http://www.aacb.com/Bringing Cross-Border Opportunities to You. Business Without Borders.en-usafan@aacb.com© 2005 A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd.Tue, 13 May 2008 14:41:52 PDThttp://www.aacb.com/images/PoweredByAA.gifhttp://www.aacb.com15546Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3801http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3801The following article is extracted from the 12 May 2008 edition of “Canadian Transportation & Logistics”.

About 86,000 people will be needed annually to fill the void left by retiring workers, and surging demand in areas such as the railway industry and others, according to organizations that track the sector – such as the Van Horne Institute at the University of Calgary….

After trying to launch a transportation and logistics program a few years ago at the U of C that focused on social sciences, Peter Wallis, president of the Van Horne Institute, is now working with the Haskayne School of Business at the same university, to develop a bachelor of commerce degree with a transportation specialization.

Wallis believes the general public has a narrow view of what types of skills are needed in the transportation and logistics field, typically thinking of warehouse workers or truck drivers, without recognizing the vast spectrum of other occupations within the field….

Since Alberta's economy remains strong and is geographically situated as an inland transportation hub, Wallis considers it a perfect location to develop this type of program….

The average age of workers in the rail industry is also older than the national average for the transportation and logistics sector: 45 versus 39 years old. It means CP's workforce strategy is ahead of the curve and needs to address the urgent need for people in the next few years after several years of downsizing in the past….

Mount Royal College's program chairwoman of the bachelor of applied international business and supply chain management program, Valerie Kinnear, has said the need for versatile graduates has never been more apparent.

"The combination of a business background with more specific skills on operating transportation and logistics businesses is really what it's about," she said of a program where all graduates found immediate employment in a wide range of industries. "There's higher demand for workers than we've had students, to take on those positions."

The busy pace of the oil-and-gas sector has only exacerbated the need for students with a broad skill set in transportation and logistics with business and operations management….

Companies in more traditional sectors, such as trucking and rail, are also experiencing a need for workers due to the demographic reality facing them, so Wajda believes working closely with training institutions to identify specific areas of greatest demand in the future, will be paramount to any effective workforce strategy….

"Alberta is a hot market right now; B.C. is one, and Saskatchewan will probably be the next one, but we have strategies to get people from the Atlantic Provinces, (as well as) Quebec, Ontario. We're looking at foreign workers: anything to help us meet our growth strategy," said Wajda.

]]>Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3802http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3802The following article is excerpted from the 13 May 2008 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

A funny thing has happened since Ben Bernanke hinted a couple of weeks ago that he wasn't inclined to continue slashing U.S. interest rates indefinitely.

The battered U.S. dollar has enjoyed a mini-bounce. It's up about 3 per cent since late April.

It's too early to declare an end to the greenback's seven-year slide. But there are subtle clues that one of the dominant global economic features of recent years – the falling dollar – may finally be reversing course.

U.S. dollar futures have turned positive for the first time since late 2005. More importantly, there is a growing consensus among policy makers that a further devaluation of the dollar probably isn't in anyone's interest. The Canadians and Europeans have been quite clear about the dangers of their strong currencies.

The difference now is that U.S. officials may agree.

Since 2001, the dollar has lost more than 40 per cent of its value on a trade-weighted basis. That's an enormous swing for the world's dominant currency.

This has, naturally, been good for U.S. exporters, who have found themselves suddenly competitive in world markets. In March, exports continued their recent surge, narrowing the large U.S. trade deficit.

But the transition has not been an easy one for much of the rest of the world. Canadian and European officials are understandably distressed. The dollar's weakness has priced many exporters right out of the U.S. market.

The weak dollar has also created a mess for a clutch of oil-rich Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, whose currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar. To maintain their pegs, these countries have reluctantly been forced to cut interest rates at a time when their red-hot economies really need higher rates.

The final straw for everyone is the impact of the falling dollar on commodity prices. Oil, along with many metals and grains, are priced in U.S. dollars. Even in an environment where demand for all these products was stable, a higher dollar pushed prices of commodities higher.

