October 2001 Edition
RUSTLING
Beef prices are at a 10-year high in Canada and that has triggered a run on cattle. In Alberta, the demand for meat has created a serious problem in cattle rustling. About 6,000 head of cattle disappear in Alberta every year costing ranchers $6 million. Livestock detectives say the problem is getting worse. Some ranches have lost more cattle in the last three years than in the previous forty. One ranch lost 11 head of cattle in one day worth $1,900 each.
WATER
Mexico has missed a deadline for the payment of water to the U.S. under an international treaty governing the Rio Grande, a critical source of water for farmers along the river's valley in South Texas. Mexico has owed the U.S. about 1.3 million acre-feet of water since 1992 under the agreement and was supposed to pay about 600,000 acre-feet to the U.S. by the end of July 2001.
ONLINE
Canadian women are among the world's most eager surfers in cyberspace, while Germany has the lowest percentage of women Internet users among 26 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. Of the 26 countries surveyed, only Canada and the U.S. had female majorities in cyberspace, with 51 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. The study showed that only 37 per cent of German on-line users were women.
HOURS
Roughly one in six workers in developed countries is a part-timer (less than 30 hours a week). In the past few years the incidence of part-time work has risen sharply in some European countries, notably the Netherlands and Belgium, but has fallen in the U.S. Women dominate the part-time workforce, but in some countries, such as Britain, the share of men has been rising, from 15 per cent in 1990 to 20 per cent in 2000.
TRENDS
The former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan has abandoned the Cyrillic alphabet in favour of Latin letters. A government decree has ordered that all official documents and commercial signs, along with Azeri-language magazines, books and newspapers, be written in the Latin script. The Latin alphabet was the official script for the Azeri language for almost two decades before Stalin imposed the Cyrillic alphabet in 1939. Further back still, Arabic script was also used.
LATIN AMERICA
Competition between Japan and South Korea for the South American market has intensified, especially in the automobile and naval sectors. In 2000, South Korea exported US$9.36 billion worth of goods to Latin America, while Japan's exports to the region totalled US$19.54 billion during the same period. South Korea was at a disadvantage with respect to the number of companies it operated in Latin America, only 116 compared with Japan's 753. Japanese companies have diversified from manufacturing to service sectors, such as finance and investment.
MOODS
A day after the Hong Kong Mood Disorders Centre opened in May of this year, 1,000 people jammed its telephone hotline asking for help. The flood of calls was unexpected. Asians typically don't see mood problems like depression as an illness requiring medical attention. They don't think it's appropriate to tell their doctor they're anxious or depressed. Instead they complain about chronic fatigue, insomnia, headaches, chest discomfort or poor memory.
RUSSIA
The Russian foreign trade protection commission has announced its intention to reduce, by five percentage points, the import duties on 400 items of industrial equipment. The current duty on industrial equipment ranges between 10 to 15 per cent. The decree will apply to iron and steel, automobiles, light and textile industries, machine tool construction and food industries.
BACTERIA
British scientists say cooking with copper pots instead of stainless steel may lower the risk of infection from food bugs. Researchers from the University of Southampton released a study on E.coli 0157 which can survive for more than a month on stainless steel. The researchers are hoping to develop the bacteria-killing properties of copper. They found that the bug was able to survive up to 35 days and sometimes as long as three months on stainless steel surfaces, whereas it was only able to live on copper for four hours.
AGING
The world's elderly population (those over age 60) will be one billion by 2020, or 13.3 per cent of an expected total population of 7.5 billion. This is up from 8.5 per cent of the population in 1980 and 11 per cent now. Almost three-quarters of seniors will live in developing countries.
OATS
Months of below-normal rainfall in Saskatchewan and Alberta have threatened this crop and sent prices surging to a three year high. The two provinces supply half the oats consumed in the United States. The grain is of such high quality that it is used in breakfast cereals and animal feed going to breeders of Kentucky racehorses. More than two-thirds of all oats in the U.S are consumed by livestock.
PORTS
According to StatsCan, Canada's major container ports have competed successfully against their U.S. counterparts for overseas container traffic. The keys to the success of Canadian container ports have been a combination of natural endowments, investments in intermodal facilities and competitive pricing. These factors are likely to continue into the future; however, the competition among container ports is likely to intensify as industry consolidation continues and as publicly funded U.S. intermodal terminal and corridor projects come to fruition.
