December 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

December 2005 Edition

TRADE

This month sees important world trade negotiations in Hong Kong. America currently spends over US$19-billion on farm production subsidies which heavily distorts trade. The EU spends up to $75-billion. The US has offered to cut their limit by 60 per cent if the EU will cut its permitted subsidies by 80 per cent. The US has also suggested limiting other subsidies which do not distort trade as heavily to 2.5 per cent of the value of agricultural production.

MUSIC

Global sales of music CDs fell by 6.3 per cent in the first half of 2005. But sales of digital music more than tripled to US$790-million. Music downloads and mobile-phone ringtones now account for six per cent of retail revenues. Of the countries with the most music sales, the British bought the most per person, thanks to their specialist music shops.

DETECTION

Scientists say they can train wasps to detect hidden explosives, plant diseases, illegal drugs, cancer and even buried bodies. Researchers have produced the Wasp Hound, a device that sounds an alarm when the insects encounter a target odour. They have trained a species of tiny parasitic wasp, incapable of stinging people, to detect target odours by associating them with food.

HAZARDS

Forget drunken driving, when cruising along Namibia's long and empty roads, unsuspecting drivers face a no less dangerous hazard: sleeping donkeys. At night the warm tarmac provides a more comfortable bed than the vast expanse of land only a few yards away. Invisible in the dark, the dormant asses, which help plough Namibia's land and pull its carts, have become the cause of many car crashes.

MAGAZINES

Thirty-five new magazines, mostly niche publications, were launched in the US in the third quarter of 2005. The publications range in editorial focus and type, from magazines serving policemen and law enforcement professionals to titles dedicated to music, archery and travel. The newest titles include nine new lifestyle magazines, six magazines for women, five titles serving African Americans and four magazines focusing on the arts and special hobbies.

CHEAP

The world's least sophisticated laptop computer has just been announced...and it will run by clockwork. The machine will cost less than $100 and is not aimed at the cutting edge of the corporate world but is destined for the poor of the planet. The laptop will have a basic processor, flash memory instead of a hard disk, will be powered by batteries or a hand-crank, and will run open-source software. The computer also puts all the many components behind the screen, not under the keyboard, doing away with the need for an expensive hinge.

ARMS

The International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm reports that global military expenditures hit US$1.04-trillion in 2004, nearing the historic peak of 1987-88. Governments spent an average of $1,262 per person on weapons and soldiers.

HOUSING

Last year, American households borrowed almost $600-billion against the value of their homes to spend on other things. Also, the purchase of a second home, perhaps for speculative purposes, is playing an ever bigger role in the housing market. Meanwhile, in August of this year, the median price of an existing home rose to $220,000, up by 15.8 per cent from a year before. This was the biggest annual price jump since 1979.

AQUACULTURE

Revenues generated by Canada's aquaculture industry fell for a second year in a row in 2004, in the wake of a decline in production and exports. The industry reported revenues of C$669-million in 2004, down 9.3 per cent over 2003. Finfish sales, which accounted for 87 per cent of total revenues fell 10.4 per cent. Aquaculture exports plunged 14.4 per cent to C$425-million. The most significant contributor to this decline was a 28 per cent drop in the value of Atlantic salmon fillets exported to the U.S.

ECONOMY

Brazilians are the beneficiaries of an automotive revolution: "flex-fuel" cars that run as readily on ethanol as on regular gasoline were introduced in 2003, and have grabbed nearly two-thirds of the market. Right now, ethanol in Brazil is up to 55 per cent less than regular gasoline. In the U.S., 4.5 million vehicles can run on blends of up to 85 per cent ethanol, but the fuel is scarce. In Brazil, ethanol is available everywhere thanks to a 30-year-old policy of promoting fuel derived from home-grown sugar cane.

SHOPPERS

The number of certified mystery shoppers in the U.S. has now surpassed 40,000, according to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) which has been offering a certification program since 2002 as a way to improve the quality of mystery shoppers in North America. There are currently two levels of certification, Silver and Gold which require taking special courses. According to MSPA, there are about one million mystery shoppers in North America and 250,000 in other countries.

RUSSIA

With revenues from Russia's oil exports pulsing through the economy, foreign auto makers are rushing to oil-rich Russia. Hyundai, the South Korean automaker, barely known there a few years ago, has seen a hundred-fold increase in cars sold this year and leads a pack of Asian car makers who are aggressively moving into Russia. In the first eight months of this year, purchases of imported cars rose 64 per cent to 348,459. By the end of the year, foreign brands could account for one-third of car purchases, up from five per cent in 2000.

EGGS

Large supercentres in Florida have begun to carry pasteurized-shell eggs. The manufacturer claims to produce the only shell eggs to undergo a patented pasteurization process that destroys harmful bacteria including Salmonella enteritidis (SE), the main egg-related salmonella virus. Each year, more than 118,000 egg related salmonella cases are confirmed, and many more are underreported or misdiagnosed in Florida. The FDA estimates 2.3 million eggs contaminated with SE were sold last year in the USA exposing a large number of people to risk of illness.

HEALTH

In 2004, for the first time, there were more ex-smokers in the U.S., 47 million, than smokers, 46 million. The percentage of American adults who smoke, about 22 per cent, is about half of what it was before the 1964 Surgeon General's report on the dangers of smoking.

RETAIL

The French company of Carrefour is the world's second-largest retailer after Wal-Mart. Carrefour brought hypermarkets, huge stores that sell a wide variety of goods in addition to food, to France in the 1960s. For two decades it has forged ahead with international expansion, with particularly big investments in Latin America and China. It is now the world's most international retail chain with hypermarkets, supermarkets and deep-discount stores in 28 countries. Last year its annual post-tax sales hit US$90-billion.

SIZE

The cube is an underused shape in the gadget world. However, the mobiBLU-DAH-1500, a tiny new MP3 player, embraces the form. Barely one inch high and wide, it resembles a sugar cube. It is available in six colours and holds eight to 10 hours of music in its single gigabyte of memory. It sells for US$129 for the one-gigabyte version and less than $100 for the 512-megabyte version.

VEGGIES

The Land Spring Garden restaurant near Beijing is China's first specialty restaurant serving what the government hopes will one day feed its enormous population: nuclear fruit and vegetables. The food is literally out of this world having been cooked using mutant giant vegetables from space. Since 1987, China has regularly sent seeds on their rockets into space where those exposed to the galaxy's radiation in zero gravity showed a variety of mutations. The vegetables showing the most promise have been aubergines, green peppers and tomatoes. The vitamin content of vegetables grown from space seeds is 281 per cent of ordinary vegetables.

DISEASE

A deadly new citrus disease is spreading through southeast Florida creating a fresh threat to the citrus industry. Citrus greening, a bacterial disease carried by an Asian insect, stunts growth, leads to bitter misshapen oranges and grapefruits, and eventually kills the tree. The disease could pose a greater threat than citrus canker, still widespread despite a US$500-million campaign to eradicate it.

TRADE

Canada wants to double trade with Russia as part of a drive to diversify beyond the U.S. market. Bilateral trade has nearly tripled in the past three years to US$1.7-billion, the bulk of it in Russia's favour. Canada's main exports to Russia include food products and construction materials while Russia sells Canada steel and other metals. Canada hopes to double its exports to Russia within three years.

GADGETS

Scientists in Finland have developed a new gadget to prevent cellphone and laptop theft. The device enables such equipment to detect changes in their owner's walking style, and to freeze if they detect unauthorized use. The first time it is used, the gadget's sensors measure characteristics of the owner's gait and store them in memory.

MONEY

For two years, card issuers and merchants in Canada have been building and installing new transaction systems that can handle credit and debit cards that store information on a computer chip. So-called smart cards will begin replacing magnetic strip cards late next year and the industry hopes to have the conversion completed by 2010. The cards contain chips with memory, software and their own operating system.

SPUDS

Researchers say that the first cultivated potato was grown in what is now Peru. Their genetic study shows the first potato known to have been farmed is genetically closest to a species now found only in southern Peru. The study did not address when the first potato would have been cultivated, but other research suggests it would have been between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.

CLAIMS

In 2004, damage to insured property around the world from natural disasters totalled US$49-billion. That figure does not include last year's tsunami. Some calculations suggest that the majority of claims came from just four of Florida's hurricanes.

BANANAS

Even though it is America's No.1 fruit, bananas play a small part in the U.S. diet. But for hundreds of millions of people in developing countries, bananas are a dietary staple., the least expensive source of nutritious calories. The banana ranks fourth after rice, wheat and corn among the world's most economically important food crops. A typical person in Uganda, Rwanda or Burundi consumes more than 550 pounds of bananas a year.

