Articles
Global Economy
Trump Presidency Is Reality. Let’s Talk Supply Chain Implications.
As the 2016 Presidential election results were announced, it became clear that the candidate with the least concrete trade policy had won. This created a fair amount of concern for supply chain professionals everywhere: Would the new president implement the protectionist measures he campaigned on, or were those statements made primarily to appeal to an audience? […]
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Panama Canal Expansion Re-Routes Logistics for U.S. Businesses
Panama has completed the monumental $5.25-billion overhaul of the Panama Canal, which will have far-reaching implications for any business that employs or is part of an international supply chain. The Panama Canal can now accommodate ships that are one-third larger than before. These megaships carry 45 percent of the world’s cargo and will be able […]
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Communication Insights Boost Shipper-Supplier Relationships
Shippers who acknowledge that they have the power to enable their own supplier base to satisfy their needs as well as their customers’ are on the right track. In particular, North American importers would be well served to emphasize stronger communication practices with Asian exporters to boost supply chain efficiency. Stronger communications go beyond monitoring […]
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Panama Canal Expansion to Spur East Coast Shipping Boom
After nearly 10 years and $5.4 billion, worldwide shipping is in for a major shakeup. With the nearly triple-the-size expansion of the Panama Canal completed in late June 2016, a vastly increased quantity of goods will be able to easily traverse one of the world’s most important waterways. This change comes amid a slump in […]
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Global Logistics—September 2016
Cheat Sheets Wrinkle Target’s Supply Chain Target’s supply chain got a wakeup call when supplier Welspun Inc. allegedly provided a fraudulent product. The retailer recently ended its contract with the India-based textile company, claiming that Welspun supplied Egyptian cotton sheets made from a lower-quality cotton between August 2014 and July 2016. Target’s allegations drove Walmart, […]
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Shippers Should See Positives from the Trade Promotion Act
When the U.S. Congress passed the Trade Promotion Act (TPA) in June 2015, debate over its benefits and how its passage would affect the U.S. economy lingered. U.S. Congress felt that the goal of TPA and its historical record were solid proof of the benefits this legislation would provide. Although TPA is not a trade […]
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Global Logistics—January 2016
It’s Not Easy Beijing Green China reached its highest level of air pollution on record in December 2015. The smog in Beijing was so bad that the government issued a series of red alerts (the highest alert on a four-tier scale) spanning days. The alerts forced more than 2,000 factories to reduce or shut down […]
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Spring Clean Your Trade and Compliance Processes
This is the time of year when many of us begin our spring-cleaning projects around the home. Yet it is a good idea to also consider some spring cleaning of your organization’s trade compliance processes, perhaps dusting off some plans set earlier and readying programs for developments coming in the remainder of the year. Prep […]
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Seven Tips for Finding the Right Chinese Partner
China is a major trading partner for the United States, and the relationship is key for both countries. U.S. trade with China is booming, but there are issues that continue to linger, such as the U.S. trade deficit and China’s trade surplus, a Chinese fiscal policy that keeps currency artificially low compared to the U.S. […]
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Global Logistics—August 2015
UPS Peddles Electric Cargo Bikes in Europe E-commerce growth and last-mile expectations place a greater burden on shippers and carriers to find more efficient means to deliver parcels—especially in congested urban areas. That’s why UPS is currently testing the feasibility of using electric cargo bikes to pick up and drop off packages in downtown Basel, […]
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