The U.S. goods and services trade deficit registered at $34.2 billion in June, representing a decrease of nearly $10 billion from the $44.1 billion figure recorded in May. The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, released the June data on Aug. 6. Exports in June totaled $191.2 billion, while imports totaled $225.4, according to the 50-page report. The overall U.S. trade deficit decrease in June follows a nearly $5 billion increase in the deficit from April to May (see 13070324).

DHL Freight chose Marc Bernitt, previously a manager of KPMG Switzerland's Trade and Customs practice, as head of Customs Management, the company said in a press release.

Logistics solutions provider A.N. Deringer introduced new air freight forwarding services, the company announced on Aug. 1. The additional air services include services from Europe, throughout the Pacific Rim, and from Brazil to all points within the U.S. and Canada. Deringer said the added services are a natural extension to the provider’s growing LCL and FCL ocean services, which have allowed Deringer to “more closely partner with its overseas agents.” Matt Parrott, Deringer’s Director of Transportation, said the expansion was in response to customer demand. “Nationwide, there’s more demand for ocean transportation and that trend is certainly true within Deringer’s client base,” he said. “However, we’ve responded to customer demand, ensuring our air import services are more available, equally competitive, and offered with the same focus on customer service.”

CBP awarded CSC single-award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to support the agency’s enterprise network engineering services, including cybersecurity, cloud and big data, CSC said in a news release. CSC said the contract, which will be signed in the first quarter of CSC’s fiscal year 2014, has a one-year base period, four one-year options and an estimated ceiling value of $85 million. The contract will help ensure that CBP “continues to engineer and update network solutions in compliance with agency, department and federal mandates,” said the release. CSC said they're also responsible for engineering solutions that will lead CBP toward its goal of a more efficient and effective network infrastructure by “applying cybersecurity capabilities to optimize CBP’s network.”

Empire Level is fighting to combat counterfeiting of its torpedo level product and is working to block imported knock-offs at the U.S. border, the company said in a news release July 29. The U.S. manufacturer said it's pushing for removal of the counterfeit products, originating from China, from store shelves. In recent months, “tens of thousands of the knock-off units have been taken off the market, with related advertisements stopped,” it said.

Customs broker A.N. Deringer signed an agreement with Kewill to transition to Kewill Customs' technology platform, Kewill said July 30. Kewill called Kewill Customs “a next generation customs brokerage solution” that will offer “enhanced visibility, functionality, and robust ad hoc reporting capabilities to service both Deringer and its clients.” Sandy Mayotte, senior vice president of Deringer, said Kewill Customs’ platform design was easy to use, resulting in less time training logistics professionals to use the system “so that they can dedicate more time to renewing files and ensuring compliance for customers.

Livingston International signed an agreement to buy the assets of Canada-based Advantex Express, Livingston CEO Peter Luit said July 25. Livingston also agreed to acquire assets from the transportation services and customs brokerage firm’s U.S. entities, Advantex Express and Andina Group International, collectively known as Advantex. If completed, Livingston said the acquisition would increase the company’s Canadian and U.S. international freight forwarding and customs brokerage operations, while adding ground freight audit capabilities. Parties involved in the purchasing agreement are finalizing legal formalities and other details, Livingston said. If conditions can be met in a few weeks, Advantex President Greg Richard and Luit predict the transaction could close by mid-August.

Cargo volume rose slightly by 1.8 percent in June, compared to June of last year, at the Port of Long Beach, according to port statistics released on July 15. Imports increased by 3.5 percent while exports rose by .1 percent, with a total of 565,476 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) moved. Figures for the first half of 2013 indicate a 14.2 percent increase in volume compared to the first half of 2012. With imports exceeding exports, the statistics showed that empty containers rose significantly from 44 TEUs to 141,228 TEUs. Container volumes at the port show gains at the mid-year point as well, including 16.2 percent more imports, 10.1 percent more exports and 14.8 percent more empties, the Port of Long Beach reported.

Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) bought the freight forwarding business unit of third party logistics provider England Logistics on July 9. SCS said the acquisition gives SCS international offices in Los Angeles and Shanghai, Qingdao and Ningbo China. This new international platform will provide SCS customers with “a complete suite of supply chain services,” said Les Brand, CEO of SCS. Through the partnership, SCS can provide England Logistics’ international customers with customs brokerage, international compliance support, supply chain, supply chain technology tools and a world-class customer service organization. According to the announcement, SCS will now be a preferred provider for international forwarding and customs brokerage. “Our vision for SCS is creating best-in-class global transportation management solutions for small- and mid-market businesses that offer value-differentiated engineered solutions to support efficient supply chain deployment,” Brand said.

The U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services spiked in May, rising to $45 billion from $40.1 billion in April, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis said in a July 3 press release. Imports in May increased $4.4 billion, while exports decreased $0.5 billion. The imports gain is fueled by increases in the industrial supplies, consumer goods and automotive materials categories. The drop in exports largely reflects decreases in the consumer goods and industrial supplies categories. Goods exports went roughly unchanged from May 2012 to 2013.