HAPPY

In a recent British study of "happy" professions, hairdressers topped the list. Next happiest were clergy, chefs, beauticians, plumbers and mechanics.

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

November 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

November 2005 Edition

 AGE

According to a new OECD study, Canada is in better shape than most to deal with an aging population, but the country still needs a major overhaul of its retirement practices if it wants to pre-empt weaker economic growth. Governments and companies have many rules and incentives that are skewed towards encouraging early retirement. Older people offer tremendous potential value to businesses, the economy and retirement. The study recommends that all provinces should ban mandatory retirement.

CONCRETE

A cement specialist with the United States Geological Survey claims that concrete is probably used more widely than any other substance. More than a ton of concrete is produced each year for every man, woman and child on Earth.

COLDS

A nasal spray that is claimed to be the first clinically proven treatment to stop a common cold from fully developing goes on sale in the UK this month.The spray, which contains no drugs, can both reduce the chance of developing a full-blown cold and the severity of symptoms. Research shows that the incubation period, which can last two days before full-blown symptoms develop, offers an opportunity to inhibit the virus before it takes hold.

EXPECTING

More than two-thirds of expectant mothers today willingly make changes to their eating habits after becoming pregnant. The altered habits that top the list: Taking vitamins (82 per cent); Consuming less or no caffeine (80 per cent); Avoiding artificial sweeteners (49 per cent). 78 per cent of women having their first child are likely to change the types of food they eat, while 63 per cent of women who have given birth previously are likely to do so. 42 per cent of all expectant and new mothers deemed eating natural or organic products important.

STARING

Nine out of ten British computer users suffer fatigue from staring at screens according to a new survey. Brits spend an average of 128,780 hours of their working life, or three and a half months a year, in front of computers or TVs. About 63 per cent of the 2,750 workers surveyed regularly leave work at the end of the day with headaches, and 53 per cent of them suffer from strained eyes.

HIGH-TECH

Wind propulsion is coming back in a new form: kites not sails. Next year a German company will begin outfitting cargo ships with massive kites designed to tug vessels and reduce their diesel consumption. It is estimated that these kites will reduce fuel consumption by about one-third--a big saving given that fuel accounts for about 60 per cent of shipping costs. This concept was tried in the 1970s in Japan and Denmark with little success. The insurmountable problem in each case was the mast.

CO2

Major players in the oil sand of northern Alberta are in talks to form a consortium to turn carbon dioxide emissions from hot air into cold cash. The group is examining options to create the infrastructure to ship carbon dioxide southward and find customers. For years CO2 has been regarded as a cost but now there is increasing interest in capturing it and storing it underground. It could then be shipped south in a special pipeline and used to boost the production of aging conventional oil wells. It can be injected underground and used to push more crude to the surface.

COAL

Canada is the No. 2 supplier behind Australia of coking coal. Chinese steel mills are gobbling up coal to feed booming demand for cars, appliances and infrastructure. Global demand for coking coal is expected to rise 10 per cent this year and by five per cent in 2006. This is prompting Canadian coal producers to boost output and bring closed mines back into production. Many of these mines, located in northern British Columbia, were closed because of soft demand and prices in the past decade.

HEMP

Sales of hemp foods in the U.S. have increased by 47 per cent in the past year to a total of US 4.75 million annually. Right now, the U.S. marketplace is supplied by hemp seed grown and processed in Canada and Europe. According to the Hemp Industries Association, hemp seed is nutritious and contains more essential fatty acids than any other source, and is second only to soybeans in complete protein, is high in B-vitamins and is a good source of dietary fibre. Hemp seed is not psychoactive and cannot be used as a drug.

GAS

Italy has almost 22,500 gas stations. By comparison, Germany has 15,400, France 14,200 and Britain just 10,500. Around 1.6 million litres are sold at a typical Italian gas station each year, compared with just over 3 million litres in Germany and France and 3.5 million litres in Britain.

SMOG

The fermentation process that turns grape sugars to alcohol releases ethanol, methanol and other organic compounds into the atmosphere, where they react with sunlight to form ozone, one of the components of smog, say California air regulators. The 109 vineyards in San Joaquin Valley help make that region's air one of the dirtiest in the U.S.

RIGS

Kuwait and Qatar, whose combined output accounts for 11 per cent of OPECs crude, say a shortage of drilling rigs made worse by damage from hurricane Katrina is likely to delay the development of new oil and gas fields. The rig shortage is the biggest in more than two decades. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter, recently leased five offshore rigs currently in the Gulf of Mexico. The costs of shipping the rigs may exceed US $50-million. Oil and gas industries in the U.K and Norway are also facing a shortage of drilling rigs.

BENEFITS

Health insurance became the most expensive employee benefit for the first time last year in the U.S., surpassing paid leave, because costs have risen 70 per cent since 2000. Medical costs accounted for 33 per cent of the cost of employee benefits, compared with 32 per cent for vacation time, holidays and sick leave.

SPYING

Researchers have figured out a reasonably accurate way to eavesdrop on computers simply by listening to the clicks and clacks of the keyboard. Those seemingly random noises, when processed by a computer, can be translated with up to 96 per cent accuracy. This study build on a previous IBM one in which 80 per cent of text was recovered by the sound of keyboard strokes.

MOBILES

There is now almost one mobile phone for every person in much of the developed world. In Luxembourg, phones outnumber people, since many people who live in neighbouring countries have a second handset for use within its borders. Despite their enthusiasm for PCs and broadband links, Canada and the U.S. have been slower to adopt mobile phones than other rich countries.

INDIA

Global warming will push temperatures in India up by three to four degrees by the turn of the century, hitting agriculture and infrastructure. Rainfall will increase substantially in many areas resulting in problems with food supply, and affecting the livelihoods of much of the population as well as spreading diseases such as malaria. A new report also warns that rising sea levels due to global warming could damage India's vast coastal railway network.

SUGAR

Europe's former colonies are warning of social upheaval and a surge in trafficking in drugs in their countries if radical plans to overhaul European sugar policy are agreed later this year. The EU is recommending slashing minimum prices for beet and sugar, as well as output. Europe's traditional sugar suppliers in the African, Caribbean and Pacific are incensed over the plan saying it would rip apart their societies and economies.

ROMANCE

According to Avon Books, romance fiction has annual sales of US$1.41-billion worldwide annually. Half of all paperbacks sold internationally are romance titles and a third of all popular fiction sales are romance titles. There are 64.6-million readers of romance fiction in the United States and 22 per cent of them are men.

INFORMATION

Research suggests that three quarters of consumers are more likely to read the back of cereal packets than information sent to them by their financial service providers. 60 per cent of those surveyed do not regularly read their mortgage, pension or bank statements with 75 per cent saying they would rather read anything other than their financial mail. Women were more financially estranged than men with 90 per cent admitting they would rather read their horoscopes than their bank statements.

BALLPOINTS

It started as an answer to leaky pens carried by U.S. soldiers during the Second World War, was perfected and made popular by an Italian-born baron and has written its way into history as the world's biggest selling pen. More than half a century after honing a cheap version of the ballpoint pen, the French firm of Bic SA which built an empire out of making things meant to be thrown away has announced it recently sold its 100 billionth pen.

GOLD

Rampant economic growth in China and India has propelled consumer demand for gold jewellery to US$38-billion. The World Gold Council says the record figure for the last twelve months was driven by favourable conditions in key markets and promotion of the metal. Less than two years ago, the sales of gold for jewellery were stagnant as metals such as platinum enjoyed increased popularity.

SENIORS

A new cellphone has been launched in Japan which includes all the usual features of a mobile phone but with one crucial difference: It slows the callers voice down thus making it easier to understand for seniors. By toggling a switch on the side of the phone, it instantly converts all incoming voices to 70 per cent of their actual speed.

BUYER BEWARE

Italy is having a major crackdown on the sellers--and buyers--of counterfeit goods. Dozens, if not hundreds, of Italians and foreign tourists have faced stiff fines for purchasing fake sunglasses, handbags, belts and compact discs under one of the toughest counterfeit laws in the world. The fine may exceed the cost of the genuine article. Italy hopes the measures will dent a multi-billion -euro trade in phoney goods that has taken its toll on home-grown luxury labels like Prada and Gucci.

HEALTH

Coffee may soon be considered a health drink following a study showing it is a surprisingly rich source of anti-cancer agents. Coffee contributes more antioxidants, which have been linked with fighting heart disease and cancer, to the diet than cranberries, apples or tomatoes. This is the first time that coffee has been shown to be such a rich source of the agents.

BURGLARS

A UK survey of convicted burglars shows that twice as many burglars as ordinary householders use an alarm system when they go on holiday. Nearly a third of the burglars were so concerned about security that they fitted closed-circuit television in their homes, compared to four per cent of law-abiding householders.

