place in the cloud," E2open said.
The U.S.-China trade war “is taking its toll, especially on China,” eMarketer reported June 25, cutting its 2019 outlook for China and the U.S. As a result, China won't surpass the U.S. in total retail sales this year, as expected, and won't, based on current conditions, until 2021, when it's forecast to pass the U.S. by $93 billion. EMarketer forecasts China retail sales will hit $5.3 trillion this year, up from $5.1 trillion in 2018 vs. U.S. retail sales of $5.5 trillion this year, up from $5.3 trillion. Slowing auto sales are the main drag on the Chinese economy, it said. The U.S. “is not immune to the effects of retaliatory Chinese tariffs,” the research firm said, cutting its previous outlook for U.S. retail sales growth from 3.2 percent to 3 percent, amounting to $5.47 trillion. By share, the U.S. has 21.9 percent of the global retail market vs. China at 21.1 percent, but China’s e-commerce market -- “by far the largest” globally at $1.93 trillion -- is three times that of the U.S.; that forecast is “largely unchanged.” Despite the slight slowdown this year, it said, U.S. e-commerce sales are expected to exceed 10 percent of total retail sales for the first time, with e-commerce growing 14 percent to $586.9 billion.
J.P. Morgan now offers an E-Customs Payment Solution meant to make it easier to make cross-border payments, the company said in an emailed June 20 news release. "Importers in China are required to provide supporting documents to their banks prior to making payments to overseas suppliers, a process that is often labor-intensive and time-consuming," the company said. "With the E-Customs Payment Solution, J.P. Morgan’s clients in China will only be required to send the payment instructions with linked customs declaration number. Using Application Programming Interface (API) technology, J.P. Morgan’s E-Customs Payment Solution will then retrieve the relevant customs declaration status in detail from the local authorities via the Shanghai International Trade Single Window in real time and process the payments automatically."
The title of the panel discussion was "21st Century Management at our Ports of Entry," but panelists acknowledged that there are many ways the border operates that aren't modern at all.