Trade’s impact on food crisis

As most of us have heard by now, food prices are skyrocketing. Countries are curbing exports of foods so their population has enough to eat. There was even a story recently about reverse food exports - people were sending rice to relatives in countries where the grain was scarce.

The New York Times published an interesting story a few days ago on this very issue. Check it out here: <a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/business/worldbusiness/30trade.html?_r=1&ref=worldbusiness&oref=slogin”Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Even Higher.”

A related The Global Wheat Tradedescribes the contrasts between what the wheat farmers in the US and Nigeria are experiencing.

Those of us who live in California with its yearlong Mediterranean climate know how lucky we are to have local access to a variety of food including rice. Prices have gone up for flour, oil, sugar, milk and meat but we are not starving.

So how do we balance the needs for our population and the needs of other countries? Can the US grow enough to feed other developing and poorer countries? How do we control trade policy or rationalize shipping fresh fruit thousands of miles so someone in Indonesia won’t starve? Would people in developing countries such as Africa be better off growing what they can and simply living off those supplies?

Barbara Kingsolver wrote an interesting op-ed for the Washington Post last year on this issue. She quotes a scientist named Vandana Shiva from the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy on the topic of Indian farmers are forced to grow foods for export instead of their traditional local economy.

The food crisis is getting worse each day. And we don’t have an instant solution to balance our global food supply. Only time will tell and it’ll be interesting with the elections if food trade policy is revisited.

 

International Trade and New Orleans

I’m always excited to learn about international trade and its impact on a particular city even when I’m on vacation.

A few weeks ago I took a trip to New Orleans through One Brick to help restore homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Thanks again to One Brick, a nonprofit providing volunteer opportunities commitment free, for organizing the trip. I had an amazing time and enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people who are committed to restoring the area and returned despite the amount of tragedy and grief they suffered.

My assignment took me to the St. Bernard project in Chalmette, Louisiana, 40 miles south of New Orleans. I stayed at Camp Hope, formerly a school converted into a housing dorm for people helping with the relief efforts.

During my first night, St. Bernard Parish resident Stephen Gonzales was telling me about the history, culture and food of New Orleans. Steve explained the Gulf Coast is home to the largest jumbo-size shrimp and the largest volume. I started to explain how cheap imports from Asian countries flooded grocery stores and why I couldn’t find US-specific or even local seafood in grocery stores. It also reminded me of how special trade agreements on imports and exports of food can be particularly challenging.

In my quest to learn more about imports and its impact on Louisiana’s seafood industry, I discovered a few things:

- According to statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there was 504 pounds of shrimp caught on the Gulf Coast, compared to 325 pounds the previous year.

- U.S. Senator David Vitter testified at April’s U.S.-China Commission on Seafood Safety and Trade and introduced a bill that would add to the safety of imported seafood. According to Sen. Vitter’s office, the Imported Seafood Safety Enhancement Act of 2008 , imported seafood would be denied entry if it violates the standards of the Federal Food, Cosmetic and Drug Act or any federal law regarding food safety. There are also additional measures in the bill for additional safety precautions.

- Unfortunately, most of the Gulf Coast shrimp doesn’t reach our grocery stores because of cheaper imports from China and Thailand. But now that antidumping duties are being levied on imports, Chinese exports have slowed.

Check out some related articles on Louisana’s shrimp industry and their efforts to make ease the burdens of imported seafood.

China seafood exports expected to decline

Gas prices and cheap imports driving some fisheries out of business.

 

Port of New Orleans considers expansion

The Sunday Times Picayune covers the possible expansion of the Port of New Orleans.

According to the article, there is debate whether container shipments will continue to increase compared to pre-Katrina levels. Critics also say the port doesn’t have the capacity and need distribution centers for retailers to hold their goods before releasing them to individual stores.

Advocates for expansion forecast increased business in the future from the Panama Canal expansion expected for 2014.

The full article can be found at the Times Picayune site here.

 

Exporting to China goes mainstream

There is something exciting about watching a mainstream television show that mentions the world of trade and exports.

They mentioned exports and trade in the most recent episode titled “Moral Hazard,” of ABC’s primetime show “Brothers & Sisters.” The story centers around the Walker family who run the family-owned produce distributor, Ojai Food Co., which they use as a starting point for open a winery. Opening a new winery has its challenges so they bring an outside consultant to shake up the business. The consultant suggests exporting wines to China - they would receive agricultural subsides from the government for the grapes they grow and with red wine’s popularity in China, the winery could expand to hundreds of stores in the Far East.

The deal goes bad - export contracts can’t be canceled, the winery has an outstanding $20 million dollar loan to pay and shipping containers are waiting to load and leave the port. It’s almost a recipe for bankruptcy.

It’s really nice to tell people they talked about your job on television. If only more dramas would write in dialogue about trade, our jobs would be famous!

 

NAFTA at the forefront of the presidential elections

Trade’s been one of the most widely discussed topics in the upcoming presidential elections. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is particularly at the forefront of the debates aside from Colombia.

In Tuesday’s New York Times article, Elizabeth Malkin reports both Senator Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama blame NAFTA for job losses. Both Democratic candidates are committed to renegotiating parts of the agreement.

However, what would a renegotiated NAFTA mean for the North American economy, particularly Silicon Valley? What would happen to the imports/exports of high-tech products if labor and environmental standards became stricter?

 

A look at a puffin manufacturing plant in China

There’s a fascinating article in the April 21st issue of the New Yorker, which, gives readers an inside look at a puffin gold club head factory in eastern China.

The piece written by author and writer Jonathan Franzen, who also wrote “The Corrections,” in 2001, visits the industrial areas upon discovering the toy was made in China. At the same time Ningbo, the industrial city churning out these plush toys was destroying the real birds.

Franzen also interviews the factory owner and describes how workers are treated. The tour also leads to some surprising discoveries. He feels slightly guilty having not found more destructive industrialization in the making of the plush toy.

The New Yorker website has a short summary found here.

 

Presidential candidates Clinton and Obama China bashing

Trade is a hot topic in the presidential campaigns lately.

There have been frequent debates over the Columbia Free Trade Agreement stalled by House Democrats and NAFTA. The spotlight now turns to China.

According to this article from AFP, Sen. Hillary Clinton and presidential hopeful Barrack Obama both had some harsh words on China.

“China, according to Obama, had unfairly tilted the playing field by “dumping goods into our market,” violating intellectual property rights, exporting unsafe toys and “grossly undervaluing” its currency.

Clinton advocated for stronger trade enforcement saying “”We need solutions to fix our trade laws, build a strong manufacturing base, and stand up to China and say that unsafe toys and unfair currency practices are unacceptable,” to the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) in Pittsburgh.”

For a complete list of all the presidential candidates views on trade, the Council on Foreign Relations compiled an informative guide.

 

Welcome!

Today’s my 26th birthday and I finally accomplished my goal last year of getting my site up and running.

This site’s a sample of my past and present freelance work, my work in international trade and postings of interesting trade news.

Please come back often and visit as I’ll be updating more regularly.