by Andrea | Oct 5, 2016 | access to finance
Sourcing in China – the “world’s factory” — continues to provide an attractive option for manufacturers for this year. This is also the time that retailers are sourcing products in preparation for the busy holiday season. China will remain a target destination...
by Andrea | Jun 7, 2013 | CSME, Recent Trends in Trade, tools for importers
In this Washington Post article, The town that pork built tries to digest Smithfield sale (pun obviously intended) the residents of Smithfield, Virginia (USA) react to news of the sale of Smithfield Foods to a Chinese buyer. Smithfield Foods is the world’s largest...
by Andrea | Jun 11, 2012 | CSME, Recent Trends in Trade, small business financing, tools for importers, Trade and Development
In another example of how our globalized economy makes the concept of U.S. vs. “them” obsolete, recent news broadcasts have announced that it may soon become more expensive to get our clothes dry-cleaned. Why? The cost of steel wire hangers may soon go up. Why? The...
by Andrea | Jan 20, 2012 | CSME, Recent Trends in Trade, small business financing, Trade and Development
An earlier post discussed the reality behind the proliferation of “Made in China” (or other countries) labels on the goods that we purchase. The product of outsourcing of the manufacturing processes, these labels can nevertheless hide the origin of other often more...
by Andrea | Jan 6, 2012 | Recent Trends in Trade, small business financing, Trade and Development
The labels on our purchased items that purport to tell us where the products were made are often misleading. They are the result of labeling laws that ignore today’s reality of global supply chains. This is why I find the series on ABC News which challenges its...
