How to Find Valuable Stuff on Export.gov

Are you looking to grow your export business in 2012? Believe it or not, you can find valuable market research, trade leads, and duty calculations all on one website, export.gov. The U.S. Commercial Service has a 60-minute video tutorial on how to access every information rich resource on export.gov. Highlights include: A market research library…

Read More »

Keep on Trucking? Part I

As the new year begins to peek up over the horizon, many domestic shippers are struggling to come to terms with current trucking rates. According to industry experts, rates could go up by about 10 percent next year (Source: Journal of Commerce). So what’s going on here? What’s driving rates up and up, year after…

Read More »

7 Ways to Harness the Power of Foreign Trade Zones

More and more U.S. companies are using Foreign Trade Zones (FTZ) to better manage their global supply chain costs. Here are seven advantages that showcase FTZ as a competitive alternative to a domestic distribution center. 1. Duty Deferral. Duties are only paid when imported merchandise enters U.S. Customs territory. Goods may be held in an FTZ indefinitely and…

Read More »

Cross-Border Trucking: To Be or Not To Be

In March, we posted about a pending agreement between the Obama administration and the Mexican government to breathe new life into the cross-border trucking program that was cancelled in 2009. As of July 6, the U.S. and Mexican governments officially signed off on the agreement, establishing a new pilot program for authorized Mexican truckers to…

Read More »

Commercial Invoice Must Haves

Most foreign exporters don’t bat an eye when tasked with completing a commercial invoice. Some will tell you that they know their invoices well enough to fill them out in their sleep. Yet, an inaccurate or incomplete commercial invoice is one of the most common errors found during a U.S. Customs audit. In order to…

Read More »

5 Must-Listen Global Trade Podcasts

Whether you're listening to it while at the gym, in the car, or lounging by the pool, an ipod or mp3 player can be a wonderful little device to have on hand. Sure you can use it to listen to your favorite songs but what about podcasts? Podcasts are audio "episodes" or programs that you…

Read More »