imports

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GM Sales Off 45% as US Auto Sales Hit 25-Year Low

Asian brands add market share amid sales freefall

(Newser) - US auto sales dived in October to levels not seen since 1983, Bloomberg reports.  GM, Ford, and Chrysler saw sales drop 45%, 30%, and 36% respectively as credit dried up and consumer confidence plummeted. Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all saw sales fall over 20%, but managed to gain market...

GDP Grew More in Q2 Than First Reported
GDP Grew More in Q2
Than First Reported
Economy
Aug 28, 2008 12:06 PM CDT

GDP Grew More in Q2 Than First Reported

Commerce Department revision shows healthier growth

(Newser) - GDP growth was higher than initially reported in the second quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports. Commerce Department revisions put the increase at a seasonally adjusted 3.3% annual rate—the original estimate was 1.9%. Businesses decreased their inventories less than previously thought. At the same time, exports rose...

Swiss Face French-Fry Shortage
 Swiss Face French-Fry Shortage 
May 9, 2008 3:07 AM CDT

Swiss Face French-Fry Shortage

Snack crisis threatened soccer tourney

(Newser) - Switzerland faces a potato shortage just weeks before hundreds of thousands of famished European soccer fans descend on the country expecting to snack on French fries. The nation, which is co-hosting the upcoming international soccer tournament Euro 2008, is mashing the pending crisis by lifting trade barriers to import 5,...

Mexico Bans All Car Imports— Except '98s

New law allows only 10-year-old jalopies across the border

(Newser) - For used-car shoppers in Mexico, 1998 is about to become a very popular year. Starting today, only 10-year-old cars—nothing newer, nothing older—can be imported in Mexico, a move designed to curtail the flood of “vehiculos chatarra,” or jalopies, clogging the streets. Before the change, imports needed...

FDA Plans to Open Outpost in China
FDA Plans to Open Outpost
in China
Feb 6, 2008 6:00 AM CST

FDA Plans to Open Outpost in China

Inspectors could block contaminated food from being exported to US

(Newser) - America's food imports from China are rising and the Food and Drug Administration is planning to start exporting American inspectors to protect the US food supply, Reuters reports. FDA officials hope to open a China office to help them raise food safety standards and to make it easier to act...

China Exports Inflation to US
China Exports Inflation to US
Feb 1, 2008 1:35 PM CST

China Exports Inflation to US

Coinciding factors exert upward pressure on prices

(Newser) - After years of pumping out cheap consumer goods, China is driving up American price tags, the New York Times reports. As costs rise domestically, prices down the supply chain rise at the same time that recession threatens in the US. “China has been the world’s factory,” said...

Oil Sends Trade Deficit to 14-Month High

Soaring crude prices overshadow strong growth in US exports

(Newser) - The trade deficit widened 9.3% to $63.1 billion in November, despite a healthy growth in exports. With the dollar down, and demand for US goods rising in Asia and Latin America, exports moved at a healthy clip. But spending on imported oil overshadowed everything else, Bloomberg reports. “...

Tech Sales to China Raise Red Flags

Weapons experts say imports could upgrade military—or be sold

(Newser) - Chinese companies linked to the People’s Liberation Army were cleared to import sensitive high-tech equipment from the US after the Bush administration eased restrictions blocking the sale of technology with military applications, the New York Times reports. One company has ties to arms sales to Iran and Syria, claims...

Florida Juicer Puts Squeeze on Foreign Oranges

Company launches anti-import ad campaign

(Newser) - A Florida orange juice producer is starting an ad campaign to put the squeeze on imported citrus. The campaign by Florida's Natural is aimed primarily at major juice makers such Tropicana and Minute Maid, which rely heavily on Mexico and Brazil for oranges, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The latter nation...

White House Proposes New Import Safety Rules

Tougher rules, stiffer enforcement

(Newser) - The White House is set to roll out stiffer safety regulations governing imports today, reports the Wall Street Journal. The proposals, prompted by the wave of recalls this year, represent a move toward what the Journal calls "a prevention-based regulatory system that targets the riskiest products." The FDA...

Budget Batters FDA Oversight of Foreign Drugs

Commissioner to testify before Congress today

(Newser) - The federal Food and Drug Administration's spotty record inspecting foreign drug manufacturers will be even worse next year as its budget drops just as developing countries are flooding the market with new medications, reports the Washington Post. Foreign drug plants are inspected only once every eight to 12 years because...

Cargo Drop-off a Sign of Slow Economy

Observers stunned as port imports fall after years of growth

(Newser) - A drop in cargo at US ports has stunned analysts, who call the 1.4% fall more evidence of a stalled economy. A few factors are keeping foreign cargo at bay—the low dollar, wary buyers, and a cool housing market among them—yet observers still expressed shock. "When...

Trade Gap Dips to Lowest Level in 3 Years

Weak dollar, stronger world economies fuel rise in US exports

(Newser) - The US trade gap—the difference in total value between imports and exports—dropped to a 3-year low in July as exports jumped on a weak dollar and growing overseas demand. The figure fell 0.3% to $59.2 billion, roughly on par with the estimate economists surveyed by Bloomberg...

China Finds Worms, Low Standards in US Goods

Beijing calls for global quality-control reforms

(Newser) - China got off the latest shot in the war over substandard imports, reporting today it had found tiny worms in wooden packaging and substandard vitamins and children’s fish oil imported from the US. Simultaneously, China unveiled a wide-ranging recall system for its own exports that requires manufacturers to stop...

China's Surplus Soars to $26.9B
China's Surplus Soars to $26.9B
Jul 10, 2007 2:59 PM CDT

China's Surplus Soars to $26.9B

Weak yuan is driving China's economy to a record expansion; trade surplus nearly doubled

(Newser) - China's trade surplus surged to a record $26.9B in June, an 87% increase since last year. Economists attribute the trade gap to China's significantly—as much as 40%—underpriced currency, the yuan, reports Bloomberg. Half of China's surplus is with the US, which recently began preparing legislation to sanction...

Chinese Goods Flunk Gov't Safety Tests

Nearly 20% of domestic consumer products can't meet quality standards

(Newser) - The Chinese government acknowledged today what people around the world suspected—many products manufactured by the world's largest exporter of consumer goods are unsafe. One-fifth of its manufactured wares fail to meet government safety standards, a regulatory agency said in a posting on its website. Despite the findings, which did...

FDA Flags Chinese Seafood
FDA Flags Chinese Seafood
Jun 28, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

FDA Flags Chinese Seafood

Officials put the brakes on imports of species tainted with unapproved drugs

(Newser) - Add farmed seafood to the list of unsafe goods imported from China. The FDA will detain three varieties of fish as well as shrimp and eel, the agency said today, after tests revealed the presence of antibiotics and antifungals that aren't approved in the US for use in aquaculture. The...

EU Set to Ban Cat and Dog Fur
EU Set to Ban Cat and Dog Fur
Jun 19, 2007 6:14 AM CDT

EU Set to Ban Cat and Dog Fur

Pet fur is used in everything from coats to stuffed toys

(Newser) - The EU is about to ban cat and dog fur imports, in a bid to stop the trade in pet pelts in China, where the way the animals are slaughtered is called "horrific." The fur is used as lining in boots and gloves, in stuffed toys, and in...

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