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World Trade
Not very long ago
the United States was having a problem with its economy.
Now it still is, but the entire world is joining in.
High level meetings are taking place among the major trading
nations of the world, and all of them are doing something to
stimulate their economies. The
US dollar is not so weak as it was not too long ago, because of the
worldwide slowdown in the economy, and, therefore not so many
foreign countries are able to buy “cheap” US products.
World Trade is still
chugging along at a fairly decent pace, however, as evidenced by the
financial reports being supplied by the larger publicly traded
steamship lines and airlines. Some
of the airlines are posting losses, mainly due to the extremely high
fuel costs. A second
consideration is the fact that a large number of companies are
tightening their belts and therefore waiting longer for ocean
freight shipments, rather than paying more for faster airfreight.
Steamship lines, on the other hand, are generally reporting
higher revenues than expected by Wall Street analysts.
Hopefully soon, fuel
costs, as well as worldwide economies, will settle down to some
reasonable order.
AES
Here is one more
reminder that the grace period for changing from the paper
Shippers Export Declaration (SED) to the automated electronic filing
via AES (Automated Electronic System) is over.
No more will shipments be processed with paper SEDs, even
with a hefty charge assessed for handling.
But the shipments will be held up for AES filing.
If you have any questions, be sure to ask—and soon.
Ask your forwarder, Wisconsin Department of Commerce or US
Department of Commerce or visit www.census.gov/trade.
DHL
Pay attention to upcoming news articles.
It is speculated that US domestic service of DHL will be
ended in the not too distant future. What will that do to competition with other courier services
and what will that do to your domestic courier charges?
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Security
Ever wonder why we
have not had a recent terrorist attack?
Suppose all terrorists became angels?
A recent WORLD WIDE SHIPPING article cited a DHS report
that stated biometric collection is underway at 106 airports, 15
ocean ports and 154 land ports of entry.
In addition, more than 454,000 port workers are enrolled in
the TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential)
biometric credential program.
RFID
Radio Frequency
Identification is continuing to make progress in the international
shipping arena. In
doing so, it automatically adds to the security of our country as
well as other countries around the world.
For example, using an “e-seal” to lock an ocean
container will automatically notify authorities if the seal has
been tampered with, even without having the seal inspected or
checked. The e-seal
sends a signal to authorities, when it is removed or tampered
with.
International Pun
A recent pun found
on the internet stated that a grenade thrown into a kitchen in
France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
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