APPRENTICES
In 1999, the number of registered apprentices in Canada increased 6 per cent to 188,776. Since 1994, the number of such apprentices has grown 14 per cent ? almost returning to the peak reached in the early 1990s. Registrations have increased by 15 per cent or more since 1994 in all but two of the major trade groups. The two exceptions are building construction and electrical and electronics trades, where increases over the last year raised registrations to about the same level as in 1994.
SOLAR POWER
Newly installed solar-powered parking meters have fallen victim to Britain's notoriously gloomy weather. This is allowing hundreds of motorists to escape paying for tickets. The City of Nottingham spent US$2.25 million on 215 high-tech meters earlier this year. More than a quarter of the machines have stopped working due to the lack of sunshine.
PETS
Americans are the most pet-fond people in the world. In the year 2000, Americans spent more than US $27 billion on their small companions which is more than India's annual defence budget. 17 per cent of U.S. citizens keep a picture of their pet in their wallet or purse.
FASHION
A Japanese company has invented T-shirts that automatically dispense vitamin C to wearers. Each shirt is made of fibres impregnated with as much vitamin C as contained in two lemons. The vitamin-dispensing power fades only after 30 washes.
ENERGY
Canada is a big supplier of energy to the U.S. to the tune of US$20.2 billion last year. We provide our neighbour with 9 per cent of its oil needs and 15 per cent of its natural gas. Some claim that the Alberta tar sands contain 300 billion barrels of oil, far more than Saudi Arabia's proven reserves.
SPORTS
In 1937, when Gallup began asking Americans to name their favourite sport, baseball was the runaway winner with 34 per cent, peaking at 38 per cent in 1948. This year, baseball polled just 12 per cent, an all-time low, and a distant third behind football and basketball
FISH
Aquaculture sales soared past C$600 million in 1999 in the wake of increases in both production and prices of fish products. The industry generated revenues of C$611.4 million, a 17.6 per cent gain from 1998. Finfish, mostly salmon, accounted for C$560.2 million in sales, 91.6 per cent of the total, while molluscs accounted for C$44.8 million, or 7.3 per cent. Aquaculture exports increased 5.2 per cent to C$385.5 million in 1999. About 96.5 per cent of finfish exports go to the U.S. each year; France, Japan and Taiwan take the remainder.
REGULATIONS
A survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business concludes that provincial regulations have the greatest impact on the development of small and mid-sized enterprises. It also appears that the policies of the two wealthiest provinces, Ontario and Alberta, are the most popular among business. The survey of almost 8,100 entrepreneurs found that 39 per cent said policies set by provincial governments had the greatest impact. About 26 per cent said municipal decisions were the most important.
CORN MAZES
In recent years, spurred by a need to generate new revenue, farmers across North America are turning to agritourism. Some farmers claim that corn mazes can generate more revenue in five days as a maze then they would in a year as a crop. But mazes are not cheap. On average, farmers pay between C$10,000 and C$15,000 for the maze design which usually represents a theme.
BRITAIN
A new government study suggests that British companies conduct very little business over the Internet with online sales accounting for only two per cent of total sales of the sectors covered. Internet business in Britain could be worth US$83 billion annually. About 40 per cent of those questioned said that the cost of developing systems and uncertainties with contracts were barriers to making sales using e-commerce.
REFORM
Canada and 17 other top food-exporting countries are warning that attempts to launch a new round of trade liberalizing talks in Qatar could fail unless these include agricultural reforms. The 18-member Cairns group has said that agriculture is a significant enough issue that new negotiations on freer trade in products and services may not get off the ground if eliminating farm and exports subsidies is not on the table.
ADVERTISING
As U.S. retailers are gearing up for autumn, some are cutting their advertising budgets in favour of special events and better pay for sales-clerks. Instead of pulling out all stops to woo customers with typical newspaper inserts and local television and radio spots, many U.S. merchants are taking the axe to their ad budgets. Overall, national magazine advertising by retailers fell by 22 per cent in July with retailers spending US$9.2 million less then they did in July, 2001.
