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Long Beach accepts federal grant for Port improvements
After a crucial vote by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, federal grant money has been approved to help fund the "Green Port Gateway" project at the Port of Long Beach. The grant, totaling $17 million, comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program and will be used to expand the Port's rail lines in order to increase and optimize cargo transportation. The project is part of the Port's $4.4 billion plans to expand capacity and environmental friendliness over the next 10 years. Read more.
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United States challenges Chinese automotive duties
The U.S. filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on July 5 over Chinese tariffs on American-made automotive vehicles. The duties, consisting of taxes on more than $3 billion worth of products, range between 2 and 21.5 percent. The dispute, according to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, "is the third time that the Obama administration has challenged China's misuse of trade remedies." Previous trade disagreements filed with the WTO include accusations over China's restrictive rare-earth export policy, purportedly unfair green energy subsidies and import restrictions of steel and poultry. Read more.
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Trans-Pacific Partnership talks progress in San Diego
The 13th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations ended on July 10, concluding nine days of discussion between the United States and the eight other nations involved: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Progress was made on a variety of subjects pertaining to the trade deal, including migration and copyright law, investment and the far-reaching tariff reductions in a wide-ranging selection of industries. The negotiations are scheduled to continue in Leesburg, Virginia on Sept. 6-15. The new TPP parties, Mexico and Canada, are expected to join after concluding domestic procedures. Read more.
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United States overcomes dispute with China regarding electronic payment services
The United States has recently won a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute against China, who was accused of unfairly discriminating against American electronic payment service (EPS) providers. The WTO panel ruled that China's own EPS company, China Union Pay, has dominated this market sector and unfairly distorted competition at the expense of U.S. providers, going against its WTO commitments. U.S. Ambassador Kirk believes that this decision will "increase American jobs as a more efficient credit and debit payment system in China enables consumers to buy more goods." The United States is one of the world's top providers of electronic payment services for debit and credit card transactions. Read more. |
Increasing bond yields raise Euro concerns
Spain's sale of government bonds on July 19 saw interest rates on 10-year treasuries rise to 7.03 percent and rates on five-year treasuries increase to 6.46 percent. The rising yields reflect investor concerns about the political will in the Euro zone to support Spain financially if its fortunes continue to decline. The increased rates have raised the costs of government borrowing, hurting Spain's ability to continue financing its debt and making the possibility of a full bailout more likely. Meanwhile, Germany is expected to guarantee around 30 percent of an impending Spanish bank bailout, though the passage of the Euro zone's permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, has stalled due to concerns about its constitutionality. Read more. |
Compiled by Ashley Arikawa, Simon Huang and Devin Raymond, Global Initiatives Interns For more information, contact Jasmin Sakai-Gonzalez, 213.580.7569. |
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