Fad Marketing's Balancing Act

In Japan, Pepsi's limited edition flavors can be huge hits—and then it kills them
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India's Outsourcing Status Under Threat

China, Malaysia, and other countries are challenging the subcontinent, says a new study by Frost & Sullivan. Read More

EU Commissioner Kuneva Pushes Product Safety in China

EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva traveled to China this week to address product safety concerns, including EU-China cooperation on market surveillance and rapid alert systems. China accounts for a major portion of EU imports of consumer products and also half of the notifications of dangerous products generated by the EU's RAPEX alert system.

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United States International Trade Commission: Investigation

Certain Textile Articles: Performance outwear

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US-Korea Free Trade Agreement - Some Numbers

ALREADY A TOP EXPORT DESTINATION FOR U.S. STATES. . .

- 29 U.S. STATES COUNT KOREA AS A TOP-TEN DESTINATION FOR THEIR
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.

- LAST YEAR 6 U.S. STATES – CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, WASHINGTON, MISSOURI,
OREGON AND NEW YORK – EACH EXPORTED MORE THAN $1 BILLION IN
GOODS TO KOREA.

- NO U.S. STATE EXPORTED LESS THAN $10 MILLION TO KOREA IN 2006.

EU, U.S. Announce Final Design for GPS-Galileo Common Civil Signal

The United States and the European Union announced today their agreement to adopt and provide jointly an improved design for their respective Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. These signals will be implemented on the Galileo Open Service and the GPS IIIA new civil signal. Read More

Online, a Global Strategy Starts at Home

When attempting to reconfigure their Web sites with foreigners in mind, companies often overlook domestic minority groups. Read more

Portugal Assumes EU Presidency

Portugal stepped into the "rotating" Presidency of the European Union on July 1. Over the next six months the Portuguese Presidency will focus on EU economic growth; enlargement of the border-free "Schengen area" in Europe; strengthening the EU's role in the world, especially Africa through an active dialogue of policy, trade, aid, and development; continued work in the Balkans on reforms for possible EU membership and efforts to resolve the final status of Kosovo; and the negotiation of a Reform Treaty for the EU on the basis of broad agreements reached under the EU's German Presidency. Read More

EU Foreign Ministers Approve EU-U.S. Agreement on Airline Passenger Information

The Council of the European Union has approved the recently-reached EU-U.S. agreement on how personal information on airline passengers from the EU will be provided to U.S. authorities. The new seven-year agreement will help prevent and combat terrorism and serious transnational crime while ensuring compatibility with European standards of fundamental rights and privacy. Read More

Breaking News from Europe:Accounting - Progress on Standards Convergence

A European Commission report welcomes the recent U.S. SEC proposal to simplify the filing of financial statements in the U.S. for non-American companies by eliminating the need for "reconciliation" (quantitative comparison and explanation of differences) between European and U.S. accounting standards. The Commission also notes the need to remove this reconciliation requirement for European issuers using International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU. Positive developments in Japan, Canada, China, and India are cited in the report as well.
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Competitive Conditions for Foreign Direct Investment in India

This staff research study looks at foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into India by country and by industry, and it examines India’s investment climate through chapters on India’s investment environment, special economic zones, investment-related regulations, and international agreements. It includes FDI case studies on India’s automotive and pharmaceutical industries.

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Want to Grow U.S. Exports? Here's the Seven Percent Solution

Spurring exports is a great way to boost economic growth and American jobs. In that vein, market-opening trade agreements may be the single best tool to accelerate U.S. exports.

Consider the simple fact that the United States today has free trade agreements with countries that represent a mere seven percent of the world economy. Remarkably, these countries purchase a whopping 43% of U.S. exports. In other words, trade agreements can make big markets out of even small economies -- and the recently negotiated trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, and Panama will surely do the same.

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Not a great news if you are planning a trip to Europe

Euro Pulls Closer to $1.38 in Europe

The euro clawed closer to $1.38 on Thursday, briefly hitting new highs against the dollar, though German and Portuguese officials brushed aside concerns over the currency's strength.

The 13-nation currency peaked $1.3797 before settling back to $1.3793 in late morning trading in Europe. That exceeded its previous record, set early Wednesday, of $1.3784, and compared with the euro's rate in New York late Wednesday of $1.3761.

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U.S. Trade Law and FTAs:A Survey of Labor Requirements

Recent discussion in the U.S. Congress and the public media has broadly considered the rights of the international labor force in the making of several new U.S. free trade agreements. This journal article is a primer of the new labor legislation. It catalogs the standards set out in each agreement and any new pre- or post-FTA labor legislation initiated by U.S. trading partner countries. Read more

ITC MAKES DETERMINATIONS IN FIVE-YEAR (SUNSET) REVIEWS CONCERNING STEEL CONCRETE REINFORCING BAR FROM BELARUS, CHINA, INDONESIA, KOREA, LATVIA, MOLDOV

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC or Commission) today determined that revoking the existing antidumping duty orders on steel concrete reinforcing bar from Belarus, China, Indonesia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time, but that revoking the existing antidumping duty order on this product from Korea would not. Read More

International Biofuels Conference Concludes in Brussels

The European Commission concludes today a high-level international conference on sustainable development of biofuels, an integral part of the European Union's energy strategy and an important route to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reinforcing energy security. Read more

China's June trade surplus sets record

BEIJING, July 10 (UPI) -- China Tuesday reported its trade surplus for June reached a record $26.91 billion, up 85.5 percent from June of last year. Read More

Cyprus, Malta Adopt Euro

The [EU] Council, on July 10, 2007, decided to allow Cyprus and Malta to adopt the euro as their currency, thus enlarging the euro area to 15 member states, as from 1 January 2008. Read more