FILMS
The Screen Actors Guild in the U.S. is calling for an investigation into what it says are unfair trade practices in Canada. The actors union says Canadian tax incentives to American film studios are illegal. Earlier this year, an American government estimated that the U.S. was losing more than $15 billion a year because of so-called runaway film production outside the country. Canadian officials dispute that figure.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
Beef prices are at a 10-year high in Canada and that has triggered a run on cattle. In Alberta, the demand for meat has created a serious problem in cattle rustling. About 6,000 head of cattle disappear in Alberta every year costing ranchers $6 million. Livestock detectives say the problem is getting worse. Some ranches have lost more cattle in the last three years than in the previous forty. One ranch lost 11 head of cattle in one day worth $1,900 each.
WATER
Mexico has missed a deadline for the payment of water to the U.S. under an international treaty governing the Rio Grande, a critical source of water for farmers along the river's valley in South Texas. Mexico has owed the U.S. about 1.3 million acre-feet of water since 1992 under the agreement and was supposed to pay about 600,000 acre-feet to the U.S. by the end of July 2001.
ONLINE
Canadian women are among the world's most eager surfers in cyberspace, while Germany has the lowest percentage of women Internet users among 26 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. Of the 26 countries surveyed, only Canada and the U.S. had female majorities in cyberspace, with 51 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. The study showed that only 37 per cent of German on-line users were women.
HOURS
Roughly one in six workers in developed countries is a part-timer (less than 30 hours a week). In the past few years the incidence of part-time work has risen sharply in some European countries, notably the Netherlands and Belgium, but has fallen in the U.S. Women dominate the part-time workforce, but in some countries, such as Britain, the share of men has been rising, from 15 per cent in 1990 to 20 per cent in 2000.
TRENDS
The former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan has abandoned the Cyrillic alphabet in favour of Latin letters. A government decree has ordered that all official documents and commercial signs, along with Azeri-language magazines, books and newspapers, be written in the Latin script. The Latin alphabet was the official script for the Azeri language for almost two decades before Stalin imposed the Cyrillic alphabet in 1939. Further back still, Arabic script was also used.
LATIN AMERICA
Competition between Japan and South Korea for the South American market has intensified, especially in the automobile and naval sectors. In 2000, South Korea exported US$9.36 billion worth of goods to Latin America, while Japan's exports to the region totalled US$19.54 billion during the same period. South Korea was at a disadvantage with respect to the number of companies it operated in Latin America, only 116 compared with Japan's 753. Japanese companies have diversified from manufacturing to service sectors, such as finance and investment.
MOODS
A day after the Hong Kong Mood Disorders Centre opened in May of this year, 1,000 people jammed its telephone hotline asking for help. The flood of calls was unexpected. Asians typically don't see mood problems like depression as an illness requiring medical attention. They don't think it's appropriate to tell their doctor they're anxious or depressed. Instead they complain about chronic fatigue, insomnia, headaches, chest discomfort or poor memory.
RUSSIA
The Russian foreign trade protection commission has announced its intention to reduce, by five percentage points, the import duties on 400 items of industrial equipment. The current duty on industrial equipment ranges between 10 to 15 per cent. The decree will apply to iron and steel, automobiles, light and textile industries, machine tool construction and food industries.
BACTERIA
British scientists say cooking with copper pots instead of stainless steel may lower the risk of infection from food bugs. Researchers from the University of Southampton released a study on E.coli 0157 which can survive for more than a month on stainless steel. The researchers are hoping to develop the bacteria-killing properties of copper. They found that the bug was able to survive up to 35 days and sometimes as long as three months on stainless steel surfaces, whereas it was only able to live on copper for four hours.
AGING
The world's elderly population (those over age 60) will be one billion by 2020, or 13.3 per cent of an expected total population of 7.5 billion. This is up from 8.5 per cent of the population in 1980 and 11 per cent now. Almost three-quarters of seniors will live in developing countries.
OATS
Months of below-normal rainfall in Saskatchewan and Alberta have threatened this crop and sent prices surging to a three year high. The two provinces supply half the oats consumed in the United States. The grain is of such high quality that it is used in breakfast cereals and animal feed going to breeders of Kentucky racehorses. More than two-thirds of all oats in the U.S are consumed by livestock.
PORTS
According to StatsCan, Canada's major container ports have competed successfully against their U.S. counterparts for overseas container traffic. The keys to the success of Canadian container ports have been a combination of natural endowments, investments in intermodal facilities and competitive pricing. These factors are likely to continue into the future; however, the competition among container ports is likely to intensify as industry consolidation continues and as publicly funded U.S. intermodal terminal and corridor projects come to fruition.
