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The Cargo Letter
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Our Top Story: American Rises |
Section A: Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News |
Section B: FF World Air News |
Section C: FF World Ocean News | Section
D: FF in Cyberspace |
Section E: The Forwarder Broker World
Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs
The Cargo Letter Financial Page
- Export Restrictions to Ease? -- But For How Long After Sept. 11?
.......... As the U.S. Senate voted to ease restrictions on some export
items, including high technology products and so-called "dual use"
items, as it overwhelmingly passed the Export Administration Act (EAA),
85-14. The bill will go to the House for consideration. The Senate version
of the EAA (S. 149) passed on Sept. 6 was a revision of the original act,
enacted in 1979, at a time of heightened concern for national security, when
Congress wanted to stop the flow of dual-use items (items and technology
which could be used for both commercial & military purposes) into the
U.S.. The revised EAA will:
- Require a risk analysis of proposed exports and emphasize
"transparency and accountability" to Congress and the exporter.
- Grant the President "special control" authority for cases
involving national security and international terrorism, in addition to
international commitments made by the U.S.
- Give the President "enhanced control" to impose controls on
any item, including parts, for national security purposes.
- increases penalties for corporations to US$5M per violation or 10 times
the value of the export, whichever is greater. Criminal penalties for
individuals would be raised from US$250,000 to US$1M, & civil
penalties would be increased from US$10,000 to US$500,000.
- China Heads For Finish Line ......... as on 17 Sept. the World
Trade Organization successfully concluded negotiations on China's terms of
membership after 15 years of talks. During the previous week, the
much-awaited session of the Working Party settled the last major blocks
& cleared the way for Beijing to join the trade body by the end of the
year. The Working Party will now forward some 900 pages of legal text to the
WTO's 142 Members. Formal acceptance is expected to take place at the
forthcoming Ministerial in Doha from 9 to 13 Nov. Thirty days after China
notifies its acceptance of the agreement, it will legally become a Member of
the WTO.
- Free Power? ........ as North & South Korea headed into their
2nd and final round of resumed talks on Sept. 17 after Pyongyang added
demands for electricity from Seoul to the list of reconciliation projects
agreed last year. Official media from the energy-starved North said
Pyongyang's delegation demanded the free power when ministers from
capitalist South Korea & communist North Korea met. North Korea earlier
asked for 500,000 kilowatts of electricity when ministers from the 2 Koreas
met in Dec.-- the last meeting before Pyongyang broke off official contact
with Seoul to protest against U.S. policies towards the communist North.
- Dumping Softwood? ......... as U.S. Customs sided with the import
industry this week by excluding certain cuts of Canadian softwood lumber
from the federal government's countervailing duty/antidumping duty actions
against this commodity. "Customs sided with our petition of Sept. 6,
resulting in their arguing successfully with Commerce that Customs'
regulations, rulings & admissibility criteria regarding unassembled
pallets & trusses, notched stringers, & 6-inch fencing programs were
not included in Commerce's initial investigation," said Michael Jones,
president of Jones & Jones, LLC, a Blaine, Wash.-based customs broker.
This means that these Canadian softwood lumber products can be imported
under tariff headings other than 4407 & 4409, without incurring
countervailing duty/antidumping duty liability & bonds. For example,
customs brokers can code entries for unassembled pallets under tariff
heading 4415, unassembled trusses under tariff heading 4418, & notched
stringers and 6-inch fencing programs under tariff heading 4421. On Aug. 10,
the U.S. government imposed a preliminary 19.3% duty on Canadian softwood
lumber imports, which was retroactive to mid-May. The duty could force
Canadian lumber producers to pay more than US$1B in duties, based on US$10B
in annual imports in the U.S. market. The U.S. government & lumber
industry claims that provincial Canadian government subsidies & dumping
have allowed Canadian lumber imports to sell at below market value.
- Customs Upheld .......... as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit has supported U.S. Custom's power of classification by
reversing a decision by the U.S. Court of Int'l Trade in a case involving
sugar syrup imported by Heartland By-Products. Customs appealed a ruling
that Customs had wrongfully declared Heartland's syrup under the U.S.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule. "The Court of Int'l Trade went too far...in
its narrow construction" of the derivation of sugar syrups, the appeals
court said. "We see no reason to disturb Customs' interpretation."
It's not the commodity -- the importance is the interpretations of U.S.
Customs.
- Engaged ........ Switzerland's Kuehne & Nagel, its U.S.-based
subsidiary USCO Logistics & Singapore-based SembCorp Logistics have
formed a global partnership & a "contract logistics group"
entity, following moves towards joint or shared ownership. Last Dec., Kuehne
& Nagel & SembCorp Logistics signed a deal that resulted in
cross-shareholdings & cooperation between the 2 groups. In July, the
Swiss group closed an agreement to take over USCO Logistics. The 3
companies, each of which is a major player in its region, have effectively
formed a joint group.
- Davies Departs The Colonies .......... as Masterpiece Int'l, a New
York City-based customs broker & forwarder, has taken over Davies Turner
& Co. which is also based in New York, provides brokerage, NVOCC
services & has branches in Chicago, Philadelphia Int'l Airport, J.F.K.
Int'l Airport & Carolina (San Juan) Puerto Rico. Takeover does not
affect Davies Turner & Co. Ltd., the large U.K.-based forwarder that was
founded by the same families, but had separate shareholders.
- Danzas Surrenders ........ as Danzas AEI Intercontinental has
voluntarily surrendered the U.S. Customs brokerage license for Danzas Corp.
