The incoming Trump administration and new Congress should implement policies allowing for U.S. participation in multilateral trade arrangements, review of U.S. economic progress under NAFTA and through World Trade Organization membership, and increase investments in port infrastructure, among other things, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) said in a policy brief (here). Taking part in a growing network of preferential trading arrangements would facilitate U.S. export competition, stronger global trade rules, U.S. trade enforcement, and U.S. business investments in innovation and technology, the NFTC said in the paper. The NFTC touted the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying it advances “forward-looking global rules” to provide for openness in agriculture, high-end manufacturing, the digital economy, and technology, as well as new disciplines for state-owned enterprises, intellectual property protection, and better labor and environmental policies.

The National Retail Federation forecasts that December imports at the nation’s major retail container ports will be 3.2 percent higher than in December 2015 “as stores bring in the last of the merchandise for the holiday season,” in its monthly global port tracker (here). “There’s still shopping to be done, and retailers are making sure the gifts that need to be under a tree are waiting on the shelves,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president-supply chain and customs policy. “Imports are up a healthy amount over this time last year, and that’s a good sign for holiday sales and the economy.” The 11 U.S. ports in the report handled 1.67 million “twenty-foot equivalent units” (TEUs) in October, the latest month for which “after-the-fact numbers are available,” NRF said. That was up 4.6 percent from September and up 7.4 percent from October 2015, it said. One TEU represents one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent, it said. November was estimated at 1.53 million TEUs, up 3.6 percent from last year, and December is forecast at 1.48 million TEUs, up 3.2 percent, it said. Cargo volume for 2016 is expected to total 18.6 million TEUs, up 2 percent from last year, it said. Total volume for 2015 was 18.2 million TEUs, up 5.4 percent from 2014, it said. Cargo volume “does not correlate directly to sales because only the number of containers is counted, not the value of the cargo inside,” NRF said. Still, the numbers serve as a reliable “barometer of retailers’ expectations,” it said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Businesses of Colombia on Dec. 2 signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen business cooperation between U.S. and Colombian private sectors and ignite greater engagement in the global economy, the U.S. Chamber announced (here). The two organizations hope the MOU will enhance the growing trade and investment relationship between the nations and lay the groundwork for establishing a U.S.-Colombia Business Council, the Chamber said. “On behalf of a U.S. business community eager to pursue meaningful and increasingly robust trade and investment connections with Colombia, we are pleased to take this step forward alongside leaders we regard as partners and friends,” said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs for the U.S. Chamber. “We look forward to the opportunity to build upon the successes of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement as we recommit to the work of promoting innovation and fostering economic competitiveness.”

A report (here) released Nov. 21 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and agribusiness intelligence firm Informa Economics IEG projects that U.S.-China agricultural trade will grow from $35.6 billion in 2015 to $106.8 billion by 2025, but asserts two-way trade in that sector could top out at $134.9 billion in nine years if both nations resolve trade barriers. The study examines “agricultural trade” in the context of traditional agricultural products, fish and seafood, forest product, and farm machinery. During a Nov. 21 chamber event highlighting the report, U.S. Chamber Senior Director for Greater China Jeremie Waterman summed up the report’s recommendations for destroying barriers, saying China should streamline biotechnology approvals, slash tariffs, and stop subsidizing local agricultural products and equipment, while the U.S. must maintain an open agricultural trade environment, address Chinese regulatory concerns and ensure import safety. The chamber released the report as Chinese officials visit Washington Nov. 21-23 for the annual meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT).

Dunavant Global Logistics Group acquired John M. Brining, Inc., a Mobile, Alabama, customs brokerage company, Dunavant said in a Nov. 9 news release (here). The price wasn't disclosed. Dunavant also said it opened a China-based subsidiary, Dunavant International Freight Agency, in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China.

Arduous processes in Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Ghana are among the most significant customs-related issues that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should report in its 2017 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB) said in comments to USTR (here). Mexico’s April 2015 amendment to its Customs Law Rules requires that importers of record provide documents reflecting the valuation of imported goods to Mexican customs brokers by the time of importation. But the requirement demands documents that are usually issued to importers after importation, or that are confidential or “non-existent,” USCIB said. The Mexican government has delayed enforcement of the requirement five times. Several customs regulations can’t be enforced because they are “impossible to implement,” a byproduct of the Mexican tax authority’s regular crafting of regulations without industry input, USCIB said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is working with other organizations to get the final countries needed to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement “across the finish line,” it said (here). Another 15 countries must ratify TFA to meet the requirement that two-thirds of the WTO, 109 members, ratify it before TFA takes effect. The U.S. Chamber co-hosted the India-United States Workshop on Trade Facilitation in New Delhi alongside the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) to present the India-United States Workshop on Trade Facilitation, “bringing together public and private sectors to find a path forward for India’s implementation of the TFA.” The chamber is also a “proud supporter” of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, a group established to promote TFA implementation (see 1512180016). “We need to get the final 15 countries across the finish line by ratifying the agreement and then working together towards implementation,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said.

The American Apparel and Footwear Association urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to list Alibaba Group and its “constituent platforms, including Taobao” in its 2016 Notorious Markets Report, citing a Chinese government study finding a 67 percent counterfeit rate of goods sold on that platform. In a letter to Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Innovation and Intellectual Property Probir Mehta (here), AAFA Executive Vice President Stephen Lamar said his organization’s investigative monitoring of certain brands on Taobao show counterfeits surfacing in about half of the search results. “Any review of Taobao on a daily basis will find listings for dozens of AAFA member brands at absurdly low prices -- a strong indication that such merchandise is counterfeit,” Lamar said. “Our members who engage in constant monitoring of Alibaba platforms regularly and continuously report widespread proliferation of counterfeits.” USTR did not deem Taobao a Notorious Market in its 2015 report, after the company was last listed in 2012, but USTR last year noted its increasing concern about the slowness, difficulty and opaqueness of Alibaba’s intellectual property rights enforcement program (see 1512170016).

Developing countries should accede to the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement (ITA) expansion to drive innovation and broaden international commerce, Intel said in a blog post (here). “In the long term, ITA empowers the formation of a global [information and communication technology] supply chain as participating countries benefit both from cheaper imports of components and materials, as well as from exporting finalized products,” Intel said. An expansion of the agreement covering an additional 201 products worth about $1.3 trillion per year was completed at the WTO Nairobi Ministerial Conference in December 2015. The International Trade Commission posted ITA-related changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule July 1 (see 1607050003).

As public opinion on trade shifts, CEOs will need to better sell the expected benefits of trade agreements to workers, and the deals might need to accompany proposals to reform the social safety net in order to pass Congress, private-sector officials said Sept. 28 during an event at the Council on Foreign Relations. That includes the idling Trans-Pacific Partnership, Pew Research Center Director of Global Economic Attitudes Bruce Stokes said at the event. “It seems to me some kind of reinvention of the social safety net could convince people to pursue it, because Trade Adjustment Assistance doesn’t buy union support anymore,” Stokes said. “In talking to some of the foreign policy people around Clinton … for the first time in my life, I heard them bring up the issue of the social safety net.” He said Clinton’s campaign has “taken the message” from this election season that social concerns could obstruct foreign policy actions if left-wing groups feel that they’re not being addressed.