Instead, we've been experiencing tight supplies of these key commodities, surging demand and a falling dollar – in other words, the perfect breeding conditions for 1970s-style global inflation. And no one wants that….

Oil, wheat and copper have all hit record highs in recent weeks. Surging prices of these items has provoked social unrest in many countries, and angst virtually everywhere else.

That brings us back to Mr. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. He's desperately trying to save the housing market and keep the United States from sliding into a deep recession.

But the weak dollar is proving to be quite inconvenient – even for the United States.

The Fed's effort to stimulate growth and ease credit conditions with lower interest rates is effectively being erased by higher inflation….

A recent report by Credit Suisse estimated that $120-a-barrel oil erases 0.6 per cent a year from U.S. growth, while adding about 1.2 percentage points to inflation. And oil is already above that level.

The trick here is that the Fed can only remain on the sidelines if the U.S. economy stays out of further trouble. A spate of recent better-than-expected economic reports (including jobs and gross domestic product) gives Mr. Bernanke some breathing room. But if this is just a lull, and the U.S. economy isn't through the worst of the housing and credit woes, then the Fed could well be forced to cut interest rates again.

That would push foreign capital away, and put renewed downward pressure on the dollar….

]]>Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3799http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3799The following article is excerpted from the 12 May 2008 edition of the “Toronto Star”.

The cost of doing business abroad has long been a roadblock for smaller companies looking to broaden their customer base.

With that in mind, the Ontario government and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce are teaming up in a $5 million program to help small and medium-sized firms pay their way to international trade shows and trade missions.

Ontario's small business minister ran smack into the problem at a major construction trade show in Dubai last winter, where he found just 12 companies from the province despite the booming construction scene in the Middle East….

Money for the program was set aside in the government's March budget and criteria are being developed by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce….

It's expected that companies will be able to apply for help in paying half the cost of international trips, with payouts in the $5,000 to $20,000 range, said chamber president Len Crispino. …."

The money is primarily aimed at companies looking for customers in the Middle East, emerging markets and the fast-growing BRIC bloc – Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Details will be announced next month and the program should be rolling by the end of summer as the North American economy slows in the wake of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis that has hobbled the housing and financial industries.

Officials expect auto parts companies, particularly those hurt as sales by North America's Big Three automakers decline, will be interested along with other manufacturing firms and industries such as construction, engineering services and architecture. …

"We don't have a global export culture," said Crispino, who recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong and China, and who expects Ontario business owners with ethnic ties around the globe will use the fund as leverage in addition to their own contracts and language skills.

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He spoke of the "psychological" effect that all the "negative media attention" on the situation south of the border may be having on Canadians, but said the Canadian economic reality was much better. "We are not the United States," he said, pointing to Canada's healthier housing market, lower inflation and better job creation.

Flaherty acknowledged the woes of the manufacturing industry in Canada, but rejected opposition suggestions that the federal government bring in targeted spending programs – what he called "Band-Aid" solutions. "Their idea of economic stimulus is you max out the national credit card," Flaherty said of the federal Liberals. Now is not the time to "throw money" at sectors of the Canadian economy facing challenges because of the strong dollar and the U.S. slowdown, Flaherty said. "We have seen it tried before. We have seen it fail before," he said. "It's misguided, it's expensive and it does long-term damage to the economy."

Ont. getting have-not status 'in no one's interest'

Flaherty repeated the government's plan to lower taxes further, continue paying down the national debt and keep the budget balanced.

"We do not believe in new taxes, including gas taxes," he added. In the past, Flaherty has been sharply critical of the Liberal government in Ontario, saying it isn't doing its part to lower business taxes. But on Monday, he said he was "encouraged" by comments last week by Premier Dalton McGuinty about lowering the province's corporate taxes.

"It's in no one's interests" to see Ontario become a have-not province, Flaherty said, referring to a recent TD study that said Ontario could be eligible for equalization payments as early as 2010.

