miércoles, 17 de abril de 2013
China set to boost international trade
martes, 16 de abril de 2013
Japanese carmakers have to put quality and safety first in supply chain contracts
By Daniel Hunter
Supply chain expert Mark Johnson believes Japanese carmakers have been slow to react and should put quality and safety first in negotiating contracts with suppliers.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda have had to recall 3.4 million vehicles across the world because of faulty airbags supplied by Takata Corp, which are at risk of catching fire or injuring passengers.
It has been reported that the problem was first raised in October 2011 and the issue again shows how risky huge global supply chains are.
Dr Johnson, Associate Professor of Operations Management at Warwick Business School, says firms should not just look at cost when considering their supply chain.
“Perhaps the answer to this is to put quality and safety first when negotiating contracts for safety critical parts,” said Dr Johnson.
“As more and more firms focus on what they are good at – their core competences – then their suppliers will be trusted for greater proportions of the design and manufacturing of sub-systems and components.
“This comes with a cost, and that is the loss of control of their supply chains as they cede responsibility to their suppliers while procuring parts at a low price.
“It is unlikely that carmakers will ever bring certain things – airbags being a prime example – in-house, it’s simply not in their interest as costs are already competitive and they need to find new ways of managing the relationship so that they can have visibility of any issues.
“This means moving to contracts based on relationships – which give transparency into operations – as opposed to those where price is the be-all and end-all.
“Takata have paid the price in a reduced share price and will no doubt find themselves under pressure when contracts are negotiated. Toyota, and others, will pay the price through an expensive, and public, recall.”
But Dr Johnson believes if the car manufacturers had acted quicker they could have lessened the damage to their brand.
“The age of the affected vehicles suggests that this is something that was known previously and the carmakers have been slow to respond,” said Dr Johnson.
“The blame has been firmly placed on Takata, who saw a slump in their share price.
“Swift resolution of a fault can be beneficial, after all firms can be viewed in a positive light if they act swiftly and decisively when customers perceive there to be a risk.”
Supply chain expert Mark Johnson believes Japanese carmakers have been slow to react and should put quality and safety first in negotiating contracts with suppliers.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda have had to recall 3.4 million vehicles across the world because of faulty airbags supplied by Takata Corp, which are at risk of catching fire or injuring passengers.
It has been reported that the problem was first raised in October 2011 and the issue again shows how risky huge global supply chains are.
Dr Johnson, Associate Professor of Operations Management at Warwick Business School, says firms should not just look at cost when considering their supply chain.
“Perhaps the answer to this is to put quality and safety first when negotiating contracts for safety critical parts,” said Dr Johnson.
“As more and more firms focus on what they are good at – their core competences – then their suppliers will be trusted for greater proportions of the design and manufacturing of sub-systems and components.
“This comes with a cost, and that is the loss of control of their supply chains as they cede responsibility to their suppliers while procuring parts at a low price.
“It is unlikely that carmakers will ever bring certain things – airbags being a prime example – in-house, it’s simply not in their interest as costs are already competitive and they need to find new ways of managing the relationship so that they can have visibility of any issues.
“This means moving to contracts based on relationships – which give transparency into operations – as opposed to those where price is the be-all and end-all.
“Takata have paid the price in a reduced share price and will no doubt find themselves under pressure when contracts are negotiated. Toyota, and others, will pay the price through an expensive, and public, recall.”
But Dr Johnson believes if the car manufacturers had acted quicker they could have lessened the damage to their brand.
“The age of the affected vehicles suggests that this is something that was known previously and the carmakers have been slow to respond,” said Dr Johnson.
“The blame has been firmly placed on Takata, who saw a slump in their share price.
“Swift resolution of a fault can be beneficial, after all firms can be viewed in a positive light if they act swiftly and decisively when customers perceive there to be a risk.”
12/04/2013 |www.internationaltrade.co.uk|
lunes, 15 de abril de 2013
Japan, U.S. agree on Tokyo joining Trans-Pacific trade talks
By Kaori Kaneko and Doug Palmer
(Reuters) - Japan and the United States on Friday agreed on a deal paving the way for Tokyo to join talks on an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement, increasing the economic weight of the proposed pact and triggering a loud protest from U.S. automakers.
The deal brings Japan closer to entering talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia and New Zealand hope to finish this year.
"I think Japan's national interests are protected under this U.S.-Japan agreement," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Friday after a meeting with Cabinet ministers.
Abe, who took office in December, is making the regional free trade pact a keystone of his strategy to open Japan's economy and spur long-sought growth. He is pursuing the agreement, despite fierce opposition from Japan's politically powerful farm lobby, as part of a "third arrow" in his "Abenomics" policy triad, after fiscal spending and drastic monetary policy easing.
