The stone and tile industry recently gathered at Coverings 2010 in Orlando, Florida. This industry is dominated by traditional stone exporting countries like Italy and Spain, but also by new players in China and Mexico. After attending the show last week, we wanted to provide a little analysis of the industry as a whole.

The most imported HTS code of stone and tile for the last 12 months (February 2010 to March 2009) is HTS 6908.90.0051 - Glazed Ceramic Flags and Paving, Hearth or Wall Tiles, Mosaic Cubes and the like. In the last twelve months, the U.S. imported over $550 million worth of stone and tile for just this category. Below is a chart showing which countries exported the most product to the United States:

The five most important sources of tile are China, Italy, Mexico, Canada, and Spain. While Spain and Italy dominate the higher quality market, China leads the industry in products like Vinyl Tiles (HTS – 3918.10.1000), Floor Coverings made of Polymers or Vinyl Chloride (HTS – 3918.10.2000), and Floor Mats of Vulcanized Rubber (HTS – 4016.91.0000). Canada is also strong for these products.

As an overall trend, this industry has imported less than the previous year for the last two time frames. In 2007, the U.S. imported $2.79 billion for End Use – 13120, then $2.55 billion in 2008, and $1.91 billion in 2009. For this year thus far, both January and February totals are up over 2009, by 3.9% and 15.2% respectively. Below is a graph of the last 24 months for this industry:

To contact us about the Coverings Show or to get in touch with Paul Rafferty who represented Zepol at the event, please click here. 

Zepol is pleased to announce a partnership with Logistics Today. Every week in Logistics Today's News and Views e-newsletter, Zepol will provide the previous week's import statistics from a series of market baskets derived from the U.S. Customs import trade data.

These baskets will show logistics professionals from different industries how their imported goods are comparing to other market sectors and the trade economy as a whole. These baskets are diverse, but provide a unique perspective into which direction trade is headed. This information is as up-to-date as any other trade barometer available, so you will have a head start on your competitors.

Below are the import market baskets that Logistics Today will provide to readers:

• Food and Beverage
• Autos and Parts
• Chemical
• Plastics and Rubbers
• Wood/Pulp
• Textile
• Mineral and Stone
• Steel
• Electronics
• Furniture

Each basket is a grouping of products that Zepol has identified as heavily imported. In addition, the data is shown by port groupings (East Coast, Gulf Coast, and Pacific Coast). To see the contents of these baskets, please see our Logistics Today market basket page.

Readers can sign up for Logistics Today’s e-newsletters at http://penton.ebookhost.net/lt/.

Zepol continues to develop more relationships with the media to provide information on trade to the general public and help build understanding of the available trade information available. If your media organization would like to work with Zepol to provide trade information to your readers, please contact media@zepol.com.

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.

Customs and Border Protection has a nice site that helps new importers and exporters understand how to start trading on the international stage. If you are just starting to move your business international, it is highly recommended to read the information on this site and the linked pages. This site provides specific tactical advice on how to begin importing and exporting.

CBP Tips for New Importers and Exporters

The other part of beginning to both import and export is understanding the market and environment which you are entering. Doing basic research into how much of the type of product you plan on trading is imported and exported and what related markets are growing can be the difference between a successful entry and a disaster. Zepol recommends trying trade data to do this research as it can give you specific information about product categories and different countries’ import and export profiles.

U.S. Census data, which Zepol’s TradeView provides, can quickly and easily help you identify the right markets to enter. U.S. Customs data, which Zepol’s TradeIQ exposes, can give you the specific company names for suppliers and U.S. importers in order to define the right partners to work with and fully understand the competitive landscape.

Visit www.zepol.com to receive a free trial or to participate in a demonstration of both of our trade data tools. We enjoy helping companies who are new to importing and exporting understand what they can do to make a successful entry into the international marketplace.