Occupy Protestors March on West Coast Ports – This week, the Occupy Movement marched on West Coast Ports disrupting cargo operations at Oakland and Portland resulting in heavy backlogs. At Portland about 325 International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers and 200 truckers were not able to report for work due to the demonstrations. Although there were marches at other sites including the ports of Long Beach, Seattle, San Diego and Vancouver, none had any significant impact on cargo operations.
Read more from JOC.
China’s 10 Year Anniversary as WTO Member – This week, China celebrates its 10th year of membership in the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO). Since the nation’s entrance into the global trade community, China has become the world’s largest exporter and second-biggest importer. According to China’s WTO Ambassador, the country’s economic growth surpassed expectations with an annual growth rate of 10%, resulting in more than 200 million Chinese people being lifted out of poverty.
Read more from BusinessWeek.
China Imposes Antidumping Duties on Vehicles – The Chinese government has imposed tariffs on car imports from the US. China’s commerce ministry said in a statement that the antidumping duties were implemented to protect their domestic auto industry. The taxes will affect models from General Motors, Chrysler, Mercedes Benz and BMW that are made in the US. Individual duties on each company range from 2% to 21.5% and will be imposed on imported cars and SUVs with engines larger than 2.5 liters.
Read more from NY Times.
New Container Terminal for Port of Los Angeles –Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced plans to build a new container terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. Construction of the new terminal will be handled by California United Terminals and its parent company, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. Ltd. The purpose of the new 200-acre terminal, which will be placed on the southeast side of Pier 400, will be to help increase the flow of goods to and from Asian trading partners.
Read more from Maritime Executive.