President Barack Obama's administration sees the TPP as part of U.S. economic rebalancing toward Asia.
"Having Japan in TPP and contributing to the high standards of TPP is good for the U.S., it's good for the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a whole and its very good for the multilateral trading system itself," Mike Froman, White House international economic affairs adviser, told reporters in Washington.
With the entry of Japan, the world's third-largest economy and fourth-largest U.S. trading partner, the final TPP pact is expected to cover nearly 40 percent of global economic output and one-third of all world trade, Froman said.
The United States also plans to launch free-trade talks with the 27-nation European Union in coming months. With world trade talks dead in the water, regional initiatives have become the main forum for trade liberalization.
The TPP talks have been under way for three years and Japan hopes to participate in the negotiations beginning in July. But that requires a formal decision by all 11 countries currently taking part in the talks. The U.S.-Japan agreement was applauded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, but it got a chilly reaction from Detroit-based automakers that have lost substantial market share to Japanese competitors over decades.
AUTO INDUSTRY CONCERNS
Ford Motor Co has fought hard to keep Japan out of the pact, arguing the U.S. ally has repeatedly failed to follow through on promises to import more cars, and that the Japanese government has been driving down the value of the yen to help its automakers export more cars.
"It is stunning that the U.S. government would endorse a trade policy that puts the industry at a competitive disadvantage and comes at the cost of American auto jobs," Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, said in a statement on the U.S.-Japan deal. "We urge the administration to reconsider its position."
The United Auto Workers said it was concerned that U.S. government efforts that helped the U.S. auto industry recover in recent years "could be threatened by Japan's entry into Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations."
"Despite decades of efforts by Japan's trading partners to open the Japanese market to imported automobiles, Japan remains the most closed automotive market in the world, with import penetration of less than 6 percent, despite a Japanese automotive import tariff that is already at zero percent," the union group said.
Powerful U.S. lawmakers from Michigan, the traditional heart of the U.S. auto sector, also expressed concern. Representative Dave Camp, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, said he would not support Japan's entry into TPP without "airtight assurances" it will address longstanding barriers to U.S. auto, insurance and agricultural exports.
Representative Sandy Levin, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, who is also from Michigan, said the deal announced on Friday "does not provide an adequate basis for Japan's entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership."
Levin vowed to use the next several months to push for tougher preconditions for Japan to join the talks. U.S. trade officials said Tokyo agreed to a separate set of negotiations, in parallel with the TPP talks, focused on a number of regulatory and non-tariff barriers believed to keep U.S. autos out of the Japanese market.
"For the first time ever, we have the opportunity to negotiate a resolution of these issues in a way that is subject to binding and enforceable dispute settlement," Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said.
Japan also agreed the United States could phase out its auto tariffs, which are 2.5 percent on cars and 25 percent on trucks, over the longest period possible in the future TPP deal. Levin criticized the commitment in that area, saying any phase-out of the U.S. tariffs should be linked to measurable improvement in sales of U.S. cars in Japan.
The Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association welcomed Friday's announcement, but said the protracted process for eliminating U.S. tariffs was "regrettable." "We look forward to the Japanese government's entering the TPP negotiations on a sure footing of promoting national interests and taking into account the views of our industry," said Akio Toyoda, the group's chairman.
Tokyo also pledged to expand its "preferential handling procedure" for imports, a simpler and faster certification method used by U.S. auto manufacturers to export to Japan. That would allow U.S. companies to export up to 5,000 vehicles of each type of vehicle under the program, compared with the current annual ceiling of 2,000 for each vehicle type.
The White House still needs to give Congress 90-days notice before formally beginning talks with Japan. Marantis said it was premature to say when that would happen since some other TPP countries still have outstanding issues with Japan. New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said last month the TPP member nations could formally decide whether to allow Japan into the talks when trade officials gather in Indonesia on April 20-21 for the annual meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
(Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Linda Sieg, Edmund Klamann, Nick Zieminski and Xavier Briand)
|Americaneconomicalert.org |TOKYO/WASHINGTON |
(Reuters) - Japan and the United States on Friday agreed on a deal paving the way for Tokyo to join talks on an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement, increasing the economic weight of the proposed pact and triggering a loud protest from U.S. automakers.
The deal brings Japan closer to entering talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia and New Zealand hope to finish this year.
"I think Japan's national interests are protected under this U.S.-Japan agreement," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Friday after a meeting with Cabinet ministers.
