Visible Supply Chain Management acquired logistics and fulfillment company TriCon, Visible said in a news release last week. The acquisition will bring Visible “new expertise in customs brokerage services and international transportation,” it said.
The U.S. government has been slow to incentivize research and development in the semiconductor industry, ceding ground to foreign governments that have been heavily investing in advanced technologies for “decades,” Semiconductor Industry Association CEO John Neuffer, said. He praised a recent push by Congress and the administration to provide more federal funding for semiconductor innovation (see 2006260013 and 2006110038) but said much more is needed.
Amazon set up a new Counterfeit Crimes Unit meant to reduce the number of fake products sold on the platform, the company said in a June 24 news release. “The Counterfeit Crimes Unit enables Amazon to more effectively pursue civil litigation against suspected criminals, work with brands in joint or independent investigations, and aid law enforcement officials worldwide in criminal actions against counterfeiters. Amazon welcomes the partnership of brands and law enforcement in the shared objective of stopping counterfeiters and holding them accountable,” it said. Amazon said the “global team” is “made up of former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts.” The availability of counterfeits on e-commerce platforms is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration (see 2004290052) and lawmakers (see 2003040040).
Reimposing Section 232 tariffs on Canadian aluminum “would be a major mistake,” National Foreign Trade Council President Rufus Yerxa said June 24. “It would completely undermine the spirit of our newly-negotiated” U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and “reignite trade tensions with our biggest trading partner. It will also hurt the most dynamic U.S. manufacturers in sectors like autos, food products and construction, all in a vain effort to prop up inefficient domestic aluminum producers by branding Canada a national security threat.” He said the administration should recognize that levying taxes on aluminum from Canada “would undermine our credibility as a reliable trading partner, not just with Canada, but with other potential free trade partners like the U.K. and Japan.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Aluminum Association reacted with dismay June 23 to a Bloomberg report that the U.S. could re-impose 10% tariffs on Canadian aluminum on July 1, because of an alleged surge in imports since tariffs were lifted. The U.S. trade representative told senators last week that he is in consultations with Canada on the issue.
Germany is benefiting from both its use of partial unemployment and its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and manufacturers in electronics, machinery and equipment and the auto sector are back to pre-crisis levels, according to Ludovic Subran, chief economist of Allianz. Subran, who was speaking on a June 9 webinar on globalization hosted by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said German firms will have an edge over those in other countries that didn't keep workers employed during the shutdown measures taken to control the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Employees from the global trade management software company GTKonnect will join EY member firms in the U.S. and India, the companies said in a news release. “The transaction is part of EY global trade management services expansion,” EY said. Terms of the deal weren't released. “Global trade is undergoing a seismic change as tariff wars, protectionism, regulatory uncertainty and now a pandemic, disrupt established business models and trade relationships,” said Kate Barton, EY global vice chair - tax. “Organizations are struggling to respond and find it increasingly difficult to address their supply chain ecosystems, focus on operational costs and, ultimately, define their medium-to-long-term strategies. We are excited to further expand EY global trade managed service offerings through this strategic transaction.”
The executive director of the Port of Portland, a port that's dominated by exports, said tonnage is down, and while he thinks there will be some rebound later this year, he expects it will take two to three years to fully return to normal. Curtis Robinhold was speaking on a Washington International Trade Association webinar May 21. He said that grain exports are down 10% and automotive goods are down much more sharply -- by 30%. That includes parts for Toyota, Hyundai and Honda that are imported and exports of completed Ford vehicles, he said.
The top executive for customs policy at UPS said the consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic will be that companies “reassess everything” about supply chains. Norm Schenk, executive vice president for customs policy, was on a panel that included the director of corporate customs for a major logistics provider, the head of customs for a major automaker, and the executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority. The panelists, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 19, agreed that even after the crisis is over, trading will not return to how it was.
Trade groups that have been active in pushing for different intellectual property approaches in India have formed a new coalition called the Alliance for Trade Enforcement, they announced May 13. Brian Pomper, a former Senate Finance Committee chief trade counsel, is the AFTE executive director. The group includes manufacturing trade groups, pharmaceutical interests, software and telecom interests, and the National Foreign Trade Council and U.S. Council for International Business. They noted that the Special 301 Report recently released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative identified 33 countries that don't adequately protect IP rights, and said “many of those countries are repeat offenders.” Pomper said AFTE will work with the administration and Congress to dismantle trade barriers such as high tariffs, complex and opaque taxes targeting imports, and laws that do not give intellectual property the protection that USTR says is proper.