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

October 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

October 2005 Edition

 CHINA

In 2003, China became Canada's second largest trading partner, surpassing Japan. Two-way trade between Canada and China increased almost five-fold in the last decade, from C$4.8-billion in 1993 to $23.3-billion in 2003. Canada's merchandise trade deficit with China has increased almost eight-fold since 1993, reaching $13.8-billion in 2003.

TOURISM

Tourism to rural destinations accounted for almost half of all tourism in 2002. Young Canadians were more likely to visit rural areas, while tourists from the U.S. were more likely to be older. Domestic travellers accounted for 83 per cent of the visits to rural areas, Americans 12 per cent and foreigners about five per cent. However, Canadians accounted for only 61 per cent of money spent during rural visits while Americans accounted for 25 per cent of expenditures.

SIZE

A site on the Delhi-Jaipur highway is slated to get the world's largest shopping mall. The mall, to be known as the Mall of India, will spread over 32 acres and have parking spaces for 10,000 cars. The world's biggest malls currently are the Mall of America in Minneapolis and a mall in Shanghai.

RESEARCH

Spending on Research and Development in the field of health is representing more and more of total R&D spending in Canada. Between 1997 and 2001 R&D spending on health represented about 17 per cent of total gross domestic expenditures on R&D. By 2002, this proportion had jumped to 22 per cent. In 2003 it was up to 23 per cent and in 2004 it reached 24 per cent. The amount spend on health R&D last year was C$5.7-billion, up 9 per cent over 2003.

CLIMATE

Western Siberia is thawing for the first time in 11,000 years. The area, which is the size of France and Germany combined, could release billions of tonnes of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. In fact, the whole western sub-Arctic region has started to thaw and all of this has happened in the past three to four years.

ACCIDENTS

Traffic accidents on China's roads killed 36,000 people and injured 236,000 in the first six months of this year. Some 229,000 accidents occurred causing direct economic losses worth about C$145-million. Traffic accidents in China killed more than 107,000 people last year making its roads among the world's deadliest. The World Health Organization estimates that road accidents cost China's economy up to $25-billion each year, more than one per cent of gross national product.

VALUE

A new study by ACNielson in 38 markets worldwide indicates that private label brands are now widely recognized as strongly competitive with major brands and represent better value. All of the top 10 markets that ranked private label products a good alternative were in Europe, led by the Netherlands at 91 per cent, Portugal at 89 per cent and Germany at 88 per cent. On the other hand, eight of the bottom 10 markets were in Asia. In the two lowest ratings, only 35 per cent of Japanese consumers and 36 per cent of Malaysians favoured private label brands.

PEPPER

African farmers are protecting their crops from marauding elephants by planting pepper as a protective buffer. Apparently, chili peppers are unpalatable to crop-raiding mammals. While electric fences and other deterrents are prohibitively expensive, chili peppers are cost-effective because they can also be a viable cash crop.

RESTAURANTS

Partly to accommodate larger food portions and partly to accommodate larger customers, some U.S. restaurants are investing in bigger tables and chairs.

ART

London overtook New York to become the world's biggest art auction centre in the first half of the year with US$854-million of sales. London racked up a 38 per cent share of the $2.23-billion of fine art sold by Sotherby's, Christie's and other auction houses between Jan. 1 and July 18. New York sales in the same period were $833-million. New York has the biggest sales of impressionists, modern and contemporary art. London is the No. 1 market for Old Master paintings. France's market share was 5.7 per cent and that of Italy was 3.4 per cent.

TWINS

There is a restaurant in New York City called Twins. It was started by twin sisters and is staffed by 37 sets of identical twins who work the same shifts. It is reported that there are at least 125 million living twins and triplets. Up to 22 per cent of twins are left handed compared to just 10 per cent in the general population.

MARKETS

The largest fresh food market in the world is Rungis on the outskirts of Paris. It is a wholesale food market to the trade only. Previously located in central Paris, it was moved in the early 1970s to ease congestion in the city. The market covers 573 acres, an area larger than Monaco. It welcomes 26,000 cars every day and nourishes one-fifth of the French population.

SEARCHING

A new study forecast that "paid search" will become the dominant form of on-line advertising by 2010. U.S. spending on paid search ads, such as those listed as "sponsored links" at Google, will grow to US$7.5-billion by 2010, up from $3.1 billion last year. In paid searches, advertisers pay to have their links displayed prominently in response to a consumer's search. Overall on-line advertising spending in the U.S. will hit $18.9-billion in 2010, up from $9.3-billion last year. Of 464 advertisers polled, 68 per cent were confident of getting a good return from on-line advertising.

WILLS

Seniors who want to prevent arguments among their heirs should focus more on who gets the china than the cash. When it comes to inheritance, emotion-laden personal items are five times more likely to create family conflict than money. Most people wrongly assume the most important issue is money. While it isn't trivial, it's way down the list a new survey shows.

LISTINGS

Over the past decade, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia saw big increases in the number of domestic companies listed on their stock exchanges. Slovakia also posted a sharp rise, reflecting the mass privatizations of the 1990s. By contrast, many latin American companies opted to list on international exchanges, not local ones.

RISK

Researchers from Columbia University and the World Bank have gathered data showing which parts of the world have been the most ravaged by nature--floods, drought, volcanoes and landslides--over the past 25 years. The research is intended to help identify those areas of the globe where prevention should receive the highest priority. Apparently, the safest places on earth to live are Siberia and north-central Canada.

SELF-CHECKOUT

As self-service shopping has gone mainstream in supermarkets, supercentres and home improvement centres, self-checkout systems in the U.S. will generate transactions worth $161-billion in 2005. A new study forecasts that the value of these transactions will increase to $450-billion by 2008 as new systems are deployed. Men are 60 per cent more likely than women to use self checkout.

COCOA

Mars Inc, the maker of M&Ms and Snickers candy is in discussion with pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments for diseases including diabetes and dementia using an ingredient in cocoa. Flavanols, antioxidants responsible for the bittersweet taste in chocolate, increase blood flow to the brain and can reduce blood clotting. Mars is exploring ways to add the compound to foods.

BIKES

Americans purchased more bicycles than new cars and trucks combined in the past year, and all without employee discounts or zero-per-cent financing. Bike sales and equipment is a $5- to 6-billion business per year and over 19 million bikes were sold in the U.S. last year. With oil prices at an all-time high and the nation's obesity epidemic raging, more people are riding their bicycles to work.

PROPERTY

Britain has long been a favourite with non-European property investors. These investors put US$6.5-billion into British property last year but sold $9.6-billion worth. The same thing happened in the U.S. Investors from outside North America bought $8.6-billion worth of real estate but sold $11.6-billion. In contrast, they invested $1.4-billion in Canada and sold almost nothing. Japan too was a one-way story: investors from outside the Asia-pacific region put in $1.8-billion but barely sold at all. It is estimated that cross-border property activity was worth US$99-billion last year, up from $82-billion in 2003.

FRIES

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that China's demand for frozen French fries will increase by 20 per cent annually during the next five years as Western-style fast-food restaurants expand there. Although China is increasing its domestic production of frozen French fries, it cannot keep up with demand. Current demand is estimated at 100,000 tonnes, with more than two-thirds of the supply imported. China is expected to import 83,000 tonnes of fries in 2005, up from 69,548 tonnes last year.

DRINK

For the first time since the Gallop Poll began keeping track in 1992, more Americans have reported that their alcoholic beverage of choice is wine, not beer. 39 per cent of U.S. drinkers said they drank wine most often while only 36 per cent said they drink beer most often.

RABIES

Worldwide, about 55,000 people die of rabies every year, mostly in Asia and Africa.

MEAT

In much of the U.S., the Brazilian picanha, an unadorned sirloin cut, is overshadowing the all-American New York strip steak. The rising popularity of the salty Brazilian cut among American steak lovers is a prime example of Brazils growing influence in the global meat market. Two years after surpassing the U.S. as the world's largest meat exporter, Brazil has launched a subtle strategy to expand its influence by promoting gaucho churrasco, a previously obscure style of barbecue that has spread from Hong Kong to New York City. Gaucho barbecue uses only sea salt and garlic to season the meat.

WOMEN

Research released recently by a major Canadian bank showed that small businesses run by women have been rising at a rate of over three per cent annually for the past 15 years, 60 per cent faster than men. The bank expects the number of female entrepreneurs to jump to a million, from the 800,000 there are now, by 2010. The 2.35 million small businesses currently in Canada contribute more than 25 per cent of the country's GDP.

HIGH ACHIEVER

North Korean officials report that their "Dear Leader" Kim-Jong 11 can fly jet fighters, write operas, produce films, and when he recently took up golf, he shot 11 holes-in-one during his first game.

