Tag Archives: U.S. Department of Commerce

Indy Event Focuses on Doing Business with Mexico

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An August 21 World Trade Club/U.S. Department of Commerce event in Indianapolis will focus on doing business in Mexico. Here are the details: 

Since NAFTA was implemented, Indiana’s sales to Mexico have grown at an annual average rate of 12.8%. In 2011, Indiana’s exports to Mexico reached $3.27 billion. Transportation equipment alone constitutes 31.8% of total exports, and has increased by over 20% since 2005. Mexico is the United States’ second largest export market resulting in over $850 million of trade taking place each day. Indiana exports to Mexico constitute nearly 11% of total exported manufactured goods, offering growth potential for U.S. companies. It provides a unique opportunity for U.S. manufacturers, particularly small and medium sized enterprises, to participate in Mexico’s manufacturing supply chain.

At this event, the World Trade Club will be presented an Export Achievement Award by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Keynote Speakers

– Michael Camuñez: Assistant Secretary of Commerce, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. He will discuss:

  • U.S. – Mexico Trade Relations
  • Cross-border issues
  • National Export initiative

– Juan M. Solana: Consul of Mexico. He will discuss the benefits NAFTA U.S – Mexico trade relations.

Featured Speakers

– Dr. Allert Brown: Faculty Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies at University of Notre Dame. He will discuss the current business climate in Mexico.
– Chris Felts: Partner, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP. He will discuss the legal opportunities and obstacles in Mexico.
– Randy Goode: Senior Vice President, PNC Bank. He will offer a perspective on financing business deals in Mexico.

Good Economic Numbers; We’ll Take Them

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The latest numbers from the ELFA’s MLFI-25 are good ones. If the accuracy of the figures match the complexity of the acronyms and the report, it’s positive economic news for all.

ELFA is the Equipment Leasing and Financing Association. It represents companies in the $518 billion equipment finance sector. MLFI-25 is the Monthly Leasing and Finance Index based on the performance of 25 broad-based companies in the industry. In the simplest terms, it reflects the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States.

The good news is that today’s report shows a 15% increase in business volume for April compared to the same period in 2009. In a March 2010 to April 2010 comparison, the increase was 9% — from $4.3 billion to $4.7 billion. More new business and fewer delinquencies contributed to the totals.

Is it time to break out the champagne and start celebrating? Not quite yet. But business transactions, and just as importantly the confidence to make the equipment purchases in the first place, are essential to economic recovery.

The MLFI is released each month the day before the U.S. Department of Commerce’s durable goods report. Hopefully those numbers will also be positive.

Name That Domain Preference (Not So Fast!)

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Unnecessary government intervention or prudent oversight? In this case, I’ll vote for the former.

The situation is whether you and I will have the opportunity for domain suffixes beyond the .com, org., .edu and others that dominate today. In the little-known-fact category, there are 21 such options currently available. Why not more?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has a plan in place to open the domain name floodgates. Our September-October BizVoice (see bottom of the first page) gave an overview of the strategy.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is putting the brakes to the proposal. The Heartland Institute has that story. Take a look and let us know what you think. Heartland writes:

Tech experts expressed alarm at what they see as a federal government attempt to bully an independent organization that has a long record of competent Internet management.

“ICANN has been an independent organization, and it’s important that any government play a minimum role, if any, in deciding domain names,” said Ryan Radia, an information policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “If ICANN has a new technology, it should be free to implement any domain name systems without intervention from the Commerce Department.”