The U.S. Trade Representative recently solicited proposals from the public for ways to accelerate the elimination of tariffs on various products and modify the rules of origin under the free trade agreement with Colombia. Both countries are required to give preferential duty treatment to goods that meet the agreement’s rules of origin. […]
Verisk Crime Analytics has linked up with the Transportation Intermediaries Association to help collect and analyze cases of cargo and identity theft, offering its CargoNet program to members. The program uses a national database to share information among crime analysts. The company also offers recovery and deterrence measures, while promoting communication between victims […]
Individuals and companies would be spared from filing customs documents and paying import duties and fees for more of their shipments under House and Senate proposals that would raise the threshold for such requirements from $200 to $800. The Low Value Shipment Regulatory Modernization Act of 2013, sponsored by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., […]
The cloud-based global ocean and air rate management provider CargoSphere has released version 4.0 of its CargoSphere Rate Network (CRN). The new release is intended to provide a more intuitive, clearly defined and easy-to-use rate network for non-vessel-operating common carriers and freight forwarders seeking to collaborate with global agents. The network now […]
SAP in late February released version 9.0 version of its SAP Transportation Management (SAP TM) application. The release came more than a month earlier than first planned, the global software company said.
The transportation management systems (TMS) providers 3Gtms and Transite Technology said they have merged to focus on providing “highly specialized” TMS applications to mid-market companies. “Transite’s product suite is the ideal platform to develop a very broad suite of transportation software, while 3Gtms’s initial suite includes a brokerage system, a standalone rating utility, […]
The port’s board unanimously voted Tuesday to restructure the state-owned operating company, Virginia International Terminals, instead of outsourcing cargo and vessel-handling operations at the Port of Virginia.
HKIA took the reins from Memphis International Airport, 2012’s second-place finisher, in 2010, ACI said. Both airports experienced an increase in cargo activity of more than 2 percent when compared to 2011’s numbers.
APMT said the Maasvlakte II facility, scheduled to open in November 2014 with an initial annual throughput capacity of 2.7 million TEUs, will be the most technologically advanced container terminal in the world.
The containerized shipping industry has become comfortable with a pattern of U.S. imports consistently exceeding exports. However, this is now changing and, as it does, equipment management will have to adjust. The gap between loaded import and export container volumes has steadily narrowed in the first quarter of the calendar year, which suggests […]
UPS has expanded its preferred less-than-containerload (LCL) ocean freight offering to Western Europe with new port access in Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Belgium. The program has now expanded to 26 ports in Asia and four ports in Western Europe. The preferred service (PLCL), introduced two years ago, leverages UPS’ North American freight network for […]
Bilateral trade balances skewed by not counting domestic content in imports. By Eric Kulisch Trade statistics about a nation’s imports and exports may not accurately reflect the true value of inputs because of the fragmented nature of global production and supply chains, according to new analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. […]
The requirement under the Jones Act that ships moving cargo between two U.S. points be built and registered in the United States and crewed by Americans has attracted attention from everyone from television stock-picker Jim Cramer to groups such as American’s for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foundation. American Maritime Partnership (AMP), a […]
The Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index that we published in January pointed to a swing from air freight to ocean freight. Overall ocean volumes in and out of emerging markets grew by 1.7 percent at the expense of air freight which fell by 2.4 percent in 2012. No surprise there — and there is […]
Since the forced budget cuts took effect March 1, federal agencies in charge of overseeing trade into and out of the United States have had to make due with less. To deal with the budget cuts, U.S. Customs, the country’s primary border agency, has essentially implemented plans for how it would operate in […]
The financial restructuring firm AlixPartners has been appointed by Taiwan bulk shipping carrier Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT) to manage the company’s restructuring and turnaround. Reuters reported in the fall that TMT defaulted on payments for 12 bulk cargo ships from Hyundai shipyards and had to cut its fleet in half since the financial […]
Miasolé, a solar energy company in Santa Clara, Calif., was able to export its thin-film solar panels to a solar photovoltaic project in Rajasthan, India, with help of a $9 million direct loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The Indian borrower, Sai Maithili Power Company Private Ltd., a single-purpose solar company formed by […]
Hapag-Lloyd said it will begin operating its weekly Finland Express Service (FEX) to Baltic ports next week. Two ships with about 1,000 TEUs of capacity will call Bremerhaven, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Kotka, Rauma and Gaevle (Sweden) before returning to Bremerhaven. Hapag-Lloyd is currently looking into calling at the Russian port of Ust-Luga as well. The […]
“Entry to the TPP must be supported by a consensus… TPP parties will also want to be reassured that the entry of new members will continue to keep up with the good momentum that they have achieved so far,” said a negotiator.
Softship, a provider of liner and agent software applications, said Wednesday it has partnered with Comarch, a Poland-based developer of business enterprise software, to provide integrated operations and financial software to the global liner market. The companies said the integrated offering will allow liner operators and agents to manage sales, quotations, contracts, bookings […]