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

September 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

September 2005 Edition

 WORK

Part-time work is continuing to increase in importance in most developed economies. In the Netherlands it comprises 35 per cent of total employment. This contrasts with 18 per cent in Canada, 13 per cent in the US, and 6 per cent in Greece. Despite these national differences, part-time jobs in all countries are generally the preserve of women who account for 72 per cent of part-time employment across the OECD.

SMART

In Pacific Grove, Calif, parking metres know when a car pulls out of a spot and quickly resets to zero, eliminating the joy of parking free on someone else's dollar. In Montreal, when cars stay past their time limit, meters send real-time alerts to an enforcement officer's hand held device. Meanwhile in Aspen Colorado, wireless "in-car" meters may eliminate the need for curb-side parking meters altogether. They dangle from the rear-view mirror inside the car, ticking off prepaid time.

IBERIA

Farmers risk going out of business, 80 million trees could die and emergency wells are being opened on the Costa del Sol to deal with Spain's worst drought on record. It is estimated that farmers are set to lose US$2.6-billion because of the drought. There are also water supply fears in neighbouring Portugal also suffering the worst drought since the 1940s. Bread prices are expected to rise as official estimates put the wheat harvest at about half last year's level.

FACTORIES

U.S. manufacturers are boosting spending on new plants at the fastest pace in several years, an indication the sector is healthy enough to begin adding new capacity. During the 12 month period ending in May of this year, spending on construction in the manufacturing sector rose US$28.1-billion, or a seasonally adjusted rate of 24.3 per cent. It was the largest increase for any category of construction. However, this is still far below the $40-billion annual record set in the mid-1990s.

DEMOGRAPHICS

As of July, there were 6,477-billion human beings. More than half (3.3-billion) of people on Earth live in the world's six most populous countries: China, India, the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan. Out of every 100 babies born today, 57 are born in Asia, 26 in Africa, nine in Latin America, five in Europe, three in North America and less than one in Oceania.

READING

Indians are the world's most avid readers according to a new survey. They spend twice as much time reading books, magazines and newspapers as the British and nearly three times longer than the Japanese. Indians on average read for nearly 11 hours a week according to NOP World that has looked at reading habits across 30 countries.

PLANTS

Israeli researchers have germinated a sapling date palm from seeds that are 2,000 years old. The seeds, found at Masada, are said to be the oldest ever brought back to life.

HAZE

The Smithsonian magazine reports that over the past century or so man-made haze has cut average visibility in the eastern half of the U.S. from 90 miles to between 15 and 25 miles. In the arid and naturally clearer western states, visibility has dropped from 140 miles to 35 to 90 miles. Parks famed for their views such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona have long bouts of murky, polluted air each year.

LAWNS

The British love their lawns. In between mowing, watering, scarifying, raking, aerating and feeding, owners have little time to enjoy their handiwork. Last year, British gardeners spent an astounding US$800-million on nurturing and tending lawns. Despite the trend for covering gardens with low-maintenance decking, gravel and paving, expenditure on the lawn rose by 5.5 per cent. About $440-million was spent on new lawnmowers.

OIL

The world's proven oil reserves stand at just under 1.19-trillion barrels. Over 60 per cent of this oil is in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia holds 262.7 billion barrels of oil or 22 per cent of proven reserves. Iran is in second place with 132.5 billion barrels. Iraq has almost 10 per cent of proven oil reserves and Kuwait just over eight per cent. Outside the Middle East, Venezuela and Russia each hold around six per cent.

CARS

For several years, Japan has been seeking free-trade deals that would grant its car makers duty-free access to Southeast Asia's 530-million consumers, a lucrative market of growing importance, in light of the developed world's stagnant car market. Now, Tokyo's diplomatic offensive is beginning to chalk up some important victories. This presents a serious threat to U.S. and European auto producers, many of which have invested heavily in Southeast Asia on the promise that politicians would cobble a common free-trade area out of the regions 10 nations to make those investments pay off.

GUM

Although 86 new gums were introduced last month at a Chicago trade fair, market researchers predict the current gum boom could be at a peak. Some of this is simple demographics: as people get older they chew less gum. Wriggles does have a patent on Viagra gum but it is years away from development.

MONEY

It is estimated that half of all bills and coins carry infectious germs. More than 10,000 Americans a year go to the emergency room for money related injuries and five people a year are killed by falling vending machines.

INVENTIONS

A new device is being offered to remedy the lack of privacy resulting from office cubicles. About the size of a clock radio and no more forbidding to operate, Babble is a vocal privacy device that makes it possible for people in cubicles to have confidential telephone conversations and not be overheard by coworkers, or at least not be heard in a voice that is decipherable.

VEGENS

The demand for vegan meals is rising on college campuses in the U.S. Out of 100,000 college students surveyed, nearly a quarter said finding vegan meals on campus--which contain no meat, fish, poultry or other products derived from animals such as dairy, eggs or honey--was important to them. One major foodservices supplier provides chefs with dozens of vegan recipes along with the tools to train staff.

WASTE

Most U.S. companies assume about an hour of wasted time each day but in a recent survey, workers admitted to actually frittering away more than twice as much time at a cost of US$759-billion in annual paid salary that results in no apparent productivity. The majority of the wasted time is spent on surfing the Web and socializing with co-workers.

COMPARISONS

Although Canada has the smallest population of all G8 nations, it is one of the leaders in terms of economic expansion, employment and the education level of its workers. The G8 nations are among the most economically powerful countries in the world. They account for 13 per cent of the world's population, but 48 per cent of the global economy. Among G8 nations, average GDP per capita hit $29,700 in 2004, more than five times the average of $5.400 for non-G8 countries. Despite its size, Canada had the third highest GDP per capita after the UK and U.S.

ENERGY

Digital big-screen TV sets are poised to generate big hikes in home energy use and pollution unless manufacturers act swiftly to adopt more efficient technologies. TV sets already account for about 4 per cent of annual residential electricity use in the U.S., enough to power all the homes in the state of New York for a year. High definition requires sets to deliver more picture clarity which draws more power. Also, Americans are watching some 16 per cent more TV than in the 1980s.

HEALTH

On 2003, America spent US$5,635 per person on health care, more than twice the average in rich economies according to an OECD report. Britain spent only $2,231 per person. Health spending accounted for 15 per cent of America's GDP. Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland also spent over 10 per cent of GDP on health. Canada spent 9.9 per cent of GDP. America is the only country where more than half of all health spending is within the private sector.

PAPRIKA

A few years ago this mild pepper was scarcely produced in Peru. Last year, the country exported $50-million worth, up from $6-million in 2000. This year the figure should reach $80-million. Paprika is the latest recruit to a revolution in Peruvian farming. Over the past fifteen years, the country has added almost 400 different export crops to its traditional staples of coffee, cotton and sugar. Farmland has increased from 1.7 million hectares since 1993 to 2.7 million today.

ABORIGINAL

According to new population projections, Canada's Aboriginal population could account for roughly 4.1 per cent of the population by 2017 when the nation celebrates its 150th anniversary. Around 1.4-million persons could belong to one of the three Aboriginal groups: North American Indian population, Metis and Inuit. Provincially, Alberta may overtake British Columbia in 2017 as the province with the second largest Aboriginal population, just behind Ontario.

INDIA

The retail industry in India is set to expand more than 80 per cent in the next five years as the country's burgeoning middle class steps up spending and the government opens the door to foreign investment. India's retail sector, which includes sales of products ranging from groceries to clothes to cellphones, will surge to US$607-billion in 2010 from $330-billion last year. India's economy is dominated by 10 million tiny retail shops but a growing number of Indians are shopping at modern retail malls.

TRENDS

The Tuscan wine company Modulgraf has announced that in November it will introduce a talking wine bottle. The purpose of the voice activation, which involves a chip implanted in the bottle and a handheld electronic reader, is to tell the customer the history of the wine's production and to suggest which foods it best accompanies.

ETHYLENE

Thousands of Canadian textile and clothing workers in Quebec and Ontario have lost their jobs to low-cost Chinese imports over the past few years. However, the government claims that Canada is now making much more money exporting a key raw material to China's gargantuan textile and clothing industry than it is losing in domestic output of the finished products. Figures from Statistics Canada show that exports of ethylene glycol which comes mostly from Alberta, hit C$797-million last year, up $423-million from 2003 and should hit $1.4-billion this year.

CORRECTION

In August, we reported that the NAFTA superhighway between Laredo, Texas and Port Huron, Michigan would be 200 miles in length. Of course, the length should have been 2000 miles.

GETTING BY

More than half of Australian millionaires surveyed say their financial situation is only reasonably comfortable. Seven per cent claim they are poor or just getting along.