& Luskcom Group Inc., a subsidiary of Danzas AEI. Danzas said
surrendering licenses reflects the complete integration of the Danzas &
AEI customs brokerage operations in the U.S. With the change, all customs
brokerage activities will be conducted under the name of Danzas AEI Customs
Brokerage Services.
- Wilson Gets A VIP ........ as Scandinavian logistics concern Wilson
Logistics Group has acquired the main part of the Australian company V.I.P
Airfreight Pty Ltd -- one of the largest export forwarders of perishables
from Australia.
- For Sale: Australia's Railroad ......... as the Commonwealth &
the state governments of New South Wales & Victoria have announced the
combined sale of National Rail Corporation (NRC) & FreightCorp, as part
of a reform of Australia's rail industry. The sale, expected to be concluded
by the end of the year, is hoped to bring much-needed investment &
innovation to the freight rail transport industry. Considering the air news
-- below -- the Australian transport sector was in trouble well before Sept.
11.
- Extra Hands .......... as the Indian Railways have drawn up plans
to downsize by 30,000 every year for the next 10 years.
- J.B. Hunt Transport Gets Longer ........ as it has placed more than
US$70M in orders with Wabash National Corp. for 6,000 53-foot domestic
containers. The motor carrier intends to convert it's intermodal container
fleet to exclusively 53-foot equipment, replacing its 48-foot equipment. The
new containers will be the first 53-foot unit's in the company's fleet with
sufficient strength to be positioned on the bottom of a double-stack
railcar. The 53-foot, stackable high-cube containers will be a unique design
which features uninterrupted sidewalls & interior dimensions.
- NYK Gets An ETA ........... as NYK said it has acquired ETA
Transportation Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark. TA has warehouses and/or
offices in Bentonville; Macon, Ga.; Johnstown, N.Y.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Las
Vegas; Claremont, N.C.; Laredo, Texas; & Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico
--also truck operations across the U.S. & Mexico.
- Schneider National Has No Spin ........ as the National motor
carrier has canceled announced plans to spin off & execute an initial
public offering of Schneider Logistics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary.
- Licensed Fruits ........ as the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is
proposing new regulation that requires phytosanitary certification for all
produce brought into the U.S. This includes commercial produce as well as
fruits & vegetables brought in by travelers. USDA says this regulation
would "help to prevent foreign plant pests & diseases from being
introduced and disseminated within the country," and help expedite the
clearance process at the port of entry for commercial shippers.
Phytosanitary certificates are issued by the country where the fruits &
vegetables originate. Fruits & vegetables that are frozen, dried, cured
or processed along with fruits & vegetables brought into the country by
travelers for personal use would be exempt. For more information, contact
Wayne D. Burnett at (301) 734-6799.
- Stoned Fruits ........ as the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has
completed negotiations with Mexican agricultural officials to improve the
export of U.S. stone fruits to Mexico. The agreement will allow most U.S.
stone fruit to be exported to Mexico without fumigation, which can damage
the qualify of the fruit, & reinstates a 1997 systems approach for
exports of U.S. stone fruit. If pests are detected by Mexico in a U.S.
shipment at the border, the shipment will be rejected
- "E" Road ......... as Rand McNally-TDM Inc. has upgrades
its MileMaker & IntelliRoute software & IntelliRoute.com service.
The new software versions include updated ZIP codes tables, & an updated
Designated Network providing the most up-to-date information to calculate
routes. In addition, the itinerary will list violations for each road
segment by user-selected truck type. The products also have the capability
to receive updated data via the Internet so customers can access data
updates more frequently. www.IntelliRoute.com
- When It Couldn't Get Worse .......... as 2 train engineers were
killed on Sept. 14 when a passenger train traveling from Naples to Munich
crashed into the cars of 2 freight trains which had collided earlier. The
Int'l train derailed at 4:30 a.m. near the town of Colle Isarco, about 9
miles from the Austrian border. Four or five people were injured.
- AP Moller Group. DOWN for 1st half as net result for the period
came to US$16M, or less than half of the figure for the 1st 6 months of 2000
when net result was US$40M in its liners & tankers sector.
- Emons. (U.S. rail freight transport & distribution) UP with
operating revenues of US$25.44M for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2001,
up 1%. Net income was US$1.75M, before tax benefits, up 3.4%.
- FedEx Corp. DOWN as 1st quarter net income fell 36% to US$109M, for
period ending Aug. 31. Operating income fall 53% to US$121M.
- Neptune Orient Lines. (owns APL Liner & APL Logistics) DOWN as
net profit in the 1st half dropped 78% to US$11M and warned it may post a
loss for the full year due to an "unfavorable operating
environment." Group revenue increased 2% to US$2.3B, while operating
profit slipped 36% to US$78M.
- Panalpina. UP as net revenues rose year-on-year by 9.2% to
US$1.58B. Gross profit was up 13.1% to $378.8M.
- Schiphol. Group (Amsterdam Airport) UP as net profit rose by 2.8%
to US$74.4M compared with 1st half of 2000, despite a slowdown in the growth
of aviation worldwide.
- UTi Worldwide Inc. UP as in 1st quarter, net income improved 13% to
US$5.4M. Revenue was US$219.4M & net revenue was US$79.0M.
Please click below for other sections:
Our Top Story: American Rises |
Section A: Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News |
Section B: FF World Air News |
Section C: FF World Ocean News | Section
D: FF in Cyberspace |
Section E: The Forwarder Broker World
Written from wire stories, the Associated Press,
Reuters, Hong Kong Shipping News Lloyds & other world sources.
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