Freight Forwarding Fiascos, Website Globalization, Rep. Peterson and Rep. Armstrong Sponsor Rural Export Bill and More

International Trade Administration sent this bulletin at 12/16/2019 09:00 AM EST

December

LOCAL NEWS AND TOP STORIES
- CS North Dakota Says Goodbye to Rylan Drake; Kole Nichols Returns to the Team
- Freight Forwarding Fiascos and How to Avoid Them
- Rep. Peterson and Rep. Armstrong Sponsor the Promoting Rural Exports Act
- Website Globalization Seminar in Fargo
- Manufacturers, Prepare Your People for Growth
- Removing Sting of Penalties For U.S. Export Data Errors

NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS AND EVENTS
- Final Text of "Pretoria Protocol" to the Cape Town Convention Adopted
- USDA Expanding Agriculture Export Opportunities with new Trade Missions in 2020
- There's No Better Place to Invest and Do Business Than in the United States
- AgriTek Astana on March 11-12, 2020
- United States Government Infrastructure Export Tools
- Explore Business Opportunities in Agriculture in Laos and Cambodia
- Environmental Technologies Global Team Newsletter

WEBINARS AND VIRTUAL EVENTS
- Business Opportunities in Guyana on January 9, 2020
- Trade Trends, Policy Actions and Resources for Metals and Critical Minerals on January 16, 2020

LOCAL NEWS AND TOP STORIES

CS North Dakota Says Goodbye to Rylan Drake; Kole Nichols Returns to the Team
Rylan Drake, a Concordia graduate, will be leaving the CS North Dakota team to continue growing his business, Red River ReCell, a mobile device buy, sell and repair shop with a retail location located at 2512 7th Ave. S in Fargo. Over the course of his internship at CS North Dakota, Drake saw his business grow from a modest side business to a full time retail shop. Meanwhile, Kole Nichols has completed two internships in Washington D.C. (one at the White House and the other with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration). Along with his internship with CS North Dakota, Nichols is completing his Political Science & Economics double major.

Freighting Freight Fiascos and How to Avoid Them
In an interview with Blake Bina of Professional Export Services, Mr. Bina paints a colorful picture of what he has encountered over his 26-year career. He spotlighted several notable incidents that highlight the importance and need of a strong shipping strategy. One incident involved the war in Iraq and the other was a series of sales snafus that led to items circumnavigating the globe. Mr. Bina shares some advice for making shipping a pleasant experience. Click here to read the interview with Mr. Bina.

Rep. Peterson and Rep. Armstrong Sponsor the Promoting Rural Exports Act
This bipartisan bill creates the rural exporting center to help rural businesses access international markets and increase exports. The bill specifies that the Rural Export Center will provide customized market research services to help rural businesses target exports to foreign markets. With the right resources, rural businesses will be able to compete on a global scale while creating jobs in the process. Click here for more information.

Website Globalization Seminar in Fargo
On December 10, the CS North Dakota team organized the Website Globalization Seminar on NDSU's campus in Barry Hall. CS North Dakota had a sold-out room with website managers, marketers, businesspeople, CS staff, and a variety of others who traveled from as far as the Twin Cities and western North Dakota to attend. The seminar featured discussions on search engine optimization, domains, Google tools, market trends and translation. The format was interactive, where participants practiced new skills in NDSU's state-of-the-art Commodities Trading Room. Following the training, a panel of exporters and website design professionals shared their top tips for international web design success. CS North Dakota highlighted many tools and resources, including a tip that STEP funding can cover up to 75% of website costs associated with foreign translation and foreign language marketing materials.

Manufacturers, Prepare Your People for Growth
The Chairman of the North Dakota District Export Council (ND DEC), Thomas D. Shorma, wrote a story about manufacturers preparing their people for growth. When growth is mentioned in the manufacturing industry, people gravitate toward its physical requirements. But if that's the only place your business invests to prepare for growth, then who's going to want to work for you? Shorma, CEO of WCCO Belting, breaks down the three areas of growth for the company: equipment, processes, and people. Click here to see how he does it.

Removing Sting of Penalties For U.S. Export Data Errors
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have taken to calling penalties for minor export information filing mistakes in the Automated Export System (AES) "parking tickets," but it's much more than that to America's exporters of agriculture products. Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) Executive Director Peter Friedmann said many AES data errors are the result of the current export filing regulations not lining up with the commercial realities of ocean and rail freight transportation for agricultural products. Click here to read how industry and regulators are working together to make the export clearance better.

