Commercial Diplomacy in Germany and Ukraine

Trade and Investment

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Concludes Visit to Ukraine- Secretary Pritzker arrived in Kyiv as a continuation of the Obama Administration’s sustained commitment to supporting the Ukrainian government and people, and helping strengthen the Ukrainian economy.

In Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Announces Third $1 Billion U.S. Loan Guarantee for Ukraine- Secretary Pritzker announced that the Obama Administration intends to work with Congress to move forward with a third, $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine.

Joint Statement by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Need for Deeper Economic Reforms to Expand U.S.-Ukraine Business Ties- Secretary Pritzker and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk issued the following statement regarding discussions on October 26 in Kyiv to accelerate economic reform and increase U.S.-Ukrainian bilateral trade and investment.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Meet with American Executives to Discuss Private Sector Engagement in Ukraine- Secretary Pritzker and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk met with a group of American executives in Kyiv to hear directly from companies on the progress they have seen from Ukraine’s ambitious reform agenda.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Delivers Remarks at the AmCham Germany Annual Transatlantic Business Conference in Frankfurt- Secretary Pritzker stressed three priorities that demand the attention and leadership of the public and private sectors in both countries: concluding the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), fostering an open and innovation-based transatlantic digital economy, and supporting an independent and prosperous Ukraine.

India Smart Cities Roundtable: Unlocking Opportunities for U.S. Companies- In New York City, Deputy Secretary Andrews met with U.S. companies and organizations for a roundtable hosted by 32 Advisors in preparation for an upcoming U.S. company trade mission to India that Deputy Secretary Andrews will lead in February 2016.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews Delivers Remarks at U.S.-Russia Business Council Annual Meeting- Deputy Secretary Andrews addressed a group of American and Russian business leaders during the U.S.-Russia Business Council’s annual meeting in New York. Deputy Secretary Andrews was the first official from the Department of Commerce to address the USRBC in more than two years.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews and Indonesian President Joko Widodo Recognize New U.S.-Indonesian Business Deals and Commitments Worth More than $20 Billion- Deputy Secretary Andrews and Indonesian President Joko Widodo attended a ceremony today to recognize new business deals and commitments worth more than $20 billion between U.S. and Indonesian companies

Aerospace: a sector that can elevate our collective international interests- (Post by Stefan M. Selig, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade) Today, I attended the first industry specific all-of-government effort to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the United States, the National Aerospace FDI Expo in California. 

UNITED STATES, APEC Economies Endorse Privacy Recognition in Support of Processors in Global Data Value Chain- At the recent Senior Officials Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the Philippines, the United States spearheaded the effort to draft and endorse the governing documents necessary to operationalize the APEC Privacy Recognition for Processors (PRP) system.

A Century-Old Company’s Global Manufacturing Success: Story of a Harbor Tug-We’ve all heard sad stories like this: an American manufacturing company that has been around for decades closes because it can’t compete in today’s complex, global marketplace. It’s an unfortunate reality experienced by many local communities. 

Innovation

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews Delivers Remarks at Mid-Atlantic Executive Cybersecurity Conference- Addressing a crowd of 150 regional banking leaders, Deputy Secretary Andrews highlighted the work the Department of Commerce is doing to help American companies mitigate cybersecurity risk.

Atlanta Business Thrives with Help of MBDA- When 127 Summit Holdings acquired Summit Container, new owner and CEO Adam Walker reached out to the Atlanta MBDA Business Center to assist with all the transition associated with the acquisition. Since the acquisition, Mr. Walker has implemented a growth strategy focused on technology, innovation, and new market expansion to accelerate the growth of Summit Container. In doing so, revenue continues to grow and five additional jobs have been created.

Show and Tell, Manufacturing Day Style- (Guest blog post) GEMCITY Engineering and Manufacturing (GEM) has been providing manufacturing services for 79 years. Our 250 employees working in our three operations: Bangkok Thailand; Philadelphia, PA; and our headquarters located in Dayton, OH manufacture where we custom-make engineered equipment and provide contract manufacturing services.

NIST to Support Cybersecurity Jobs “Heat Map” to Highlight Employer Needs and Worker Skills- As part of the Department of Commerce’s “Skills for Business” initiative, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is funding the development of a visualization tool that will show the demand for and availability of critical cybersecurity jobs across the nation.