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Domestic bond prices were all higher across the curve as the jobs data did not alter expectations for a Bank of Canada rate cut in June. At 8:20 a.m. EDT, the Canadian unit was at C$1.0088 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.13 U.S. cents, up from C$1.0171 to the U.S. dollar, or 98.32 U.S. cents, at Thursday's close. The currency earlier jumped to C$1.0048 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.52 U.S. cents, from a pre-data level around C$1.0100 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.01 U.S. cents, after a report showed the Canadian economy created 19,200 jobs in April, nearly double the 10,000 jobs than the market had expected.

"The overall pace of job growth was stronger than expected and presumably that's what drove the immediate rally in the currency," said Eric Lascelles, chief economics and rates strategist at TD Securities. "But the details of the report aren't quite as strong and I think that's probably what caused the pullback."

The data showed the unemployment rate edged higher to 6.1 percent from 6.0 percent in March and the overall gain in jobs paled in comparison to some of the gains made earlier this year, notably the more than 40,000 jobs created in January and February.

"It's one of those (reports) that makes your head spin and you can put almost any interpretation on it you like and I think the market is probably struggling to sort out what the proper conclusion is," said Lascelles. So while the week's most highly anticipated piece of data arrived higher than expected, it did not do anything to alter the outlook for domestic interest rates as the Bank of Canada is still expected to lower its key rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent at its next fixed-announcement date on June 10.

Another support for the commodity-linked Canadian dollar was a rise in oil prices to a new high above $125 a barrel. Earlier this week the Canadian dollar rose above parity versus the U.S. dollar as oil prices hit a record high.

BONDS RISE

Canadian bond prices were higher as the headline number for domestic job creation in April lagged the size of the gains made earlier this year, supporting calls for a Bank of Canada rate cut next month. The Canadian central bank has already slashed its key overnight rate by 150 basis point since December.

Lascelles acknowledged the breakdown of the jobs report may be partly responsible for the rise in domestic bond prices but he also credited the influence from the bigger U.S. Treasury market for the rally. "You need to concede that U.S. bonds are rallying as well so there is a little bit of that (support)," he said.

The overnight Canadian Libor rate was 3.0150, up from 3.0016 on Thursday.

The two-year bond was up 2 Canadian cents at C$102.00 to yield 2.743 percent. The 10-year rose 27 Canadian cents to C$103.04 to yield 3.603 percent. The yield spread between the two- and 10-year bonds was 86.0 basis points, down from 87.8 at the previous close. The 30-year bond added 63 Canadian cents to C$115.18, for a yield of 4.101 percent. In the United States, the 30-year Treasury yielded 4.498 percent. The three-month when-issued T-bill yielded 2.59 percent, down from 2.60 percent at the previous close.

]]>Thu, 8 May 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3796http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3796The following article is excerpted from the 8 May 2008 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Heavy-handed security is turning the Canada-U.S. border into a "two-headed monster" that isn't making the continent safer or more prosperous, Industry Minister Jim Prentice says.

"We want security and prosperity. Instead, we make it difficult to have either," he told a Council of the Americas conference in Washington yesterday.

Businesses in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are bearing the burden of lengthier delays, higher inspection rates, additional fees and more layers of security "when they can least afford it," he complained.

Mr. Prentice did not direct his sharply worded remarks specifically at the United States, but the subtext was unmistakable….

And while he vigorously defended Canada's part in reducing border delays and improving border infrastructure, Mr. Prentice cited several recent private sector reports that highlight growing problems at the Canada-U.S. border, mainly involving enhanced U.S. security.

These measures include more thorough food inspections and a variety of new document requirements.

"We are ... clearly misallocating our resources," Mr. Prentice said in his speech….

Letting the border problem fester could leave key industries, including auto making, dangerously exposed to offshore competition from emerging powers, such as China and India, he said. "The costs and delays of an automobile part as it travels across national borders on its way to final assembly adds several hundred dollars to the price of a North American-built vehicle," he added….