Abe, who took office in December, is making the regional free trade pact a keystone of his strategy to open Japan's economy and spur long-sought growth. He is pursuing the agreement, despite fierce opposition from Japan's politically powerful farm lobby, as part of a "third arrow" in his "Abenomics" policy triad, after fiscal spending and drastic monetary policy easing.
President Barack Obama's administration sees the TPP as part of U.S. economic rebalancing toward Asia.
"Having Japan in TPP and contributing to the high standards of TPP is good for the U.S., it's good for the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a whole and its very good for the multilateral trading system itself," Mike Froman, White House international economic affairs adviser, told reporters in Washington.
With the entry of Japan, the world's third-largest economy and fourth-largest U.S. trading partner, the final TPP pact is expected to cover nearly 40 percent of global economic output and one-third of all world trade, Froman said.
The United States also plans to launch free-trade talks with the 27-nation European Union in coming months. With world trade talks dead in the water, regional initiatives have become the main forum for trade liberalization.
The TPP talks have been under way for three years and Japan hopes to participate in the negotiations beginning in July. But that requires a formal decision by all 11 countries currently taking part in the talks. The U.S.-Japan agreement was applauded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, but it got a chilly reaction from Detroit-based automakers that have lost substantial market share to Japanese competitors over decades.
AUTO INDUSTRY CONCERNS
Ford Motor Co has fought hard to keep Japan out of the pact, arguing the U.S. ally has repeatedly failed to follow through on promises to import more cars, and that the Japanese government has been driving down the value of the yen to help its automakers export more cars.
"It is stunning that the U.S. government would endorse a trade policy that puts the industry at a competitive disadvantage and comes at the cost of American auto jobs," Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, said in a statement on the U.S.-Japan deal. "We urge the administration to reconsider its position."
The United Auto Workers said it was concerned that U.S. government efforts that helped the U.S. auto industry recover in recent years "could be threatened by Japan's entry into Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations."
"Despite decades of efforts by Japan's trading partners to open the Japanese market to imported automobiles, Japan remains the most closed automotive market in the world, with import penetration of less than 6 percent, despite a Japanese automotive import tariff that is already at zero percent," the union group said.
Powerful U.S. lawmakers from Michigan, the traditional heart of the U.S. auto sector, also expressed concern. Representative Dave Camp, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, said he would not support Japan's entry into TPP without "airtight assurances" it will address longstanding barriers to U.S. auto, insurance and agricultural exports.
Representative Sandy Levin, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, who is also from Michigan, said the deal announced on Friday "does not provide an adequate basis for Japan's entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership."
Levin vowed to use the next several months to push for tougher preconditions for Japan to join the talks. U.S. trade officials said Tokyo agreed to a separate set of negotiations, in parallel with the TPP talks, focused on a number of regulatory and non-tariff barriers believed to keep U.S. autos out of the Japanese market.
"For the first time ever, we have the opportunity to negotiate a resolution of these issues in a way that is subject to binding and enforceable dispute settlement," Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said.
Japan also agreed the United States could phase out its auto tariffs, which are 2.5 percent on cars and 25 percent on trucks, over the longest period possible in the future TPP deal. Levin criticized the commitment in that area, saying any phase-out of the U.S. tariffs should be linked to measurable improvement in sales of U.S. cars in Japan.
The Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association welcomed Friday's announcement, but said the protracted process for eliminating U.S. tariffs was "regrettable." "We look forward to the Japanese government's entering the TPP negotiations on a sure footing of promoting national interests and taking into account the views of our industry," said Akio Toyoda, the group's chairman.
Tokyo also pledged to expand its "preferential handling procedure" for imports, a simpler and faster certification method used by U.S. auto manufacturers to export to Japan. That would allow U.S. companies to export up to 5,000 vehicles of each type of vehicle under the program, compared with the current annual ceiling of 2,000 for each vehicle type.
The White House still needs to give Congress 90-days notice before formally beginning talks with Japan. Marantis said it was premature to say when that would happen since some other TPP countries still have outstanding issues with Japan. New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said last month the TPP member nations could formally decide whether to allow Japan into the talks when trade officials gather in Indonesia on April 20-21 for the annual meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
(Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Linda Sieg, Edmund Klamann, Nick Zieminski and Xavier Briand)
|Americaneconomicalert.org |TOKYO/WASHINGTON |
viernes, 8 de marzo de 2013
China to build Free Trade Zone in Shanghai
Building the FTZ is one of the Shanghai municipal government's major tasks in 2013, according to a report on government work delivered by Yang Xiong, acting mayor of Shanghai, at the first session of the 14th municipal People's Congress.
It will take about three years to build up an FTZ up to international standards, said Wan Zengwei, director of the Pudong Academy of Reform and Development in Shanghai.
