On June 16th, a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee took place to discuss a new act that would put additional requirements on foreign manufacturers who import goods regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. This act requires foreign manufacturers to register an agent in at least one state in order for them to accept responsibility for civil and regulatory claims.

The bill is a reaction to several import scandals, including moldy Chinese drywall and tainted Chinese pet food, where it was difficult to sue the companies at the heart of the issues. In effect, it opens up foreign manufacturers to civil and regulatory litigation in the United States. It will likely increase the cost of exporting products to the United States and make it harder for U.S. companies to find qualified suppliers.

This legislation is currently sponsored by 62 members of the House and 15 members of the Senate for a similar bill. While the bill has not yet passed, it could have major consequences for importers and manufacturers. According to many Congress watchers, passage is very likely.

How to use trade data to prepare for passage:

1. Because of the expense of maintaining an agent in the United States, smaller foreign manufacturers could be frozen out of trade. If your company uses primarily smaller manufacturers, you may need to search for new suppliers who are both financially stable and large enough to shoulder the burden of these additional costs. Searching for suppliers of specific goods and developing qualified lists of manufacturing prospects is simple with TradeIQ.


2. If you are an attorney with clients affected by a faulty imported product, finding the actual manufacturer can be difficult. With trade data, you can tie the importer back to the company that exported the goods to the U.S. and identify the parties involved in the transaction. Many of the attorneys who litigated imported goods scandals have done this with Zepol in recent cases.


3. If the imports of a non-registered manufacturer are not seized or blocked by U.S. Customs, there is an opportunity for industries to self police and ensure that all players are on an even playing field. This would require importers of the products to regularly track imports using trade data and report violations to Customs. Often there are rewards for companies that help in these investigations.

As July 4th approaches, the United States has ramped up its importation of fireworks for the holiday festivities. Historically, May is the largest month for fireworks imports and China is the United States’ primary supplier.

Using data from TradeIQ™, we can see that U.S. fireworks imports from China have been relatively predictable for the last four years. Imports this year are down 15.2% since last year over the time period from June – May, but the general trend of imports has remained consistent.

Below is a graph of fireworks exports to the United States from China over the time period June – May for the last four years.

 

A search in TradeView™ shows us the value of fireworks shipped from China. Here we can see that 2009 was a strong year for imports, with $83,766,121 imported in the months of April and May. This is a 30.5% increase over 2008 and a 34.2% increase over 2007 for the same time period.

May 2010 import values are not yet available, but we can see that April’s 2010 import value decreased by 38.1% from April 2009. This decrease means that May 2010 would need an increase of 23.4% or more in order for the 2010 4th of July holiday season to overtake 2009 in terms of value. This increase is unlikely given that we already know from our TradeIQ™data that May 2010 shipments decreased slightly from May 2009.

  

The U.S. Census Bureau released its Merchandise Trade data numbers on June 10th for April 2010. The Merchandise Trade balance increased 32.6% over last April and 7.0% from the previous month. Imports fell by 3.0% from March, and gained 28.3% over last year; while exports dropped 7.3% from the previous month and rose 26.3% over April 2009.

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the U.S. Census Merchandise Trade data released last week. This month we have highlighted 5 interesting items that we found while looking at April's data; here are the highlights:

1. Pharma Imports and Exports Lead Declines
2. European Union Rule Changes to Bring More Transparency to Trade
3. Oil Spill Not Affecting Gulf Coast Ports, Yet
4. World Cup Fever Grips Ball Suppliers
5. Exports of Food Important to U.S. Export Growth
   

Click here for Zepol's U.S. Census Merchandise Trade Data Update for April 2010

With the World Cup kicking off in South Africa today, we at Zepol were curious to know what effect the excitement leading up to the tournament has had on shipments of soccer balls to the U.S.

A search run in TradeIQ™ reveals that soccer ball shipments spiked in May, with 144 total shipments to the U.S., or 14.88% of all shipments since June 2009. May also saw a 51.58% increase in total shipments over April.

The graph below depicts the monthly number of soccer ball shipments from the top five exporting countries since May 2009.

Further analysis shows that this spike in soccer ball shipments is not unique to South Africa’s World Cup. TradeIQ™ shows a similar spike in total shipments in May 2006, the month prior to Germany’s World Cup. Years in which a World Cup tournament did not occur show less total shipments relative to World Cup years.

Furthermore, when comparing shipments during the month prior to the World Cup in both 2006 and 2010, we see that total soccer ball shipments to the U.S. increased by 15.2% since the last World Cup, with 125 shipments in May 2006 versus 144 shipments in May 2010.

The graph below depicts the trend in soccer ball shipments to the U.S. during the month of May since 2006. World Cup years are circled in red.