News from the Export-Import Bank of the United States Washington, D.C. – Today the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank) released its Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report highlighting its support of more than $8 billion in U.S. exports and an estimated 52,000 U.S. jobs. The Bank also announced it has transferred $284 million in deficit-reducing receipts to the U.S. Treasury's General Fund for fiscal year 2016. EXIM Bank is a self-sustaining federal agency and operates at no cost to the taxpayers. Since 2009, EXIM has sent nearly $3.8 billion of surplus to the U.S. Treasury for deficit reduction. In the last decade, EXIM has supported more than 1.7 million jobs in all 50 states. “The Bank is proud of its 2016 performance in leveling the playing field for U.S. exporters who must compete with foreign state-backed companies around the globe for important sales,” said Fred P. Hochberg, EXIM chairman and president. “It is now more crucial than ever to leverage EXIM’s capabilities to stimulate U.S. exports abroad and bolster U.S. jobs at home.” Among the highlights in the 2016 Annual Report are the following:
ABOUT EX-IM BANK: EXIM is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. Almost 90 percent of its transactions directly serve American small businesses. In fiscal year 2016, EXIM approved $5 billion in total authorizations to support an estimated $8 billion in U.S. export sales. Since 2009, EXIM has supported more than 1.4 million American jobs in communities across the country and sent $3.8 billion of surplus to the U.S. Treasury for deficit reduction. Small business exporters can learn about how EXIM products can empower them to increase foreign sales by clicking here. For more information about EXIM, visit www.exim.gov. Media Contact: Lawton King (202-565-3408) World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia is an EXIM Regional Export Promotion Program Partner
This year we are particularly proud of the success our companies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have achieved. With the guiding hand of our trade counselors, these exporters, many of them small and medium‐sized businesses, now have customers around the world ‐ registering over $174M in increased export sales. Their success is our success and it's at the heart of what we do as a member‐based, 501(c)3 non‐profit organization. This year we partnered with the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and area business and civic leaders, as part of a national Brookings/JP Morgan Chase "Global Cities Initiative" to launch a dynamic export strategy to drive economic growth and job creation for the Greater Philadelphia Region. The resulting "Export Plan" for Philadelphia underscored that there are many more businesses in the Greater Philadelphia region who can and should be exporting ‐ and need the services of the WTCGP. As part of our commitment to the international business community to provide timely and relevant information on the global economy and celebrate our global leaders, this year's key signature events and international meetings included:
Every day the WTCGP opens its doors to help "grow trade" in the Greater Philadelphia region thanks to our member companies, and sustaining and leadership partners. As we continue to grow trade, we need to ensure that we can continue to expand this important work.
News from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency ARLINGTON, Va. - Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency announced the Agency is resuming its program in Argentina for the first time since 2005. Prior to 2005, USTDA's highly successful program in Argentina had supported priority projects primarily in the transportation, environmental and energy sectors. These programs contributed to significant U.S. industry engagement in the country while also helping to advance Argentina's infrastructure goals. "USTDA is very pleased to be re-engaging with Argentina," said Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Nathan Younge. "We look forward to working with new partners in the public and private sectors across Argentina to achieve mutually-beneficial results." Following President Mauricio Macri's commitment to attract major investments in Argentina's infrastructure development, USTDA will prioritize the advancement of transportation, IT and clean energy projects to support the country's goals. USTDA announced the reopening of its program during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on "Argentina's New Economic Agenda," as a precursor to the U.S.-Argentina Commercial Dialogue in Washington, D.C. The Dialogue will provide an opportunity to highlight USTDA's project preparation programs and lay the groundwork for launching new partnerships across Argentina.
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Making Global Local Partner of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency News from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
News from the U.S. Department of the Treasury WASHINGTON – Today, President Obama signed an Executive Order terminating the national emergency with respect to Burma, revoking the Burma sanctions Executive Orders, and waiving other statutory blocking and financial sanctions on Burma. As a result, the economic and financial sanctions administered by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) are no longer in effect. These steps fulfill the announcement made by President Obama during the visit of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, stand as a testament to the far-reaching changes that Burma has undergone in the past few years, and are intended to support efforts by the civilian government and the people of Burma to continue their process of political reform and broad-based economic growth and prosperity.