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS AND EVENTS

Final Text of "Pretoria Protocol" to the Cape Town Convention Adopted
On November 22nd, the final text of the Pretoria Protocol to the Cape Town Convention was adopted by the U.S. and numerous other delegations in Pretoria, South Africa. The protocol is intended to lower the cost of financing investment in mining, agricultural, and construction equipment, especially in the developing world. When fully implemented, the protocol may increase U.S. exports by as much as $100 million per year. Click here to learn more.

USDA Expanding Agriculture Export Opportunities with New Trade Missions in 2020
"I cannot overstate the immense value trade missions provide to the U.S. agriculture industry and to our customers," Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney said. Each year, the marketing and trade experts from USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) analyze and select a combination of new and growing markets that offer the best prospects for U.S. agricultural farm and food exports. Click here to see the seven scheduled trade missions.

There's No Better Place to Invest and Do Business Than in the United States
By the end of 2017, 7.4 million workers were employed by majority foreign-owned firms in the United States, a 2.8 percent increase from 2016. Despite a global decrease in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) flows in 2018, from $1.5 trillion to $1.3 trillion, the United States has consistently remained the largest recipient of FDI in the world. As it turns out, Norway was the top investor in agribusiness for the last 5 years with over $800 million from 2014-2019. Click here to read the Bureau of Economic Analysis' post on how the United States benefits from FDI.

AgriTek Astana on March 11-12, 2020
The USA Pavillion, in conjunction with CS Kazakhstan, will be present at AgriTek Astana 2020, the nation's premier exposition for Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry & Stock Breeding. In 2019, the expo featured 215 exhibiting companies from 19 countries. Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia and is the 9th largest country in the world. All companies participating will also receive a proprietary overview of the agriculture sector prepared by the office. Click here to learn more.

United States Government Infrastructure Export Tools
This toolkit identifies federal government tools to support American companies as they compete for infrastructure projects abroad, including where they can be applied along the project life cycle. Foreign governments and U.S. companies should use this as a general guide to learn how the U.S. government can support individuals projects. Leverage the power of the Federal Government, click here to view the toolkit.

Explore Business Opportunities in Agriculture in Laos and Cambodia
The U.S. Commercial Service, in conjunction with the Laotian and Cambodian governments, will be organizing agriculture focused trade events to Laos and Cambodia. These events will provide participants opportunities to connect with key government decision-makers, meet face-to-face with business leaders from each country, have up to 5 personalized, pre-arranged B2B meetings, and gain a greater understanding of these markets' challenges and opportunities. Top prospects include agro-processing equipment, animal and aquaculture feed, veterinary medicine, irrigation systems, food safely solutions, packaging solutions, and more. Click here to learn more.

Environmental Technologies Global Team Newsletter
The Environmental Technologies Global Team has released their newsletter for December 2019. The Featured Event is the Singapore International Water Week, in which stakeholders from the global water industry share best practices, showcase latest technologies, and tap business opportunities. The second featured event is the WasteExpo 2020, North America's largest tradeshow and conference for the waste, recycling, and organics industry. Click here to read their newsletter.

WEBINARS AND VIRTUAL EVENTS

Business Opportunities in Guyana on January 9, 2020
The United States in Guyana's top trading partner with over $700 million in total trade. Exciting prospects exist both for sales of services and equipment to existing concession holders and for the awarding of additional onshore and offshore concessions. Guyana also has recoverable oil reserves with rich soil, abundant water, and open land that offers a plethora of opportunities in the agriculture sector. Click here to learn more.

Trade Trends, Policy Actions and Resources for Metals and Critical Minerals
This webinar with the Census Bureau and International Trade Administration will provide valuable information on the Metals and Critical minerals Industry, including related industry groups within energy storage/battery, technology and manufacturing bases with supply-chains impacted by critical minerals. Click here to learn more.

Your U.S. Commercial Service / North Dakota Office

	Heather Ranck International Trade Specialist & Office Director Ph: 701-239-5080 Email: Heather.Ranck@trade.gov
	Haley Coffield Export Assistant Ph: 218-843-1746 Email: Haley.Coffield@trade.gov
	Rylan Drake Export Assistant Ph: 701-239-5033 Email: Rylan.Drake@trade.gov
	Joshua Erickson Export Assistant Ph: 701-239-5033 Email: Joshua.Erickson@trade.gov
	Nathan Guillemette Export Assistant Ph: 218-689-4390 Email: Nathan.Guillemette@trade.gov
	Colby Warzecha Export Assistant Ph: 701-239-5033 Email: Colby,Warzecha@trade.gov