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

August 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

August 2005 Edition

EQUALITY

The world Economic Forum ranks 58 economies according to the "gender gap", a measure of how well an economy employs the talents of the female half of the population. The measure reflects job opportunities, pay, political representation, health care and education. The gap is narrowest in Nordic countries. China, near the middle of the group, outranks some much richer countries, such as Italy in 48th place. Canada is 7th out of 58 countries and the U.S. is 17th.

PUBLISHING

Canadian publishers are pumping out more periodicals than ever before and pulling in far greater revenues. Between 1993 and 2003, the industry has shown steady gains in the number of magazines, total revenue and circulation. Industry revenues hit nearly C$1.6-billion in 2003, up 22 per cent from 1998 and a 56 per cent increase from 1993. During the 10-year period, the industry's profit margin rose from 5 per cent to 9.7 per cent. In 2003, 1,633 publishers produced 2,383 periodicals and sold 778 million copies, a 42 per cent increase over 10 years earlier.

COMPUTERS

In a sure sign that the era of mobile computing has arrived, notebooks have for the first time outsold desktops in the U.S. earlier this year. After tracking sales from a sampling of electronics retailers, notebook sales accounted for 53 per cent of the total computer market, up from 46 per cent a year earlier. Spurring demand for notebooks is their price drop as quality has improved. Notebook prices have fallen 17 per cent in the past year, while desktop prices have dipped only four per cent. Last year, 80 per cent of notebooks offered wireless, this year it's 95 per cent.

MEXICO

Foreign direct investment shot up 46 per cent in Mexico in 2004 which should cover the current account deficit. The manufacturing sector captured over half of the total $16.6-billion investment, with nearly 30 per cent going towards financial services. The U.S. was responsible for almost half of the foreign direct investment followed by Spain with just under 35 per cent of the FDI.

CORKED

It is estimated that as many as one in 10 bottles of wine is contaminated with TCA or trichloroanisole, a chemical compound sometimes created when cork is washed. This contamination costs consumers about US$750-million each year. Now, a French biochemist from Burgundy has invented a device called Dream Taste which, it is claimed, can return foul-smelling noxious red, white or sparkling wine to its former glory in less than an hour. It works by using an ionised material known as copolymer to absorb the cork-tainted molecules in the wine.

SMOKES

Global cigarette production per person has fallen to its lowest level since 1972, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

INDIA

The levels of foreign ownership in India's telecommunications industry have been raised from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. This will set the stage for more competition in the world's fastest growing cell phone market. India's cell phone market has 2 million new subscribers signing up each month, and accounts for about half of the total 100 million phone connections in that country.

BEES

About 60 per cent of all food consumed in the U.S. has a bee connection. Without bees, the country would lose about $20-billion in crops--almonds, citrus fruits, pears cucumbers and apples--from plants that are not self-pollinating. Bee numbers are declining fast however. The varroa mite, a bee parasite first found in Java a century ago, spread to the U.S. in 1987 and has recently taken hold. This year, the numbers of bees has fallen about 50 per cent in six months. and has especially hurt the Californian almond industry which accounts for 88 per cent of the world's almond crop.

AUSTRIA

This country retains its position among the top European economies. After a slowdown in 2003, strong exports pushed GDP growth to two per cent in 2004. Unemployment remains low but experts believe the country should eliminate the pensions system's incentives for early retirement and get more of its older citizens into the labour force. Public sector debt is high at 65-per cent of GDP. Also, while Austria spends a great deal on higher education, graduation rates are among the lowest in Europe.

OUTPUT

According to the International Monetary Fund, rich countries accounted for more than 50 per cent of the world's GDP but only 15 per cent of its population in 2004. The rich also dominated trade. A third of exports came from the euro area, home to just 5 per cent of the world's people. China's fabled export machine supplied just six per cent.

SHIPPING

Rates for shipping iron ore, grain, coal and other commodities fell by 25 per cent earlier in the summer, reflecting a slowdown in the movement of many raw materials around the globe. The upshot is lower transportation costs for a multitude of industries such as appliance makers and chemical producers. Surging demand and a shortage of ships pushed freight rates to record highs in December of last year, but since then, the main industry indicator for commodity freight rates has fallen by more than half.

WHITENING

A dental researcher in the U.S. is claiming that tooth whiteners that could enhance teeth's natural healing ability may soon be available in over-the-counter gels and strips. His team has developed a whitening formula that contains amorphous calcium phosphate, a compound originally developed to remineralize teeth and reverse early enamel lesions. The product will replenish essential minerals in teeth as it whitens.

WEALTH

Last year, another 600,000 people became millionaires according to the World Wealth Report. There are now 8.3 million people world-wide with US$1-million or more in financial assets.

HEIGHT

Competition for jobs and marriage partners has sparked a national height craze in China that has people lined up to be surgically stretched or to purchase torture rack-like stretching machines. It is a commonly held belief in China that taller people will have more opportunity for promotion. A private hospital in Beijing has become famous for its height-extending practice which puts patients out of action for six months or more. The average Chinese women is about 5 foot 2 inches tall and the average man about 5 foot 6 inches.

PREFERENCES

According to a double-blind taste test conducted in 10 locations across the U.S., consumers by a 51 per cent to 49 per cent say they prefer the taste of private label items over their national brand counterparts in 12 popular categories. This survey underscores the growing popularity of store brands offered by the nation's supermarkets, drug stores and discount stores. Sales of store brands in the U.S. currently exceed US$50-billion annually.

AGRICULTURE

The value of Canadian agricultural production rose in 2004 to C$47.1-billion after falling almost 10 per cent in 2003. 2002 and 2003 were years where the consequences of back-to-back droughts and the closure of the U.S. border to live cattle exports were strongly felt. All provinces except New Brunswick and Manitoba recorded increases in the total value of agricultural production.

HIGHWAYS

The U.S. government is poised to roll out a new strip of asphalt all the way from Laredo, Texas up to Port Huron, Michigan. Interstate I-69, called by some the "NAFTA superhighway, will, if completed stretch over 200 miles, through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan. The main purpose of this interstate will be to provide a channel for trading goods between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, and if enacted, the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

DEFORESTATION

Brazilian deforestation jumped to its second highest level on record in 2003-04 to 10,088 square miles, an area the size of Belgium or slightly bigger than the state of New Hampshire.

SNACK TIME

The majority of U.S. children across four demographic groups consume most of their fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks, according to a new survey. 46 per cent of respondents said their children eat most of their fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks while 30 per cent said dinner was the meal occasion where kids eat the most produce. In addition, 60 per cent of all respondents said that taste is the primary barrier standing in the way of kids' produce consumption. Only 13 per cent stated that a brand name is extremely important when they shop for fresh produce.

CAMERAS

CVS Corp has begun selling a US$29.99 pocket-sized disposable digital camcorder hoping to boost its photo lab business and become as popular as the single-use film and digital camera. The camcorder weighs less than 150 grams and holds 20 minutes of digital video and sound. It features a 3.6 centimetre colour playback screen and an ability to delete video. It saves video on a memory chip.

KOREA

The Canadian government's drive to start formal free-trade talks with South Korea and thus gain a key foothold in Asia is running into opposition from the auto sector, beef producers and the shipbuilding industry. Canada's trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled since 1999, rising to $3.56-billion from $1.58-billion. More than half of that came from a $1.9-billion deficit in auto products last year.

INVENTIONS

A Barcelona inventor has developed a washing machine that encourages men to share the burden of doing the laundry. Endowed with software that recognizes the fingerprint of household members, the machine shuts down when the same person tries to use it twice in a row and obliges men to assist more around the home. The inventor has had so many calls from women, that the machine had to be rushed into production.

OUTSOURCING

India now controls 44 per cent of the global offshore outsourcing market for software with revenues of US$17.2-billion in the year ending March 2005. As many as 400 of the Fortune 500 companies now either have their own centres in India or outsource to Indian technology firms. India's market share is expected to expand to 51 per cent by 2005 when annual revenues are expected to reach US$48-billion.

TRENDS

McDonalds, through its subsidiary Redbox, which deployed more than 100 DVD- rental kiosks in the Denver area last year, will expand the programme to more than 1,200 locations by year's end and plans to work with major grocery chains in its expanded DVD-rental programme. Each vending machine offers approximately 100 titles at $1.00 per night per title. Renters pay with credit or debit cards and if consumers hold onto any one title for 25 nights, the disc is theirs.

FITNESS

In Kyrgzstan, council leaders and members of parliament will have to pass physical tests to prove they are fit for office. Tests for the politicians will include running, jumping, weightlifting, marksmanship and grenade throwing.

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.