Speaking to reporters before his remarks, the minister said North America needs a fully integrated auto industry that can "take on all comers."

He said he chose to raise the border issue at the conference because the economy of the Americas is "built on trade and prosperity."…

]]>Thu, 8 May 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3797http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3797This article is extracted from the 7 May 2008 edition of “The New York Times”.

After six years of stumbling against the euro, the dollar may be showing signs of getting back on its feet.

Two weeks ago, the dollar hit a new low of $1.60 for the euro amid expectations of lower interest rates in the United States and possibly higher rates in Europe. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and other European leaders expressed alarm over the dollar’s decline and its devastating effect on Europe’s exports.

Since then, the dollar has strengthened — it closed at $1.55 Tuesday — and some economists say that even if it creeps down slightly, the dangers of a precipitous fall, at least against the euro, have subsided.

Economists point out that American policy makers, particularly Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, have begun to voice concern about the dollar’s fall and its inflationary effect in the United States, where a weak currency has increased the cost of oil and other imports for the American consumer….

Although many economists consider an all-out collapse of the dollar unlikely, they acknowledge that such a collapse could occur if overseas investors, fearing a relentless decline, start dumping dollars from their portfolios — accelerating exactly what they fear might happen.

While concerned about the dollar’s value against the euro, of course, the United States has taken the opposite approach toward China and some other Asian economies.

The Bush administration, for example, continues to press China to let its currency, the yuan, appreciate against the dollar. The yuan has already climbed more than 18 percent against the dollar since mid-2005, making Chinese goods more expensive in the United States.

That shift, in turn, has eased the clamor in Congress for trade sanctions against China.

But economists say any possible stabilizing of the dollar against the euro can be sustained only if there is a shift in economic fundamentals toward a recovery in the United States and a slowdown in Europe.

The dollar’s recent strength may be an anticipation of such trends. But it is also seen as a response to the Fed’s expected pause in interest rate cuts and to recent statements by financial officials from the major economic powers….

On April 11, the finance ministers of the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe said they were “concerned” about recent “sharp fluctuations in major currencies,” a statement widely seen as endorsing the possibility of an intervention by the United States Treasury and other finance ministries to prevent a steep drop in the dollar’s value….

Many economists say the statement of the finance ministers — all members of the Group of 7 nations — was an important factor in strengthening the dollar….

For many economists, the decline of the dollar against the euro or other currencies is more a function of the American trade deficit than its interest rate policies. In other words, as the United States imports more than it exports, businesses overseas pile up hundreds of billions of dollars that they sell when they convert to their own currencies….

]]>Wed, 7 May 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3795http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3795The following news release was issued by Industry Canada on 1 May 2008.

The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism), today announced that the Government of Canada is taking action to meet its commitment to reduce the paper burden for business by 20 percent this fall.

In September last year, 13 departments and agencies completed a baseline count of the obligations imposed on businesses in legislation, regulations, policies and forms. They are now implementing reduction plans toward the 20-percent target. This initiative is of particular importance for small and medium-sized businesses, which have limited resources to deal with administrative burden….

Participating departments and agencies are pursuing various approaches to reduce paper burden, including streamlining their regulations, eliminating duplicate or overlapping obligations, and reducing the frequency of filing documents. Not only will this improve regulatory efficiency, but it will result in fewer obligations and simpler compliance rules for businesses.

Secretary of State Ablonczy also met with the Advisory Committee on Paperwork Burden Reduction, co-chaired by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and Industry Canada. The Secretary of State received the second progress report from the committee, which was created to advise the federal government on practical ways to reduce paperwork burden….

In Advantage Canada and Budget 2007, the government committed to reducing the paperwork burden for business by 20 percent by November 2008. Budget 2008 reiterated this commitment and introduced a number of complementary measures to benefit small business….

