U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services
For 2007, exports of $1,621.8 billion and imports of $2,333.4 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $711.6 billion, $46.9 billion less than the 2006 deficit of $758.5 billion.
Christofias Wins Cyprus Presidency Communist leader Dimitris Christofias has won Cyprus' crucial presidential runoff, pledging to restart moribund talks to reunify the island and immediately agreed to meet the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots. CNN, February 25, 2008
New South Korean President Sworn In
Lee Myung-bak pledged to revive the economy, improve relations with the U.S. and draw North Korea out of its isolation after he was sworn in Monday as this country’s new president.
New York Times, February 25, 2008
At Cuba Helm, Castro Brother Stays the Course
In his first words as president, Raúl Castro made it clear that any changes would be limited and he promised to continue to consult his brother, Fidel. New York Times, February 25, 2008
Global Seed Vault Opens in Norway A "doomsday" seed vault built to protect millions of food crops from climate change, wars and natural disasters opened Tuesday deep within an Arctic mountain in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. "The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is our insurance policy," Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told delegates at the opening ceremony. "It is the Noah's Ark for securing biological diversity for future generations." International Herald Tribune, February 26, 2008
U.S.-Colombian Trade Promotion Agreement
A bilateral TPA that will lower tariffs and foster increased trade between both countries. This agreement is a critical element of a possible U.S.-Andean Free Trade Agreement and of the U.S. strategy to liberalize trade through bilateral, regional and multilateral initiatives.
CalChamber position: Support
Status: Pending Congressional Action
Act now! Click here to send a letter to your representative
U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement
A bilateral FTA that will lower tariffs and foster increased trade between both countries. A U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement is a critical element of the U.S. strategy to liberalize trade through multilateral, regional and bilateral initiatives. The agreement will also increase momentum toward lowering trade barriers and set a positive example for other small economies in the Western Hemisphere.
CalChamber position: Support
Status: Pending Congressional Action
Act now! Click here to send a letter to your representative
U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement
A bilateral FTA which will lower tariffs and foster increased trade between both countries and is a critical element of the U.S. strategy to liberalize trade through multilateral, regional and bilateral initiatives.
CalChamber position: Support
Status: Pending Congressional Action
Act now! Click here to send a letter to your representative
California Legislation SJR 22 (Wiggins) California’s Wine Industry This measure would request the United States Department of the Treasury's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau withdraw the Notices of Proposed Rulemaking Number 77, relating to a Proposed Establishment of the Calistoga Viticultural Area , and Number 78, relating to a Proposed Revision of the American Viticultural Area Regulations, because they pose a threat to the state and national wine industry's ability to fairly trade domestically and internationally.
CalBizCentral CalBizCentral from CalChamber is your one-stop shop for products that answer California and federal labor law and HR questions, alleviate confusion, save you time and money, so you can get back to business. Click on the graphic to view our catalog.
Free ENewsletters
Receive free eNewsletters to help keep you up to date on the laws impacting you and your business. Click on the images below to view samples. To subscribe to any of the newsletters below, visit this link.
Note: The Council for International Trade Update provides a glimpse of current events for selected topics. Some newspapers listed require the viewer to register for free in order to view the entire article. After some time, most papers file older stories in their archive section. Access to those stories may require that you pay to view them.
This e-mail is being sent to members of the CalChamber Council for International Trade; CalChamber members with international interests; local, binational and American chambers of commerce abroad; the consular corps; California congressional delegation, selected U.S. and California government officials; and representatives of business and trade associations.
If you would like to be added to the subscriber list for this free e-newsletter, please e-mail us.
To unsubscribe from Trade Update, please e-mail us. If you do not wish
to receive any future e-mails please click
here.