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July 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

July 2005 Edition

 GM

The way developed countries have reacted to genetically modified (GM) is in contrast to the way they have been embraced in poorer countries. China is studying two strains of modified rice that the government is hoping to commercialize. The results show that in the hands of small farmers, who dominate the countryside, these strains produce higher yields, consume less pesticide and are better for the health of those farmers than non-GM strains. Also, both strains are designed to enhance protection against insects.

ASYLUM

The number of people seeking political asylum in rich countries fell by around 22 per cent between 2003 and 2004. In the Netherlands, applications have dropped by 27 per cent, due to tougher policies. The U.S., the top destination for asylum-seekers in 2003, saw a 29 per cent decline in new applicants last year. Applications rose in France, which entertained more pleas for asylum than any other rich country in 2004. Russia, for the second year in a row, produced more asylum-seekers than any other country.

PORTS

The General Accounting Office of the U.S. says the nation's $1-trillion agricultural industry is at risk from fewer inspections of imported food and threats of animal and plant diseases. Agriculture accounts for 13 per cent of GDP and 18 per cent of domestic employment. There has been a decline in agricultural inspections at U.S. ports. In 2002, there were 40.9 million inspections, but the number dropped to 37.5 million in 2004.

E-BUSINESS

According to The Economist, Denmark is still the best place to do e-business. It has ranked the "e-readiness" of the world's 65 largest economies to find the countries most amenable to internet-based business. The factors considered included broadband and mobile-phone penetration, as well as government regulation. America rose from sixth to second place in the ranking since last year. Britain fell from second to fifth and India, despite being an IT superpower, is ranked only 49th. Canada is 10th, up from 12th.

FURNITURE

Brazilian furniture makers are intent to capture a bigger share of the retail furniture market thanks to an abundance of raw materials such as fast-growing pine and eucalyptus trees. Presently, Italy is the world's top furniture producer with exports valued at US$6-billion annually, followed by China at US$2-billion. Brazil expects to export US$1-billion this year and overtake Italy and China before long. The leading destinations for Brazilian furniture are the U.S., Argentina and France.

TEQUILA

The recently implemented free trade agreement between Japan and Mexico along with the removal of the 25.2 yen-per-litre tariff on tequila. Exports of tequila will increase 30 per cent this year and will double in three years. Japan will become one of the world's five largest importers of tequila. Japan is currently 7th after the U.S., Germany, Greece, England, Canada and Italy. The Free Trade agreement Mexico signed with Europe in 1997 saw tequila exports to the EU increase by 50 per cent.

GOLF

Swindlers are spreading Chinese-made counterfeit golf gear to internet auction sites around the world The increasing sophistication of these swindlers has prompted six major manufacturers to cooperate in a bid to close down suppliers at their source. Demand for fakes is spurring production that siphons tens of millions of dollars from equipment makers each year. In addition, equipment makers can hardly turn their backs on China's low-cost, high skilled workforce and take their designs elsewhere. Clubs that retail for $70 to $90 each cost $3 to $5 to make in China.

SUGAR

For more than 70 years, the U.S. sugar industry has thrived under a sweet deal of price guarantees and strict import quotas. But domestic growers see the Central America Free Trade Agreement as the thin edge of a dangerous wedge. The stakes are high. Last year the sugar subsidy regime raised the price paid by Americans for their sugar by nearly US$2-billion. The sugar lobby is leading a broad anti-CAFTA coalition which also includes organized labour and textile makers.

SLAVES

The global demand for cheap labour has helped force at least 12.3 million people into slave-like work worldwide and created a multibillion-dollar human trafficking industry, according to a United Nations agency. The International Labour Organization says the vast majority of those affected are in Asia and Latin America, many working in agriculture or imprisoned in work camps. Almost half of those forced into these working conditions are children. Sex-workers in Western countries are the single biggest moneymakers in the human- trafficking industry generating US$28-billion annually.

SMARTWATER

This is a clear, odourless, non-toxic liquid embedded with high-tech microscopic particles that carry a unique code. It's invisible to the naked eye but glows under ultraviolet light. The fluid comes in a small container, and once a drop or two is dabbed on an item such as a piece of stereo equipment, jewellery or a car and allowed to dry, it is virtually impossible to remove. When forensic technicians come across an item treated with the liquid, they just read the coded particles to identify the owner.

FIRINGS

Companies worldwide replaced CEOs at a record pace last year as investors sought to boost earnings and share prices. One in seven CEOs at the world's 2,500 largest publicly traded companies lost their jobs in 2004 compared with one in ten a year earlier. The rate of dismissals has surged 300 per cent since 1995. In Europe, ousted CEOs left after an average of 21/2 years, on U.S. boards it was 41/2 years.

FACT

The London Observer reports that the average cow in the European Union receives more than $3.25 a day in subsidies, more than the amount that half the world's human population survives on.

CULTURE

In 2004, the U.S. was the marketplace for 92 per cent of Canadian culture goods exports (books, CDs, films, paintings, etc). Canada exported more than C$2.1-billion to the U.S. in 2004, down 9.8 per cent from 2003. Imports of culture goods from the U.S. edged down to just over $3.5-billion, the first decline in seven years.

NICKEL

The world's biggest nickel producers are already benefiting from prices near 16-year highs and have now identified a new market.They are now training their sights on the small but fast-growing market for hybrid electric/gasoline vehicles, which use nickel-containing rechargeable batteries. Hybrids are a drop in the world of car sales, but purchases have soared as oil prices stay high and countries try to limit emissions.

PIRACY

Despite the fact that the software piracy rate dropped by one per cent in 2004, losses due to piracy soared US$4-billion, to US$33-billion. More than a third (35 per cent) of software installed on personal computers worldwide was pirated in 2004. The world spent more than US$59-billion on commercial packaged PC software last year but over US$90-billion was actually installed. Countries with the highest piracy rates were Vietnam, Ukraine and China. Those with the lowest rates were the U.S., New Zealand and Austria.

TRAFFIC

Between 2000 and 2003 the number of trucks on Canadian roads actually edged down 0.2 per cent while there were 5.5 per cent more cars on the roads. In 2000, for every truck registered, there were 25 cars, three years later there were 27 cars on the roads. In terms of the largest trucks, such as 18-wheelers, there were 63 cars for every truck. However, trucks were driven 2.5 times as many kilometres on average than cars. In 2003, 53 per cent of Canadian exports and 79 per cent of imports were moved by truck.

LUMBER

Two years ago, China was the 12th largest importer of Canadian wood. Today it is the fourth-biggest and this year it is expected to surpass Britain to become the third largest importer, behind only the U.S. and Japan. Most of the new, wood-frame houses in China are built of Canadian wood but the Canadian industry is barely scratching the surface. China still accounts for only about C$80-million of Canada's $40-billion in wood and pulp exports. Up to 1,500 wood-frame houses are built in China every year, a tiny percentage of the country's 10 million annual housing starts.

TIRES

The mammoth 3.65 metre tires, which cost up to US$30,000 each, found on mining dump trucks are in short supply worldwide leaving earth-moving industries, including coal, in the lurch.The shortage is because of a rise in equipment orders, an increase in worldwide mining because of increased mineral prices and growth in China and other Asian countries. Goodyear Tire has said that every large tire produced through 2006 is already spoken for. Between 2003 and 2004, demand for large tires grew 20 per cent.

TRADE

Arab and South American countries have set the stage for a free-trade accord by signing a co-operation agreement. It is estimated that South America's bilateral trade with Arab nations is presently about US$10-billion annually. Brazil currently accounts for about US$8-billion of this trade and hopes to increase this to US$15-billion by 2007.

DROUGHT

Canadian beef and grain exporters, who have endured several tough years, stand to reap benefit from a deadly dry spell that has hit farmers in Australia which is a fiercely competitive exporter of beef, wheat, barley and canola and appears headed for one of the worst droughts in a century. Canada beef shippers feel that the Australian plight could be one of the final straws that convinces Asian countries to lift import bans on Canadian beef imposed after mad-cow disease was discovered. The Canadian Wheat Board also sees opportunities in countries where Australia could have problems delivering product.

POLLEN

This year the pollen count in Tokyo is the highest on record and is forecast to reach 13 times higher than last year. One in four city residents is affected. The two biggest offenders, cedar and cyprus trees, were planted after the Second World War as part of a national reforestation program and together cover 18 per cent of the country. Replacing them could take 100 years.

GROCERIES

India plans to open its booming retail sector to foreign investment, initially by providing access for international grocery companies. This is a US$190-billion industry and it will be opened in a way that encourages investment while protecting the jobs of millions of small shopkeepers.