FTZ is an area within which goods may be landed, handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and reexported without the intervention of customs authorities.
Analysts said Shanghai has advantageous conditions for setting up an FTZ on the basis of the existing comprehensive bonded zones -- Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Yangshan Free Trade Port Area, and Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone. The trade volume of Shanghai's comprehensive bonded zones in 2012 totaled over USD 100 billion, the highest in the Chinese mainland.
China sees establishing FTZs as opportunities to boost its trade with surrounding economies and contribute to world trade volume, said Zhou Hanmin, vice chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The FTZ will help Shanghai to cut the costs of trade and improve the trade efficiency, Wan said.
Besides, the FTZ will demand some supporting financial services such as cross-border financing businesses and international trade settlement, which will be conducive to deepening China's financial reform, the official added.
Analysts believe that the FTZ to be built in Shanghai will serve as an important engine for China's cause of deepening reform and opening up in the next five to 10 years, the Xinhua report said.
Jan 27,2013 |The Economic Times|
It will take about three years to build up an FTZ up to international standards, said Wan Zengwei, director of the Pudong Academy of Reform and Development in Shanghai.
FTZ is an area within which goods may be landed, handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and reexported without the intervention of customs authorities.
Analysts said Shanghai has advantageous conditions for setting up an FTZ on the basis of the existing comprehensive bonded zones -- Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Yangshan Free Trade Port Area, and Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone. The trade volume of Shanghai's comprehensive bonded zones in 2012 totaled over USD 100 billion, the highest in the Chinese mainland.
The FTZ will help Shanghai to cut the costs of trade and improve the trade efficiency, Wan said.
Besides, the FTZ will demand some supporting financial services such as cross-border financing businesses and international trade settlement, which will be conducive to deepening China's financial reform, the official added.
Analysts believe that the FTZ to be built in Shanghai will serve as an important engine for China's cause of deepening reform and opening up in the next five to 10 years, the Xinhua report said.
Jan 27,2013 |The Economic Times|
jueves, 7 de marzo de 2013
India, China influencing pattern & scope of international trade: WTO
MELBOURNE: Emerging economies like India, China and Brazil are no longer "policy takers" but are significantly influencing the pattern and scope of international trade, according to WTO Director General Pascal Lamy.
"These emerging powers -- China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa-- and many others are no longer policy takers. "These countries now increasingly influence the pattern and scope of international trade, creating new supply and demand pulls and flexing their influence in international organisations," he said recently at the Richard Snape Lecture here.
Lamy said, "This is no longer the world of the twentieth century dominated by the US pillar on one side and the European pillar on the other. We are in a twenty-first century multi-polar world".
The WTO chief said emergence of some developing countries as key players and as "real contributors" to global dialogue on trade and economics is a fundamental feature of this new geo-political reality. He said the global network of imports and exports is no longer just the North-South paradigm of the past century.
"Increasingly we are seeing developing countries as producers and as markets for each other and this is one of the growing patterns of the new landscape of trade," he added.
The WTO chief said that the in the past 20 years, merchandise trade between developing countries has expanded much faster than the North-South trade.
A recent report by UNCTAD notes that in 2010 South-South exports made up 23 per cent of world trade compared to just 13 per cent in 2000.
"Developing countries are now the largest market for other developing countries. While this is encouraging, the contribution of developing regions to South-South trade is highly skewed," he said.
Asian countries make up more than 80 per cent of South-South trade, with the shares of Africa and Latin America being just 6 per cent and 10 per cent respectively in 2010.
Lamy said that economic ties between Africa and China and Africa and India are growing considerably. "Trade between China and Africa will likely hit upwards of $ 200 billion in 2012, up 25 per cent year on year. If this trend continues, reports are that Africa could surpass the EU and the US to become China's largest trade partner in three to five years," he added.
Nov 28, 2012 |The Economic Times|
"These emerging powers -- China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa-- and many others are no longer policy takers. "These countries now increasingly influence the pattern and scope of international trade, creating new supply and demand pulls and flexing their influence in international organisations," he said recently at the Richard Snape Lecture here.
Lamy said, "This is no longer the world of the twentieth century dominated by the US pillar on one side and the European pillar on the other. We are in a twenty-first century multi-polar world".
The WTO chief said emergence of some developing countries as key players and as "real contributors" to global dialogue on trade and economics is a fundamental feature of this new geo-political reality. He said the global network of imports and exports is no longer just the North-South paradigm of the past century.
"Increasingly we are seeing developing countries as producers and as markets for each other and this is one of the growing patterns of the new landscape of trade," he added.
