The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is working with other organizations to get the final countries needed to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement “across the finish line,” it said (here). Another 15 countries must ratify TFA to meet the requirement that two-thirds of the WTO, 109 members, ratify it before TFA takes effect. The U.S. Chamber co-hosted the India-United States Workshop on Trade Facilitation in New Delhi alongside the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) to present the India-United States Workshop on Trade Facilitation, “bringing together public and private sectors to find a path forward for India’s implementation of the TFA.” The chamber is also a “proud supporter” of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, a group established to promote TFA implementation (see 1512180016). “We need to get the final 15 countries across the finish line by ratifying the agreement and then working together towards implementation,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to list Alibaba Group and its “constituent platforms, including Taobao” in its 2016 Notorious Markets Report, citing a Chinese government study finding a 67 percent counterfeit rate of goods sold on that platform. In a letter to Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Innovation and Intellectual Property Probir Mehta (here), AAFA Executive Vice President Stephen Lamar said his organization’s investigative monitoring of certain brands on Taobao show counterfeits surfacing in about half of the search results. “Any review of Taobao on a daily basis will find listings for dozens of AAFA member brands at absurdly low prices -- a strong indication that such merchandise is counterfeit,” Lamar said. “Our members who engage in constant monitoring of Alibaba platforms regularly and continuously report widespread proliferation of counterfeits.” USTR did not deem Taobao a Notorious Market in its 2015 report, after the company was last listed in 2012, but USTR last year noted its increasing concern about the slowness, difficulty and opaqueness of Alibaba’s intellectual property rights enforcement program (see 1512170016).
Developing countries should accede to the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement (ITA) expansion to drive innovation and broaden international commerce, Intel said in a blog post (here). “In the long term, ITA empowers the formation of a global [information and communication technology] supply chain as participating countries benefit both from cheaper imports of components and materials, as well as from exporting finalized products,” Intel said. An expansion of the agreement covering an additional 201 products worth about $1.3 trillion per year was completed at the WTO Nairobi Ministerial Conference in December 2015. The International Trade Commission posted ITA-related changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule July 1 (see 1607050003).
As public opinion on trade shifts, CEOs will need to better sell the expected benefits of trade agreements to workers, and the deals might need to accompany proposals to reform the social safety net in order to pass Congress, private-sector officials said Sept. 28 during an event at the Council on Foreign Relations. That includes the idling Trans-Pacific Partnership, Pew Research Center Director of Global Economic Attitudes Bruce Stokes said at the event. “It seems to me some kind of reinvention of the social safety net could convince people to pursue it, because Trade Adjustment Assistance doesn’t buy union support anymore,” Stokes said. “In talking to some of the foreign policy people around Clinton … for the first time in my life, I heard them bring up the issue of the social safety net.” He said Clinton’s campaign has “taken the message” from this election season that social concerns could obstruct foreign policy actions if left-wing groups feel that they’re not being addressed.
Flexport, a startup with freight forwarding and customs brokerage operations, raised $65 million in new investment to help fund further expansion, CEO Ryan Peterson said in a blog post (here). The new investment brings total capital raised for Flexport, which calls itself a "freight forwarder for the Internet age," to $94 million, Peterson said. "We’re reminded everyday just how hard modernizing shipping is," he said. "Logistics is a world of exceptions and we’re surrounded by problems that occasionally seem intractable. So we’ve been fortunate to have visionary, patient investors who have continued to support us round after round." The new money will allow for additional hires and will "let us continue our rapid international expansion," Peterson said.
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (here) and the Progressive Policy Institute (here) issued reports this week that, respectively, disputed certain arguments against the deal and outlined expected small-business benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Livingston International purchased Affiliated Customs Brokers, a Canadian brokerage with 12 offices in the U.S., Livingston said (here). "The acquisition will strengthen Livingston's service offerings in both Canada and the U.S., adding particular strength in the Quebec marketplace," the purchaser said. "Affiliated brings particularly strong expertise in the energy, printing, pharmaceuticals, automotive, capital equipment and food industries." The purchase price wasn't disclosed.
Beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) can't retrieve freight aboard Hanjin ships subject to third-party possessory liens without first paying marine terminal operators (MTOs) and other third parties, despite an interim order from a U.S. bankruptcy judge in New Jersey that grants Hanjin temporary Chapter 15 protection, said Ed Greenberg of GKG Law (see 1609090059). “The MTOs have liens, they’re going to assert those liens,” he said Sept. 12 during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference in Washington. “Until they get paid, you’re not getting the assets.” Although the order prevents any parties from moving to seize any Hanjin assets, the order doesn’t apply to any existing third-party possessory liens, Greenberg said. Furthermore, no party can terminate any Hanjin lease because of insolvency, but could for another reason, and Hanjin can’t refuse to make the containers available, he said. Also, the interim court order requires Hanjin to cooperate with BCOs, but doesn’t apply to non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs), as none has appeared before a U.S. bankruptcy court, Greenberg said.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood in Newark, New Jersey, called a hearing Sept. 9 to weigh a motion from Hanjin Shipping’s foreign representative seeking Chapter 15 protection from U.S. creditors while Hanjin’s bankruptcy case is being heard in South Korean courts. Sherwood granted the company temporary Chapter 15 protection in an “interim” order Sept. 6. On the table for the judge to consider was a “proposed cargo protocol” Hanjin's representative suggested Thursday in an apparent bid to win the judge’s backing of its Chapter 15 petition. The protocol would free companies such as Samsung to sign contracts with third parties for the removal and dispensation of cargo that has been aboard ships in Hanjin’s control since the shipping company went into Korean receivership nearly two weeks ago (see 1608310038).
Though millions of dollars worth of merchandise “is in limbo at the moment” from Hanjin Shipping’s bankruptcy filing (see 1609020011), import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports “should be at near-peak levels this month,” the National Retail Federation said Sept. 9 in its Global Port Tracker report (here). “Hanjin should not significantly affect volume for the month since alternative arrangements to unload those containers or shift cargo elsewhere should be dealt with by the time the numbers are tallied,” Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president-supply chain and customs policy, said in a statement. NRF forecasts that U.S. ports covered in its report will handle 1.62 million 20-foot cargo containers or their equivalents in September, down only 0.2 percent from the volume handled in September 2015, the group said. Volume for the year is expected to rise 1.8 percent from 2015, to 18.6 million containers, NRF said.