]]>Tue, 6 May 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3792http://www.aacb.com/news/press.asp?id=3792
Department of Agriculture

• Country of origin labeling – The Agricultural Marketing Service expects to finalize in September regulations on the mandatory country of origin labeling of beef, pork, lamb, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts.
• Cattle imports – The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service expects to issue in July a proposed rule designed to help ensure that cattle and captive bison infected with tuberculosis are not imported into the U.S. This rule will establish several levels of risk classifications to be applied to foreign regions with regard to tuberculosis and establish requirements governing the importation of cattle and captive bison based on each risk classification.

A related proposed rule expected in December would amend the animal importation regulations to require that steers and spayed heifers with more than three inches of horn growth (which can be used as rodeo cattle, which are often maintained longer than feeder cattle) that are entering the U.S. from Mexico meet more stringent tuberculosis testing requirements than those with three inches or less. This rulemaking will replace a previously published proposed rule, which APHIS will withdraw.

• Plant imports – APHIS plans to issue in August a proposed rule that would establish a new category in the regulations governing the importation of nursery stock, also known as plants for planting. This category would list plants for planting whose importation is not authorized pending risk assessment.
• Fruit and vegetable imports – APHIS plans to issue in October a final rule requiring that a phytosanitary certificate accompany all non-commercial shipments of fruits and vegetables imported into the U.S. by air passengers.
• Imports from Canada – APHIS expects to finalize in June an August 2006 interim rule that amended the foreign quarantine and user fee regulations by eliminating (a) the exemptions from inspection for imported fruits and vegetables grown in Canada and (b) the exemptions from user fees for commercial vessels, trucks, railroad cars and aircraft (and international air passengers) entering the U.S from Canada.
• Export certification – APHIS anticipates issuing in September a final rule that increases the user fees charged for export certification of plants and plant products and adds a new user fee for federal export certificates for plants and plant products that an exporter obtains from a state or county cooperator.
• Bird and poultry imports – APHIS plans to issue this month an interim rule prohibiting or restricting the importation of birds, poultry and bird and poultry products from regions that have reported the presence in commercial birds or poultry of highly pathogenic avian influenza other than subtype H5N1. The new restrictions will be almost identical to those imposed on articles from regions with exotic Newcastle disease.
• Fish imports – APHIS expects to issue this month an interim final rule restricting the importation of live fish that are susceptible to viral hemorrhagic septicemia, a highly contagious disease of certain freshwater and saltwater fish.

Department of Health and Human Services

• Food labeling – The Food and Drug Administration plans to issue in July a proposed rule that would require imported food that is refused entry into the U.S. to be labeled “UNITED STATES: REFUSED ENTRY” by its owners or consignees.

Department of Homeland Security

• Security filing – U.S. Customs and Border Protection anticipates that it will issue in September a final “10+2” rule requiring additional data elements from importers and ocean carriers before ocean borne cargo is brought into the U.S.
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The CBSA is already making improvements to avoid such outages. This most recent outage was related to a firewall and tied to the problems experienced by the Canada Revenue Agency TAX NETFILE system.

With outbound data not flowing, affected clients had no ability to determine release status of goods and led to additional expense incurred by CBSA clients.

In some cases, officers would not accept paper release requests and this is being investigated. We understand that reverting to paper is not an effective solution given that most clients, and CBSA offices, are no longer set up to produce or process paper efficiently.

CBSA will conduct a full IT “post mortem”, including how systems can be modified to avoid similar situations. As well, Admissibility, Operations and IS&T branches will move quickly to consider possible contingencies, such as e-mail. CBSA will also ensure that update information going out to clients and offices during such incidents is precise and is directed to all who need to know.

"We sincerely apologize for the disruption caused to your businesses by these problems. Engagement with our clients is important to us in determining how we improve our contingencies during such outages and in reestablishing a high degree of integrity and credibility in our commercial systems. We recognize that these are essential issues to be resolved together, as we go forward with such major initiatives as E-manifest, which will greatly increase our electronic transaction volumes.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation and please be assured that we are committed to finding the best way forward to resolve these important issues."

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