The Next Gen Shipbuilder: Fincantieri Marinette Marine- Sparks flying, the smell of flux and metal fusion in the air, and a fog horn echoing in the distance. On Friday, October 23, Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) welcomed over 100 local high school students from Marinette, WI and Menominee, Mich. to learn about the art of shipbuilding, and what it takes to become the next generation Shipbuilder.

USPTO in Detroit Addresses Intellectual Property and New Manufacturing Methods- Manufacturing is the backbone of the United States economy and is of particular importance to the Midwest. Additive manufacturing such as 3-D printing has quickly become a highly sought after manufacturing technology for designers, engineers, businesses and entrepreneurs to transform ideas into tangible form for very little cost. 

Inspiring Kids to Manufacture Boats!- (Guest blog post by Bill Yeargin, CEO of Correct Craft and Member of the Commerce Department's Manufacturing Council) Our team loves any opportunity to demonstrate how manufacturing boats can be a fun and rewarding career. In October, we use National Manufacturing Day as an opportunity to bring in students from our community and we also arrange another day during the year to bring in the children of our employees.

2015 IACP Conference Highlights Ways FirstNet, Technology Can Drive Innovation for Policing- The 2015 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference wrapped up in Chicago yesterday, with more than 14,000 attendees from across the world. 

Environment

Hazards Shouldn’t Lead to Disasters: NIST Releases New Community Resilience Planning Guide- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today issued the Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems to help U.S. communities better withstand and rebound from the shocks of severe weather, earthquakes and other hazards.

Work Systems and Supply Chains–Are You Ready in Case of Disaster?- Many organizations turn to the Baldrige Excellence Framework for guidance on what to take into consideration when considering work system decisions, supply-chain management, and safety and emergency preparedness.

Stepping on Board the Most Eerie, Neglected Ship I Had Ever Seen- (Guest post by the Office of Response and Restoration’s LTJG Rachel Pryor, Northwest Regional Response Office) Before Friday, October 9, 2015, I had never set foot on an abandoned ship. Or for that matter, any other manmade structure so neglected that trees were growing out of it.

NOAA Involved After Barge Argo, the Lake Erie Shipwreck Lost in 1937, Resurfaces with Oily Leak in U.S. Waters- That piece of underwater detective work by the Cleveland Underwater Explorers, combined with historical research done as part of NOAA’s RULET program (Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats) which in 2013 identified it as a potentially polluting shipwreck, have been key factors in the developing response to the Argo.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Tied to Further Impacts in Shallower Water Corals, New Study Reports- A study published in October 2015 in the journal Coral Reefs reveals that this footprint of damage extends to coral communities in shallower Gulf waters, up to 67 miles from the wellhead. In this latest study, researchers from NOAA, Florida State University, and JHT Inc. used video and images from remotely operated vehicles (ROV) to compare the health of corals on hard-bottom reefs in the “mesophotic zone” before and after the oil spill.

Data

Halloween Data Snapshot: How scary is this?- On October 31st, millions of children across America will don costumes and head excitedly into the twilight in search of sweets. (According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 41.2 million 5-14 year olds in 2013).

Weather Data, Cybersecurity and Workforce Skills Focus of Upcoming Data Advisory Council- As "America's Data Agency", the U.S. Department of Commerce delivers the most valuable open government data to businesses than any other federal government organization. Through the Commerce Data Advisory Council, the department has an opportunity to engage directly with industry leaders to get recommendation on how to improve our operations and refine our vision.

Homegrowns and Rolling Stones- Most people in the United States — about 59 percent — live in the state where they were born. Nevertheless, that leaves a large share of people who have moved from their home state to another part of country. This migration dynamic varies, as some states are more likely to have a mostly homegrown population while other states have large shares of people born elsewhere.

Working in America: New Tables Detail Demographics of Work Experience- More than seven in 10 people of traditional working age (16 to 64 years old) worked in 2014; for people 65 and over, at least one in five had worked in the past 12 months. In fact, 12.4 percent of people 70 and over continued to work.

