Oil production hike to take effect, exporters say

The 12 nations comprising the powerful Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have recently concurred to make the daily oil output higher by half million barrels, starting November, to address issues of growing need for the said commodity. The oil exporters are pressed to come up with such drastic measure in order to hit the oil requirements of countries worldwide. The recent spate of oil price hike was seen as a big contributory factor to the exporters' landmark decision.

OPEC member-countries, which include Indonesia, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Libya, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Kuwait, arrived at a bold move after studying Saudi Arabia's proposition. Saudi Arabia holds a firm clout among the members of the influential group of oil exporters.

Abdullah al-Badri, OPEC secretary general, explained that the group's decision is focused on letting oil consumers realize that oil exporters care about them.

Concerns regarding the jittery equilibrium between oil supply and demand have resulted in steep oil price tags, at times reaching historical proportions. However, even after the oil exporters' group announced the news, the US light crude still surged by 74 cents at $78.23. It is just 54 cents lower than this year's highest recorded price of $78.77.

The International Energy Agency, comprised of the 26 biggest oil consuming countries, have earlier expressed the necessity for oil exporters to effect a higher oil production in order to address the equally high demands for the product.

Meanwhile, the said development has generated mixed responses from experts. John Hall, an analyst working for John Hall Associates, said that the oil exporters' decision is a highly positive move. Moreover, it is expected to alleviate the US economic and stock market woes, which has affected countries around the world. Others, like Addison Armstrong of TFS Energy Futures, also expressed concern about the issue. He said that the oil exporters might flood the global market with too many barrels when there is actually no need for such excess supplies.

Chinese importers to conduct consumer safety talks with US

After the incessant recall of Chinese-made toys last week, Senator Dick Durbin asked US importers to conduct an inspection on all toys that will come from China. The Democrat senator said that Chinese importers have been practicing negligent standards on safety, which is why American toy firms must let third party companies to inspect the quality of imported toys coming from the said Asian country.

Meanwhile, Zhao Baoqing, a commerce official based in China's embassy in the US, said that inspections of products must be part of the trade deal between importers and exporters. He added that making the third-party inspection on all products coming from China mandatory will undermine businesses of the brand-holders. By the end of this month and in September, delegations from China are expected to conduct talks with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration. Zhao asked the US to cooperate and try to create solutions through diplomatic talks instead of publicizing its complaints.

However, as an alleged reprisal to the damage made to Chinese-labeled products, China has barred pork products coming from US importers. Beijing officials said that pork products from the US may have ractopamine, a pig feed additive and growth hormone that is prohibited in China.

It must be noted that Mattel, a US-based toy manufacturer recalled millions of toys last week after the discovery of lead content in the paint used for the said items. Aside from lead, the toymaker also found that other toys brought by Chinese importers to the country have small magnets that were loose. Playsets including Polly Pocket, Doggie Daycare, One Piece, Batman Magna, and Cars were among the affected toys that were recalled in the US, UK, Ireland, and in some countries in Asia. The said recall of toys was the most recent issue on the series of alarming reports about the safety of products brought by Chinese importers to the US.

Nations feature in international trade issues

The United States trade office recently urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to stop China's copyright piracy, saying that last June's bilateral talks with China about its lenient anti-piracy policies and weak anti-counterfeiting measures have failed. China is said to threaten international trade for impeding the businesses of legitimate companies. Music and computer software industries are said to lose billions of sales due to China's inability to curb copyright theft, which affect international trade industries.

Sean Spicer, spokesperson for US trade representative Susan Schwab, said that while they recognize China's efforts to improve its enforcement on intellectual property rights, there are still more issues to be taken into consideration. The US trade office hopes a WTO intervention will force China to impose aggressive means on enforcing international trade standards on piracy violators.

Meanwhile, despite verbal tirades from U.S. officials over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), international trade representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico held a two-day talk in Canada to discuss key economic concerns. Among the issues raised are the possibility of granting more goods with duty-free treatment as well as improving trade on steel trade, consumer electronics, and swine.

Part of the issues hurled against the agreement are environmental and labor conditions. However, Schwab insisted that the NAFTA agreement is future-oriented. As of 2005, a US$288 billion surge was attributed to international trade between US and Mexico, while an US$18 billion economic boost between Canada and Mexico was reported.

In another news, members of the East African Community (EAC) finally put aside their differences to come up with a unified decision regarding the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The document is said to be crucial in establishing the future of the East African nations in the international trade scene.

The EPA is eyed to solve the aftermaths of European Union's (EU) enforcement of the General System of Preferences (GSP) policy. The GSP is among the international trade regulatory rules and guidelines that must be followed and considered by states eying to do business with EU. Meanwhile, beating the December 31 deadline is said to be most beneficial to Kenya with the threat of losing Sh100 billion worth of international trade and investment if EPA would not take its course by the end of the year.

India-Pakistan Global Trade Deal Nears Final Stages

A global trade pact between India and Pakistan, involving the construction of a $7 billion gas pipeline by 2011, is close to being sealed after officials from both countries concluded their bilateral talks in New Delhi last Thursday. The global trade deal allows India and Pakistan to finance their respective shares of the pipeline traversing their boundaries.

