In The News

Baby Milk Rationing: Chinese Fears Spark Global Restrictions

Celia Hatton April 17, 2013
Any food-safety crisis drives consumers to seek alternatives. A series of reports of contaminated infant formula since 2008 have driven Chinese mothers to look for foreign brands of infant formula – though after the Fukushima tsunami/nuclear disaster, the consumers quickly shifted from Japanese to US imports. Chinese consumers pay double the price for foreign brands. “Fearful of the dangerous...

Brazil and the US – Not on Same Page

Alistair Burnett April 12, 2013
The US is reported to be planning a state visit for Brazil’s president, the first of a Brazilian leader in two decades. The two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere have much in common, yet are often at odds. The US has the world’s largest military, Brazil’s ranks 10th; the US has the world’s largest economy, Brazil ranks sixth. Some in the US are surprised by the notion that its...

US Rice Imports “Contain Harmful Levels of Lead”

Jason Palmer April 11, 2013
Agricultural crops can absorb heavy pollutants from soil and water. A report at the American Chemical Society Meeting suggests that rice imports from Asia, Europe and Israel, can exceed what’s called the “provisional total tolerable intake” level of lead, set by the US Food and Drug Administration by a factor of 120, particularly for Asian consumers who tend to eat more rice, reports Jason Palmer...

Experimenting on Good Governance in Latin America

Humphrey Hawksley April 3, 2013
Association Agreements are trade agreements between the EU and non-EU countries on bilateral relations, progressive trade liberalization, political and economic cooperation, while emphasizing human rights and democratic principles. A region-to-region agreement between the EU and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama was signed in 2012. Putting the eurozone crisis...

Pressured by China, Apple Apologizes for Warranty Policies

David Barboza, Nick Wingfield April 3, 2013
Consumer and labor advocates in the West often gripe that trade with China is a “race to the bottom” for wages or environmental standards. But China increasingly demonstrates the power of a huge, united market. On International Consumer Day, “China Central Television criticized the American company’s after-sales iPhone customer service in China because it gave only a one-year warranty, while in...

IMF Signals Push to Scrap Energy Subsidies

Robin Harding March 29, 2013
The globe could solve many fiscal woes by ending nearly $2 trillion in fuel subsidies, the International Monetary Fund claims. “The fund’s call suggests higher fuel prices could become a central condition of IMF help in the future, with subsidies proving a sticking point in its talks with countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and Ukraine,” reports Robin Harding for the Financial Times. The IMF lists...

China's Xi Jinping Visits; Africa Asks, What Are We Getting Out of This?

Peter Ford March 27, 2013
Chinese trade with Africa has grown fourfold in six years, up to 2 million. Chinese are based there, and China’s African investments are worth near $200 billion. Still, Africans are questioning if trade is tilted too much in China’s favor, with leaders and pundits suggesting that selling off minerals and natural resources and failing to develop a manufacturing base repeats the legacy of...