APPRENTICES
In 1999, the number of registered apprentices in Canada increased 6 per cent to 188,776. Since 1994, the number of such apprentices has grown 14 per cent ? almost returning to the peak reached in the early 1990s. Registrations have increased by 15 per cent or more since 1994 in all but two of the major trade groups. The two exceptions are building construction and electrical and electronics trades, where increases over the last year raised registrations to about the same level as in 1994.
SOLAR POWER
Newly installed solar-powered parking meters have fallen victim to Britain's notoriously gloomy weather. This is allowing hundreds of motorists to escape paying for tickets. The City of Nottingham spent US$2.25 million on 215 high-tech meters earlier this year. More than a quarter of the machines have stopped working due to the lack of sunshine.
PETS
Americans are the most pet-fond people in the world. In the year 2000, Americans spent more than US $27 billion on their small companions which is more than India's annual defence budget. 17 per cent of U.S. citizens keep a picture of their pet in their wallet or purse.
FASHION
A Japanese company has invented T-shirts that automatically dispense vitamin C to wearers. Each shirt is made of fibres impregnated with as much vitamin C as contained in two lemons. The vitamin-dispensing power fades only after 30 washes.
ENERGY
Canada is a big supplier of energy to the U.S. to the tune of US$20.2 billion last year. We provide our neighbour with 9 per cent of its oil needs and 15 per cent of its natural gas. Some claim that the Alberta tar sands contain 300 billion barrels of oil, far more than Saudi Arabia's proven reserves.
SPORTS
In 1937, when Gallup began asking Americans to name their favourite sport, baseball was the runaway winner with 34 per cent, peaking at 38 per cent in 1948. This year, baseball polled just 12 per cent, an all-time low, and a distant third behind football and basketball
FISH
Aquaculture sales soared past C$600 million in 1999 in the wake of increases in both production and prices of fish products. The industry generated revenues of C$611.4 million, a 17.6 per cent gain from 1998. Finfish, mostly salmon, accounted for C$560.2 million in sales, 91.6 per cent of the total, while molluscs accounted for C$44.8 million, or 7.3 per cent. Aquaculture exports increased 5.2 per cent to C$385.5 million in 1999. About 96.5 per cent of finfish exports go to the U.S. each year; France, Japan and Taiwan take the remainder.
REGULATIONS
A survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business concludes that provincial regulations have the greatest impact on the development of small and mid-sized enterprises. It also appears that the policies of the two wealthiest provinces, Ontario and Alberta, are the most popular among business. The survey of almost 8,100 entrepreneurs found that 39 per cent said policies set by provincial governments had the greatest impact. About 26 per cent said municipal decisions were the most important.
CORN MAZES
In recent years, spurred by a need to generate new revenue, farmers across North America are turning to agritourism. Some farmers claim that corn mazes can generate more revenue in five days as a maze then they would in a year as a crop. But mazes are not cheap. On average, farmers pay between C$10,000 and C$15,000 for the maze design which usually represents a theme.
BRITAIN
A new government study suggests that British companies conduct very little business over the Internet with online sales accounting for only two per cent of total sales of the sectors covered. Internet business in Britain could be worth US$83 billion annually. About 40 per cent of those questioned said that the cost of developing systems and uncertainties with contracts were barriers to making sales using e-commerce.
REFORM
Canada and 17 other top food-exporting countries are warning that attempts to launch a new round of trade liberalizing talks in Qatar could fail unless these include agricultural reforms. The 18-member Cairns group has said that agriculture is a significant enough issue that new negotiations on freer trade in products and services may not get off the ground if eliminating farm and exports subsidies is not on the table.
ADVERTISING
As U.S. retailers are gearing up for autumn, some are cutting their advertising budgets in favour of special events and better pay for sales-clerks. Instead of pulling out all stops to woo customers with typical newspaper inserts and local television and radio spots, many U.S. merchants are taking the axe to their ad budgets. Overall, national magazine advertising by retailers fell by 22 per cent in July with retailers spending US$9.2 million less then they did in July, 2001.
FILMS
The Screen Actors Guild in the U.S. is calling for an investigation into what it says are unfair trade practices in Canada. The actors union says Canadian tax incentives to American film studios are illegal. Earlier this year, an American government estimated that the U.S. was losing more than $15 billion a year because of so-called runaway film production outside the country. Canadian officials dispute that figure.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
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