The WTO chief said that the in the past 20 years, merchandise trade between developing countries has expanded much faster than the North-South trade.
A recent report by UNCTAD notes that in 2010 South-South exports made up 23 per cent of world trade compared to just 13 per cent in 2000.
"Developing countries are now the largest market for other developing countries. While this is encouraging, the contribution of developing regions to South-South trade is highly skewed," he said.
Asian countries make up more than 80 per cent of South-South trade, with the shares of Africa and Latin America being just 6 per cent and 10 per cent respectively in 2010.
Lamy said that economic ties between Africa and China and Africa and India are growing considerably. "Trade between China and Africa will likely hit upwards of $ 200 billion in 2012, up 25 per cent year on year. If this trend continues, reports are that Africa could surpass the EU and the US to become China's largest trade partner in three to five years," he added.
Nov 28, 2012 |The Economic Times|
miércoles, 6 de marzo de 2013
Free Trade Agreement between EU and USA will create prosperity
What would be the impact of a far-reaching free trade agreement between the USA and the EU on growth, prosperity and employment? On behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the Ifo Institute has conducted a study on the dimensions and impact of a free trade agreement that would lift customs duties on goods and remove non-tariff trade barriers. The study finds that such an agreement would not only promote trade, but would also lead to greater prosperity and higher levels of employment in both the USA and the EU.
The EU member states and the USA are showing a growing interest in intensifying transatlantic trade relations, especially as emerging economies like China and India gain competitiveness compared to the older industrialised states. Although the Europe-an Union and the USA have already concluded a series of free trade agreements with various countries, these agreements would be dwarfed by a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA). “Such a set of rules and regulations would create a free trade area representing nearly 50% of global economic output” notes Prof. Gabriel Felber-mayr, head of the International Trade Department at the Ifo Institute.
To determine the effects of a far-reaching liberalisation of trade, the Ifo experts working with Felbermayr compared the trade creation, trade diversion and added prosperity effects of an internal market scenario featuring the removal of non-tariff trade barriers with the effects that would arise from merely abolishing customs duty. With the help of existing free trade agreements, researchers were able to draw conclusions regarding the potential effects of a comparable transatlantic trade agreement.
Munich, 02/28/2013 |Journal of economics| (Fragment)
The EU member states and the USA are showing a growing interest in intensifying transatlantic trade relations, especially as emerging economies like China and India gain competitiveness compared to the older industrialised states. Although the Europe-an Union and the USA have already concluded a series of free trade agreements with various countries, these agreements would be dwarfed by a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA). “Such a set of rules and regulations would create a free trade area representing nearly 50% of global economic output” notes Prof. Gabriel Felber-mayr, head of the International Trade Department at the Ifo Institute.
To determine the effects of a far-reaching liberalisation of trade, the Ifo experts working with Felbermayr compared the trade creation, trade diversion and added prosperity effects of an internal market scenario featuring the removal of non-tariff trade barriers with the effects that would arise from merely abolishing customs duty. With the help of existing free trade agreements, researchers were able to draw conclusions regarding the potential effects of a comparable transatlantic trade agreement.
Munich, 02/28/2013 |Journal of economics| (Fragment)
viernes, 1 de marzo de 2013
Taiwan Coffee Buyers Visit El Salvador to Buy Salvadoran Coffee
To strengthen trade relations with the Salvadoran coffee sector and promote its aromatic coffee, the Central America Trade Office (CATO) has organized a Mission of Taiwan Coffee Buyers to visit El Salvador from 25 to 27 February. This Commercial Mission is assisted jointly by the Economic Counselor Office of the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Salvadoran Coffee Council.
The Taiwanese Commercial Delegation comprising by 11 buyers will meet with more than 18 Salvadoran coffee cooperatives: Cooperativa Cuzcachapa, Cooperativa Los Ausoles, Cooperativa Los Pinos, Cooperativa de Ciudad Barrios, Cooperativa Acproa, and 13 farms.
The Economic Counselor Office of the Taiwan Embassy will arrange a comprehensive itinerary for the delegation that will include tasting varieties of Salvadoran coffee, visiting coffee farms and coffee processing factories. It has also organized a seminar with the participation of Taiwan Turnkey Project Association, Taiwan Coffee Association and Salvadoran Coffee Council. The topics will include coffee strategy & opportunities and how Taiwan can assist its Central American diplomatic allies to make more profit from coffee, agro and related industries.
The delegation of Taiwanese buyers is visiting El Manzano Farm located in the province of Santa Ana. The coffee buyers, mission expects to obtain good results with this visit to El Salvador and to establish many business contacts.
26/02/2013 ||Bureau of foreign trade|
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