“Burma has made significant strides in recent years, including choosing a civilian-led, democratically elected government,” said Adam J. Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Lifting economic and financial sanctions will further support trade and economic growth, and Treasury will continue to work with Burma to implement a robust anti-money laundering regime that will help to ensure the security of its financial system.” Termination of the Burma Sanctions Program Executive Order (E.O.) ______ of October 7, 2016,“Termination of Emergency With Respect to the Actions and Policies of the Government of Burma,” terminated the national emergency, revoked E.O.s 13047, 13310, 13448, 13464, 13619, and 13651, and waived financial and blocking sanctions in the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008. As a result, the economic and financial sanctions on Burma administered by OFAC are no longer in effect. This includes the following impacts, among others:
The termination of the Burma sanctions program does not impact Burmese individuals or entities blocked pursuant to other OFAC sanctions authorities, such as counter-narcotics sanctions. They remain on the SDN List, and their property and interests in property remain blocked. Further, pending or future OFAC enforcement investigations or actions related to apparent violations of the BSR when in effect may still be carried out. Banking with Burmese Banks This Executive Order terminates all OFAC-administered restrictions and authorizations under the Burma sanctions program pertaining to banking with Burma. This includes the OFAC general licenses issued in 2012 and 2013 that authorized certain correspondent account activity with Burmese banks. In 2003, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) found Burma to be a “jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. As a result, FinCEN issued a prohibition on U.S. financial institutions from maintaining correspondent accounts for Burmese banks. The 2003 finding remains in place, but FinCEN is issuing an administrative exception today to suspend the prohibition so that U.S. financial institutions can continue to provide correspondent services to Burmese banks, subject to the appropriate due diligence requirements. This exception is based on Burma’s progress in improving its anti-money laundering regime and its commitment to continue making progress to address money laundering, corruption, and narcotics-related activities. FinCEN intends to rescind its action in its entirety when Burma has made sufficient progress in addressing these issues. FinCEN’s administrative exception can be found here. Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury News from the U.S. Department of State On Wednesday, September 28, Secretary Kerry delivered remarks at The Wilson Center on the US relationship with the Asia Pacific region, highlighting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement as a means to strengthen our critical partnerships in the region while cementing America's status as a world leader. Secretary Kerry Remarks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership will reinforce our status as a world leader intimately connected to the dynamic economies of the Pacific Rim, the fastest-growing economies in the world. And it will help strengthen norms and standards that are important to us - not just to other people or to everyone else in the region, but important to every citizen in the United States of America. Let me be clear: the reverse is also true. If we reject TPP, we take a giant step backward, we take a step away from this vital platform for cooperation, we take a step away from our leadership in the Asia Pacific, we take a step away from the protection of our interests and the promotion of universal values, we take a step away from our ability to shape the course of events in a region that includes more than a quarter of the world's population - and where much of the history of the 21st century is going to be written... View Full Transcript / Watch Video
PC Network Inc. - a Bringing the World to Pennsylvania and Global Connections participant - is a customer focused technology infrastructure services company based out of Philadelphia and is assisted by World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia. September 20, 2016, Philadelphia, PA, USA / London, UK – Calleva Networks Ltd., a UK-based IT services company, today announced the acquisition of key assets by PC Network (UK) Limited, an operating company of PC Network Inc. (PCN). PCN delivers a comprehensive portfolio of DNS, DHCP, and IPAM (DDI) managed services and professional consulting to enterprises, service providers, system integrators, and VARs. Calleva Networks, a boutique IT services firm focused on DDI services and consulting in the UK, will strengthen PCN’s UK market presence and core DDI managed services offering. “We are excited about this transaction. Calleva Networks is a great fit with our business,” said Katrin Hillner, PCN’s President & CEO. “Global demand for our services has made the addition of resources in the UK essential. We could not have found a better set of services and skills than what the Calleva Networks team brings our clients.” Paul Roberts, Calleva Networks founder, is joining PCN’s leadership team and will provide a dedicated focus to PCN’s growing UK customer base. “PCN has a compelling service offering, global scale and a fantastic technical team well matched with our experience at Calleva Networks,” added Roberts. The growing number and type of IP enabled devices and applications connecting to networks require the right tools to be used in the right ways to mitigate risk and complexity. DDI is foundational to delivery of critical network services protecting Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure, automating cloud deployments, and increasing the reliability of enterprise and service provider networks around the world.
“We believe that Cloud transformations, DNS Security and the Internet of Things revolution will continue to create strong demand for our managed services, representing a significant growth opportunity for us in the UK ,” stated Shaun Antram, PCN’s founder. PCN has supported major UK multinationals for almost a decade and is well positioned with the acquisition of Calleva Networks to grow new business in the UK. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. View Full Press Release/Contact PCN BDP International Message to US Operators on Exports and Zika August 24, 2016 - With recent announcements regarding China's prevention of the spread of the zika virus, there have been many questions raised regarding anti-mosquito and fumigation treatments required for incoming containerized cargo to designated Chinese ports. As of August 18, the list has increased to 56 countries, including all of South America and the US. BDP would like to share some additional information with our customers about this new ruling. It should be noted that the turn around time for Anti-Zika virus fumigation in China ports is estimated at 24-48 hours and there are two methods of utilization for the anti-mosquito treatment: In method A, cargo can be collected within 24 hours of spraying outside portion of the container. In method B, cargo can be collected after 24 hours of smoke fumigation inside. For health hazard, CIQ shall set free responsibility since consigneee shall take precautions and self-reponsibility for it. No official announcement regarding the cost of fumigation has been relayed locally by Chinese ports. Based on BDP's knowledge and past experience, the possible fumigation fees are estimated below and are dependent upon the type of product and container size: Method A - Spray disinfectant on outer portions of the container to avoid direct contact with the product within - BDP estimates cost to be $15USD per 20' container and $30USD per 40' container. Method B - Smoke fumigation inside the container for products that are not sensitive -BDP estimates cost to be $30USD per 20' container and $60USD per 40' container. This ruling applies to any shipments with an actual departure date of August 5, 2016 and after. Certain products are exempt from fumigation requirements. The below Chinese ports have issued official announcements, with others expected to follow suit: Shanghai port: All dangerous goods, food additives, istotanks and food grade products do not require fumigation. Nanjing port: All dangerous goods, consumable medical supplies, food additives, food grade related products and activated carbon and other strong absorption products do not require fumigation. Container types such as reefer containers, isotanks, flatrack containers, and open top containers do not require fumigation. Ningo port: Food grade products do not require fumigation. Exemptions will only be granted to specific products (by HS code) and are subject to approval by authorities on a case by case basis. Dalian port: Dangerous goods do not require fumigation, others are subject to approval on a case by case basis. Qingdao port: Dangerous goods do not require fumigation. All US origin certificates will not be accepted, and the product must be fumigated at Qingdao port upon arrival by spraying the outside of the container. Local authorities can decide upon any exemptions on a case by case basis. Should you have any questions regarding this regulation, please see BDP's Frequently Asked Questions document for further clarification. Should you have any questions or concerns with shipments to China and the new fumigation ruling, please contact bdpcompliance@bdpint.com. Sources: China AQSIQ and BDP China Related Content: August 2016 FAS and FCS Chinese Zika Requirements and FAQs
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