India's Petroleum Secretary confirmed that a memorandum regarding transport costs has already been signed by Pakistan, but the details of the matter will still be discussed in another bilateral meeting in Islamabad come July. Afterward, the two countries will have a meeting with Iran.
Hojatollah Ghanimi-Fard, Executive Director for International Affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company and Iran's representative for the project, is looking forward to the signing of the global trade deal by July.

Iran is home to the world's second largest oil depot. However, possible foreign investments in the country are in peril in the light of looming global trade sanctions due to its refusal to end its uranium enrichment program. Pakistan and India are bent on pushing through with the global trade deal. Jonathan Stern of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies pointed out that Iran never had the capacity to pursue global trade deals. He said that even if the tension in Iran cools down, investor confidence in the country will never be good.

China Imposes Cuts on Tax Rebates To Curb International Trade Surplus

China recently enforced cuts on tax rebates in an effort to ease its growing international trade deficit with the United States and the European Union. Tax rebates, which is expected to hit 17.5 percent, had already been implemented in leather, fertilizers, and wood products. However, economists say that the new measure will not cause a major shakeup in the international trade deficit since bumper profits will continue to rise. Likewise, Chinese manufacturers can simply pass on higher costs to consumers in areas where the competition is not stiff.

In the past few months, the United States and the European Union has been complaining about their internal trade deficit, which will hit $400 billion and $170 billion euros, respectively. On the other hand, China expressed its disappointment on the recent international trade sanction which the United States imposed on high-technology military gadgets being shipped to China. Mr. Bo Xilai, Chinese Commerce Minister, said that the measure was against the spirit of economic cooperation.

Uganda And Zambia Call On G8 Leaders For International Trade Assistance

President Levy Mwanawasa and Yoweri Museveni of Zambia and Uganda respectively called on world leaders to reaffirm their promise of international trade to the entire African continent ahead of the Group of Eight(G8) Assembly this week. Financial aid on Africa as well as other pressing issues on international trade are the main agenda of the Group of Eight's meeting in Germany.

According to Museveni, the requested financial aid can actually harm more than benefit Uganda as it can cripple their efforts to conduct international trade deals. For his part, Zambian President Mwanawasa invited Western companies to take advantage of their local products by investing on local factories to be able to produce quality products. Mwanawasa reiterated his plea for the G8 leaders to pursue their promised financial aid, which they pledged during the G8 Assembly in 2005 held in Gleaneagles, Scotland. The financial assistance is worth $50 billion a year until 2010. In addition, the G8 representatives guaranteed a total debt relief to the Zambia government.

On the part of the Uganda government, President Museveni said that the international trade assistance his country needs should focus on energy and transportation. Uganda experiences frequent shortage of electricity, which is a major deterrent to investments. The railway system is another major development that Uganda badly needs.

Furthermore, Mwanawasa believed in the sincerity of the Group of Eight members on matters concerning debt relief as an aid to international trade. He is hoping that these countries would press on with their sincerity. However, Museveni warned G8 leaders not to interfere with the political situation in Africa. He said that there is no need for such meddling because Africa can manage its own affairs.

Established in 1975, the Group of Eight (G8) is an international forum of countries made up of France, Canada, Japan, Russia, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The group comprises 65 percent of international trade. In addition, the European Union (EU) likewise attends the annual gathering of nations. This year's summit is hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Russia is the last country to join in 1977 when former President Boris Yeltsin aggressively pushed for international trade reforms in the country. Japan will have its turn to host the G8 Assembly in 2008. Aside from the renewal of pledges to AIDS funding, climate change and poverty alleviation are the foremost priorities of the 2007 G8 Assembly.

India And UAE Set Rounds Of International Trade Talks

India and the United Arab Emirates is set to ink a deal that will improve international trade between them. The bilateral talks will focus on investment opportunities as well as long-term international trade relations. The UAE is one of India's top trading partners, comprising about six percent of total exports.

During the meeting, India bared its desire to establish several Indian banks in the UAE. Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath requested for the lifting of international trade restrictions such as work permits and visas. For its part, the UAE, represented by Economy Minister Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, made an inquiry on the anti-dumping policies which India enforced on their products. The demands were accompanied by an agreement to surpass the $12.9 billion worth of exports they accumulated in 2005 to 2006.

US Enforces International Trade Sanctions on Sudan

In an effort to put an end to the four-year old international trade conflict in Darfur, the United States recently imposed economic sanctions on Sudan. Such action of the United States is targeting 31 establishments and three key personnel who are to be banned from doing businesses with US banks and financial institutions.

The international trade embargo imposed by the US on Sudan received various reactions from the worldwide community. Critics of the imposed sanction such as China and Russia, said that enforcing the embargo is not only unjust but also badly timed. For the leader of the Arab League, the situation in Darfur demanded pooling of efforts from international communities and imposing sanctions was inappropriate.

On the other hand, some countries approved of the action and said they are willing to impose tougher international trade sanctions in order to force the Sudanese government to allow the arrival of more United Nations peacekeeping forces. Currently, there are about 3,000 peace keepers who are augmenting the 7,000 members of the African Union.

Moreover, the United Nations peacekeeping plan is already in its final stages. Once implemented, a peacekeeping force, which is three times the size of the current personnel, will be deployed to Darfur. International trade hostilities between the Sudanese government and rebel forces began in the year 2003. Already, more than 200,000 Sudanese lives have been lost and 2.5 million more have been rendered homeless since the situation escalated into a full blown conflict.