Last week was filled with news regarding coal mining accidents in both China and West Virginia in the United States. For many, mining is an industry of the last century and not one that fits in the economy of 2010. In reality, it is an industry that drives much of the world’s energy production. Coal is the fuel that powers iPads, Blackberries, and servers of the new economy.

The accident in West Virginia occured at a Met Coal mine. This type of coal is of a very high quality, which is used in the production of iron ore to produce the steel that is incorporated in everything from sky scrapers in Dubai to the frames of Toyota Prius' in California.

In 2009, the United States exported over $1.36 billion via ocean vessel of Met Coal (HTS – 2701.12.0050) to countries around the world. Below is a pie chart of the countries that the U.S. exports this type of coal to:



While exports for HTS – 2701.12.0050 reduced 23% by vessel value and 31% by vessel weight, this is still a very important export industry for the United States, ranking 99th in total value for all U.S. export HTS Codes for 2009. For more information about other energy related HTS Codes, please visit HTS - 27. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently announced that they have seized more than 3.4 million pieces of counterfeit party supplies. These products were from well known brands and had a retail value of over $4 million. It is clear that some of Customs Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) efforts are successful, but Zepol wonders what amount of pirated goods are never caught by authorities.

The U.S. Commerce Department also announced that they have launched a dumping investigation into the imports of commodity matchbooks from India. This comes close after an investigation of fasteners from China and Taiwan and the headline news of antidumping duties being placed on Chinese made tires. These are important actions for U.S. based manufacturers of these products, but could increase prices for U.S. consumers and businesses.

It will be interesting to see how the Obama administration prioritizes trade practices like those involved in IP and dumping cases. Recently, Commerce Secretary Locke pushed IPR on a trip to China, but dumping investigations are also a favorite subject of Labor. How this administration acts on these hot button trade topics in the next couple of months will be of great interest to importers and the companies that service them.

Zepol has been helping companies identify IPR violators and associated risks during the last several years and we have put some of these experiences in a case study, click here. We also have recently worked with several companies to document evidence in dumping cases to bring to the Department of Commerce. These are just some examples of how our customers are aggressively defending their businesses on multiple trade law fronts.

On October 29th, a new recall was issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relating to Chinese milk derived products. This expands the products that have been affected by melamine contamination in China. The FDA lists the products that have been recalled here.

What role can trade data play when imports are at the center of a controversy like this?

The melamine recall affects a small number of imports that are sold at Asian specialty stores. However, investigating the recalled products and their importers, we can better understand how large this problem may be, what other products from these sources could be involved, and how long the products have been in the United States.

I did some research into the specific companies/products the FDA lists on their website and found shipment details for most of them listing the importer of record, the shipper (possible manufacturer), and the description of the actual product. Click the link below to see a Bill of Lading for one of the recalled products:

White Rabbit Candies Sample

Members of the business community can also put Bill of Lading data to use by being able to fully vet their suppliers, knowing exactly what they have been exporting to the U.S. and to whom. Manufacturers could use the data to prospect for new customers by learning who the affected manufacturer's U.S. customers were. Journalists could use this information to provide compelling facts about a recall or expand the scope of the piece by knowing all the players.

The final important group that takes great interest when product safety is concerned are attorneys and investigators. TradeIQ’s U.S. Customs data provides key facts needed to prove a company imported products, identify jurisdiction, and determine suppliers like in the melamine case. Zepol has written a case study on how some law firms have incorporated this data in their international practices.

SourceJuice.com recently posted two interesting articles about Chinese exports to the United States.

1. On October 21st, China announced that it would be raising the tax rebates on 3,486 labor intensive industries including textiles, garments, and toys. This could help companies that are importing products from China in these industries as prices are likely to drop. It may also help reverse the trend of companies moving from China to other low cost countries or regions closer to the United States to reduce shipping costs.

The VAT or Value Added Tax changes are China's attempt to boost their economy as U.S. and European importers feel the impact of the global credit crisis. This news is a reminder to many importers that China is still one of the most competitively priced locations for sourcing.

2. Dylan Blankenship wrote an article about companies manufacturing boats in China and importing them to the United States. He quotes a source who states that manufacturing boats in China is 3 to 5 times less expensive than in the United States. There are some good pictures of how the boats are loaded on to vessels using Roll on, Roll off and Flat Rack shipping methods. Very infomative article about importing that I had not known about before.

The article prompted me to do several searches in TradeIQ™ to find Bills of Lading for the companies importing yachts and boats. Most yachts actually come from Europe instead of Asia. However, over the last several years Asian nations are catching up.

Below is a graph of the shipment trend over the last 5 years.

There are many companies importing yachts and boats from different manufactures around the world. If you are in this industry, US Customs data could lead to some very interesting competitive intelligence and sourcing possiblities.