HAVENS

Although they have only one per cent of the globe's inhabitants, they hold a quarter of U.S. stocks and nearly a third of all the world's assets. Tax havens are 70 mostly tiny nations that offer no-tax or low-tax status where the wealthy can keep their money. It is estimated that nations lose US$255-billion each year in tax revenues because of the havens.

MOPS

Users of conventional floor mops spend as much time cleaning the mop as they spend cleaning the floor.

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

June 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

June 2005 Edition

 BUTTONS

There used to be seven major button makers in Canada three to four decades ago. Now, only one small one is left. The trend has escalated this year as global import quotas were lifted from Chinese textiles and apparel, driving more clothing production to that country. And as more garment-making moved to China, so the button-making followed.

GLACIERS

Nine out of 10 marine glaciers around the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula have retreated over the past half century according to a recent study. As the local climate warms, the rate of disappearing is accelerating. The mountainous peninsula will look more like the Alps and will harbour more plants and wildlife if the warming continues. Despite the changes, the melting glaciers will contribute little to rising sea levels.

BORDERS

Chronic congestion caused by tighter security at the U.S.-Canada border costs the U.S. economy $4.13-billion (U.S.) a year, according to an Ontario Chamber of Commerce study. Unlike tariffs, border delays don't produce revenue for government. The chamber's estimate is based on delays in truck shipments, losses to tourism and environmental impacts. The group has previously pegged the losses to the Canadian economy at C$6-billion a year.

BUILDINGS

Hong Kong has 7,417 skyscrapers, more than any other city. By definition, a building must be over 35 metres tall to qualify as a skyscraper. New York ranks second with 5,444 skyscrapers; Los Angeles has just 450. Chicago's Sears Tower has more floors than any of its rivals, though other skyscrapers are taller. Toronto has 1,800 and Vancouver 500.

RETIREMENT

In a recent survey by the Globe and Mail, 34 per cent of respondents stated that they wished to ease into retirement with part-time or contract work. 27 per cent wanted to finish work as soon as they can and 16 per cent wanted to take early retirement. 14 per cent want to keep working as long as possible and nine per cent plan to start a second career.

TUNGSTEN

This metal hardens anything from saw blades to turbine blades and it goes into light bulbs and weaponry. The U.S. has a stockpile that could meet all that country's demand for the next three years but prices have been going crazy. China controls 85 per cent of the world output and uses maybe 35-40 per cent of it and, as demand increases, has taken steps that cut supply. Inside China, prices rose sharply last year by some 70 per cent for the concentrate that leaves the mine. But this year prices have rocketed even more.

SALES

On-line sales by Canadian companies and government departments jumped by almost 50 per cent last year as companies did more business with each other over the Internet. Since 2000, Canadian on-line sales have more than quintupled. Last year, total on-line sales rose to C$28.3-billion as sales by private companies climbed by 45.5 per cent and those by the public sector more than doubled. More than 17,000 enterprises participated in the survey which measured sales over the Internet, with or without on-line payment.

PERFORMANCE

While most U.S. companies use performance plans to determine employee salary raises or bonuses, they are not likely to check if the plans actually help the bottom line. Of 129 major U.S. companies surveyed, 66 per cent said they used performance plans--preset benchmarks for employees to hit--to determine pay increases, and 47 per cent use them to dole out bonuses. But the survey showed that companies track the plans' success inadequately and 30 per cent of the companies didn't even measure program success at all.

BABES

The market for infant wear (newborns to three-year-olds) is declining in Canada. Last year, it fell 11 per cent to C$561.6-million from C$591.4 in 2003, after having picked up a little from the previous year. This market is expected to remain relatively flat, or decline, as birth rates continue to dip about one per cent annually. However, more affluent parents and are willing to pay more for the right products.

EXPORTS

China surpassed Japan to become the world's third-largest exporter of goods in 2004 behind the United States and Germany. A WTO-issued report cited the increased global demand for Chinese electronics as the prime motivator for the country's move up in the ranks.

SAFETY

Japan Airlines admitted recently that it has been more concerned about punctuality than safety. This startling admission comes after a series of serious mishaps. The airline acknowledged that the string of mishaps stemmed from a lack of awareness in the organization that safety should be the main priority.

ROBOTS

Researchers at Utah State University have developed a "guidebot" to help sight-impaired users get around supermarkets. The robot senses its location via electronic tags and navigates according to commands inputted through a braille keyboard. The system could be used to locate a specific brand of food if supply-chain management technology extends to supermarket shelves.

WINTER SPORTS

Citizens of the City of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates will soon be able to cool off at a local resort with tumbling snowflakes, skiing and snowboarding on five trails. By September a thick insulated roof with a sky blue ceiling will seal in the site with its 200 foot vertical drop and trails as long as 1,300 feet. It will have 23 massive air conditioners and snowmaking equipments will cover a concrete mountain with 28 inches of powdery snow. Called Ski Dubai, it will comprise about one fifth of the floor plan of the $1-billion Emirates Mall.

MAPLE SYRUP

In the 1950s, the U.S., mainly in New England, produced 80 per cent of the world's maple syrup and Canada produced the remaining 20 per cent. Now, because of temperature rise and erratic weather patterns, the countries' market share have flip-flopped with Quebec alone producing over three- quarters of the global supply. If current climate projections hold true, New England forests will be dominated by oaks and hickory trees, not maples, by the end of this century.

MEDICINE

Americans buy much more medicine per person than the residents of any other country. Almost half of all people take at least one prescription medication and one in six take three or more. The number of prescriptions has increased by two-thirds over the past decade.

TRADE

China and Australia have started talks on a free-trade pact. Few countries have granted China market economy status because of international concerns that there was still too much Chinese government interference in business. China is Australia's third-largest trading partner and second-largest export market. In 2004, bilateral merchandise trade reached $21.3-billion.

GRADUATES

Guyana loses a greater proportion of its high-skilled workforce to OECD countries than any other non-member nation. 83 per cent of that country's graduates now live in an OECD country. Smaller countries, especially African and island nations send a higher proportion of their graduates to the OECD. Big ones, such as Bangladesh, keep most of theirs.

VATICAN

One of the challenges for the new Pontiff will be to find new revenue to balance the Vatican's budget. The papacy relies on earnings from roughly US$1-billion in stocks. bonds and real estate to top up donations from Catholics around the world. While the Holy See benefited in the 1990s from booming stock markets and a strong dollar, losses on currencies plunged it to a $12.35-million loss in 2003 on revenue of $204-million. Experts predict that the papacy will be increasingly strapped for cash unless it finds new sources of revenue.

HATS

Last year, more than one-billion women's hats were sold in the United States, up 15 per cent from the preceding year and well over a threefold increase since 1986 when the Headwear Information Bureau began keeping records. The increase has been attributed to several factors including: black church women who wear hats, the Red Hat Society, a million-member social organization for women older than 50; celebrities and young people who use hats as a fashion accessory.

WINE

Australia's booming wine industry has become a victim of its own success with so many new vineyards that the country has a chronic oversupply of grapes. Vineyards in some of the most famous wine regions, including Hunter Valley, Margaret Valley and the Barossa Valley, are facing the prospect of watching their grapes wither on the vine because of a lack of buyers. Australia now has 149,700 hectares of vineyards, a three-fold increase from a decade ago. In 2004, 2.87 billion litres of wine were produced globally and 2.3 billion litres were consumed.

CUISINE

A growing Asian-American population and increasingly sophisticated American palates have driven the growth of Asian food, and--as an increasing variety of these items become available in local supermarkets--are influencing what consumers eat at home. Total U.S. retail sales of Asian foods increased by 27.3 per cent from 2000 through 2004. There are now over 41,000 independent Chinese restaurants in the U.S.

CROPS

More of this planet has been converted to crop land since 1945 than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined. According to the U.N., cultivated land now covers one-quarter of the Earth's land surface.

INVESTMENT

The beer industry illustrates how risky foreign investment in Turkey can be. Over the past two years, taxes on beer have risen by 450 per cent, to three-and-a-half times the European Union average. After the latest increase, Denmark's Carlsberg, which entered the market with a $220-million investment, accused the government of reneging on promises not to put taxes up. A can of Turkish beer now cost 15 per cent more than its equivalent at a British supermarket.

READING

Nine of the top ten magazines in Canada showed readership declines in the past year, although industry watchers say an overall stability in the business is a victory in the face of intense competition for readership. Reader's Digest, the most-read magazine in Canada for many years, saw its readership drop 4 per cent to 7.4 million. In second place was Canadian Living where readership dropped 2 per cent to 4.4 million The average number of readers among the 83 publications surveyed was about 1.3 million.

RECOGNITION

When a gang of carjackers stole a car recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, they also chopped off the driver's fingertip and took that too. The car had a fingerprint recognition system to start the engine and the thieves realized that they need a fingerprint every time they wanted to use the car.