Introducing NTIA Data Central- (Cross blog post by John Morris, Associate Administrator, Office of Policy Analysis and Development) Last November marked the 20th anniversary of NTIA’s Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). This important data collection has documented profound technological transformations in American life, from the explosion of Internet use to the proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Spending on Disease Treatment has Increased, but Good Health Outcomes Have Too- (Guest post by the Kaiser Family Foundation) The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently updated their disease-based health spending estimates with new data that allows users to examine national health spending trends by disease category from 2000 – 2012.

Open Data Impact: How Zillow Uses Open Data to Level the Playing Field for Consumers- Zillow’s success is based, in part, on its ability to create tailored products that blend multiple data sources to answer customer’s questions about the housing market. Zillow’s platform lets customers easily compare neighborhoods and conduct thorough real estate searches through a single portal.

Balancing Innovation and IP to Advance the Digital Economy- As computers become smaller, faster, and more affordable, they are transforming nearly every aspect of American life, giving us access to millions of digital books, songs, and movies. With these advances come important policy questions, including how best to simultaneously promote innovation and the free flow of information while protecting intellectual property.

Introducing NTIA Data Central- NTIA has revamped everything from the questions we ask to the ways in which we report results so that the CPS Supplement continues to be a relevant and valuable resource. This revamp includes our new NTIA Data Central, an easy-to-use source for locating statistics and charting trends.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote that Real Consumer Spending Increased in September and GDP Increased in Third Quarter on their blog this week.

Preliminary U.S. Imports for Consumption of Steel Products – September 2015: The preliminary September steel imports were $2.0 billion (2.5 million metric tons) compared with the preliminary August totals of $2.1 billion (2.7 million metric tons).

New Residential Sales – September 2015: Sales of new single-family houses in September 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000. This is 11.5 percent below the revised August 2015 estimate of 529,000.

Advance Report on Durable Goods – Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders – September 2015: New orders for manufactured durable goods in September decreased $2.9 billion or 1.2 percent to $231.1 billion.

Housing Vacancies and Homeownership – 3rd Quarter 2015: The rental vacancy rate in the third quarter 2015 was 7.3 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the third quarter 2014 rate of 7.4 percent. The rental vacancy rates in all four regions were not statistically different from the rates a year ago. The homeownership rate in the third quarter 2015 was 63.7 percent, down 0.7 percentage points from the third quarter 2014 rate of 64.4 percent. The homeownership rate in the Northeast was lower than the rate one year ago, while the rates in the Midwest, South and West were not statistically different from the rates in the third quarter 2014.

Advance Report: U.S. International Trade in Goods – September 2015: The advance international trade balance in goods was -$58.6 billion in September 2015. Advance exports of goods were $126.9 billion and advance imports of goods were $185.5 billion.

Commerce Data in the News:

Time magazine cites Census Bureau statistics on median home value to highlight the widening wealth gap between tech company employees and other U.S. workers, writing that the average employee at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters lives in a house worth $1.14 million, in the article, The Average Apple Worker’s Home is Worth 5 Times More Than Yours.

The Street cites party-store statistics from the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns and neighborhood-quality data from the American Housing Survey to write that New York City and Jersey City, N.J., are The 10 Best Cities to Celebrate Halloween in America.

Business Insider cites median home values and median household income data from the Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey to write that Houston, Washington and Cleveland are the Best U.S. Cities If You Want to Get Rich.

The advanced estimate of GDP for the third quarter of 2015 data was highlighted in a recent Newsroom America article: Advance Estimate of Gross Domestic Product for the Third Quarter of 2015.

BEA’s personal income data was included in a recent Business Insider article: Personal income rises less than forecast in September

NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan's visit to talk with fishermen and town officials in New Bedford, Massachusetts, was discussed in a recent article in the New Bedford Standard-Times, NOAA head visits New Bedford, tours harbor.

NOAA's discovery of a 1937 shipwreck in Lake Erie now presenting a challenge to control seeping petroleum was discussed in a recent Toledo Blade article, Argo shipwreck find leaking petroleum

NOAA's hurricane prediction abilities that helped save lives and property when Hurricane Patricia hit Mexico was discussed in a recent article in USA Today, Mountains and planning lessened punch by Hurricane Patricia

EDA’s recent grant to the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University was spotlighted in a recent article for the IU Bloomington Newsroom, Federal grant to Indiana Business Research Center supports economic development tool used nationally.

Data Releases Next Week:  Construction Spending: September (Census); Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: September (Census); U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: September (BEA and Census)