After lengthy negotiations, India and the U.S. have finally reached an agreement on food subsidies and the trade facilitation agreement doesn’t have any more roadblocks before it can go into effect. However, the World Trade Organization negotiations ended in a compromise with India and must be addressed at a future time.
President Barack Obama wants to strengthen the manufacturing supply chains of the U.S. Therefore he supports the Supply Chain Innovation Initiative created by the Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership. It is a competition aimed at helping small manufacturers in the U.S. implement new technologies and ultimately strengthen the economy. Several companies and groups have…
How much money are you willing to pay for a cup of coffee? You’ve probably seen higher prices at the chain coffee stores because the price of coffee beans has more than doubled since January. This is partially due to the major drought in Brazil and other parts of Central America where a large portion…
The World Trade Organization just announced the two newest members of their Government Procurement Agreement — New Zealand and Montenegro. These countries can now participate in the bidding process of government contracts in the 49 countries that are part of the World Trade Organization. There are also several other benefits to being members of the…
Egypt plans to create a massive global logistics center in Damietta to handle and store grain and other food commodities. Several countries are joining in the efforts and investing in the 15-billion pound project. The logistics center is supposed to increase the annual capacity of food commodity trading in Egypt by triple and benefit several…
At the end of October 2014, a former Army contracting official was sentenced to four years in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for contracts. Now, Intelligent Decisions Inc. is accused of being involved in the kickbacks by giving the Army procurement official free meals, entertainment, and even a car. There is an acceptable amount…
Air France-KLM plans to scale back investments next year to clean up the costs of their recent pilots’ strike. Their profits fell 61 percent during the third-quarter due to the pilots’ strike. The 14-day strike also caused $530 million in lost sales. Of course, that’s not the only problem the airline carrier is facing.
South Africa’s economy is struggling to recover after a five-month strike by platinum miners. However, the effects of the strike are more far reaching than that. The price of precious metals around the world has gone up, and it is affecting the global economy. It could take several months for the market to return to…
Have you been spending less money at the pump? Fuel prices have been on the decline, and there’s no sign of stopping. That’s true across the board, even for diesel fuel. So, now is a good time to take a road trip if the price of fuel is what has been holding you back. The…
Historically, solar has struggled to compete in the energy industry because fossil fuels and natural gas have always been cheaper. Only environmentally conscious people chose to invest in solar, and most did not see a return on their investment. However, a recent study by Deutsche Bank says things may turn around for solar by 2016.