1904

There was no Mother's Day or Father's day. Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores.

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

May 2005 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

May 2005 Edition

PAY-AS-YOU-GO

 
Businesses are now able to access the formidable computing power of Blue Gene, the world's most powerful supercomputer. IBM is making Blue Gene time available for as little as US$10,000, with a $5,000 annual membership in IBMs capacity-on-demand centre. Blue Gene offers the computing equivalent of 2,000 desktop or laptop computers.

FINGERS

Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the checkout. The scanners compare the person's fingerprint with those stored on its database and debits the bank account it has on record. The company estimates this process will save up to 40 seconds normally spent accepting money or credit cards.

PRESCRIPTIONS

Canadians spend about C$16-billion on prescription drugs, an amount that accounts for nearly 15 per cent of all health services, and is more than they spend on physician services. The outlay on drugs has increased at a double-digit rate every year for almost a generation.

COUNTERFEIT

Russia recently destroyed 50-million cigarettes in its uphill battle against counterfeit production. According to Russian tax authorities, one in three cigarettes sold in Russia are counterfeit. Russia's crackdown is part of Moscow's attempt to join the World Trade Organization. Russia remains the largest economy outside the WTO that sets rules for global trade.

WORK

A Families and Work Institute report states that one in three American workers is chronically overworked. More than half of the workers surveyed said they are often handling too many tasks at the same time, or are frequently interrupted during the workday or both. Employees at companies that have gone through layoffs were more likely to be overworked--42 per cent versus 27 percent of those at companies where payrolls remained steady.

STORAGE

Self-storage facilities in the U.S. numbered about 8,000 in the mid-1980s, and experts now put that figure at between 40,000 and 50,000. This is now a US$17-billion-a-year business, bigger even than the motion-picture production business.

FISH

Canada's fish and seafood exports to 120 countries totalled C$4.5 billion in 2004. Seafood is the largest single food commodity exported by Canada which is now the fifth largest seafood exporter in the world. The U.S. remains Canada's largest export destination with nearly two-thirds of its seafood products, valued at $2.8 billion, sold to the U.S. market. Japan ranked second with Canadian seafood imports valued at nearly $500-million.

WIRELESS

The growth of wireless Internet usage in 2004 was 29 per cent. 171 million people, or 44 per cent, in the 12 key global markets accessed the Internet by wireless. Japan with 54 per cent of users was the largest followed by South Korea at 28 per cent. Canada was fourth at 14 per cent just behind the U.S. at 20 per cent. The primary wireless activities were: text messaging, 50 per cent and e-mail, 35 per cent.

VALUE

Rising real estate prices and a resurgent stock market pushed the net wealth of American households to a record US$48.5-trillion in the last quarter of 2004, up nearly $2-trillion over the previous quarter. In Canada, the figure was C$44.3 trillion, also an increase, giving each person a net worth of $132,500. The national net worth is defined as the sum of the net worth of persons, corporations and government.

WEATHER

Using new software and one of the world's 100 fastest supercomputers is expected to help Canada make more accurate weather forecasts. The Meteorological Service of Canada is now utilizing a new technology called 4DVAR. It stands for four-dimensional variation data assimilation, and literally adds an extra dimension--time--to the mathematical models of the atmosphere that meteorologists use to prepare forecasts. The accuracy of forecasting has been increasing steadily over the past 25 or 30 years.

NAMES

Both sides have claimed victory in a trade fight pitting the U.S. and Australia against the European Union centering on the right of foreign exporters to use geographic food names to describe their products in European markets. The EU says that only foods produced in their original regions can carry certain well-known labels, Parma ham produced near the Italian city of Parma for instance. The WTO found fault with some parts of the EU's current rules. The EU is trying to protect 600 regional food names and 4,000 wines with names like bologna and champagne.

WATER

Londoners may face water shortages within a decade unless action is taken to stem leaks. The capital loses almost one billion litres of water each day before it reaches the customer, 40 per cent of the national total.

CARS

A famous Dutch rally driver and car dealer expects to sell about 2,000 of the first Chinese cars in Europe this year at almost half the price of their nearest competitor. China's Jiangling Landwind Motor is to sell its sports utility vehicle in 27 European countries at a time when Europe's car makers are suffering from weak demand amid consumer belt-tightening. It is expected that the final retail price will be below US$24,000.

LOGISTICS

New technologies, elevated food safety concerns and the growth of mass merchandisers are all factoring into a rapidly changing logistics environment for U.S. food distributors and retailers. Total distribution expenses comprise 3.03 per cent of sales, but there is a significant difference in costs as a percentage of sales between the traditional food distributor and the self-distributing chains, 3.64 versus 2.67 per cent. Labour costs are the biggest expense in operating a modern food distribution centre.

HAPPINESS

Young British women rank happiness and the desire to spend more time with their children as top priorities--even at the cost of reduced career ambitions and a lower income. 70 per cent of 1,500 women polled said they did not want to work as hard as their mother's generation.

TEXTILES

There are calls around the world for fresh restraints on China's textile exports now that the first figures are in which show the effect of a broad lifting of textile quotas earlier in the year. According to China's Chamber of Commerce, January 2005 apparel exports to the U.S. totalled $989-million, up 80 per cent from the same period the year before and exports to the EU climbed 47 per cent in the same period. Export of some products rose significantly higher than the overall trend. Exports to the EU of women's shirts and blouses more than tripled while prices tumbled 41 per cent.

IT

According to a recent survey, Canadian companies, under pressure to cut costs, plan to shrink their spending on information technology to about $44.6-billion in 2005 down by about five per cent from 2003. However, expenditures on outsourcing, which is growing increasingly popular, will be five per cent higher than in 2003 and will account for 49 per cent of all IT spending.

JAPAN

Canadian and Japanese officials have quietly begun negotiating the terms of a study that could lead to a free-trade agreement within the next few years. The road to a potential deal is reported as being risky and obstacle-strewn but it could allow Canada to leapfrog ahead of the U.S. and become one of the first Western countries to secure a free-trade agreement with Japan. Agriculture, as always, looms as the biggest threat to a possible deal. Some analysts say that Japan is unlikely to drop its traditional policy of shielding its farmers from foreign competition.

PATENTS

Last year, IBM was awarded 3,248 patents by America's patent office, a hefty 68 per cent more than second-place Matsushita. IBM has been at the top of the list for 12 years in a row. In the past decade, Japan has regularly fielded the most firms in the annual top ten. The only other country represented in the top ten is South Korea. In recent years, there has been a change to the American roster with industrial stalwarts like General Electric, Kodak and Motorola giving way to Micron Technology, Intel and HP.

DOGS

This year is seeing new treats for dogs. American pet product manufacturers are promoting bacon-flavoured popcorn snacks for dogs. Also on the market is a Talking Bone Dog Toy which records the owners voice and replays it when the hound chews it.

SLEEP

People in Asia burn the midnight oil, going to sleep later than most Americans and Europeans, then waking up earlier. A poll of 14,100 people in 28 countries and regions from Asia to the U.S. and Europe showed that 40 per cent of people in Asia only go to sleep after midnight, compared with 34 per cent in the U.S,. and 34 per cent in Europe. Asia is also the earliest to rise with the Japanese the most sleep deprived.

PROBOTICS

These live micro-organisms that confer health benefits when administered in adequate amounts are popping up in everyday products. It's believed that they play a role in digestive health and may strengthen the immune system. In England, where many probotic items are available, sales of probotic drinks rose over 50 per cent last year and are worth over US$300-million. One supermarket chain reported that probotic drinks were their fastest growing dairy food product.

BUREAUCRATS

There are now 46 million government bureaucrats in China at a cost to the nation, before salaries of US$100-billion. The excessive and corrupt bureaucracy was regarded as one of the principle causes of the decline of imperial rule. Yet there are now 35 times as many people on the government payroll as a proportion of the population. Corruption aside, today's civil servants are also expensive, requiring official cars, holidays masquerading as training sessions and receptions.

POKER

Two paintings from the well-known series depicting dogs playing poker have fetched US$590,400 at auction in New York. It had been estimated that the two pictures would bring between $30,000 to $50,000. The works depict moments in a game played by five dogs, among them a St. Bernard who ends up collecting the pot on a bluff.

EDIBLE

Sushi at the Moto restaurant in New York often contains no fish. It is prepared on a Canon i560 inkjet printer rather than a cutting board. The chef prints images of maki on pieces of edible paper made of soybeans and cornstarch, using organic food based inks of his own concoction. He then flavours the back of the paper with powdered soy and seaweed seasonings. Even the restaurants menu is edible.

1904

Only 14 per cent of US homes had a bathtub and eight per cent had a telephone and the population of Las Vegas was 30.

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