Ambassador of the Month Archive

Where the US-Japan Trade Deal Falls Short of Trans-Pacific Pact Abandoned by Trump

Monday, October 07, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump has called his new trade deal with Japan a “phenomenal” victory for U.S. farmers. But don’t expect America’s Land O’Lakes butter to knock New Zealand’s Anchor or France’s President brands off store shelves in Japan, the world’s third largest economy. Butter is one of several U.S. dairy products that will not get improved access to Japan’s 127 million consumers under the limited bilateral trade deal signed by Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sept. 25. The deal’s full text has not been released and remains classified, but congressional aides, trade experts and industry groups briefed on i...

Bryan Starr, US Chamber of Commerce Urge Congressional Passage of USMCA

Wednesday, October 02, 2019

As a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100 (CCC100), Bryan Starr, president and CEO of the Greater Irvine Chamber, has taken an active and consequential role in advocating for the congressional passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). During a September visit to Washington, D.C., Starr and other chamber executives from across the nation convened to discuss how the new North American trade agreement will bolster American businesses, local economies, and the national economy; and detrimental effects should it not pass ratification. “Irvine is the economic center and economic powerhouse of Orange County. Our companies—whether global organizations o...

Hong Kong Delegation Visits Irvine

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Greater Irvine Chamber, in collaboration with UCI Beall Applied Innovation and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), hosted a delegation of executives from 25 company executives from Hong Kong for roundtable discussions at the Cove @ UCI Beall Applied Innovation, on Sept. 19. The Chamber’s Irvine Ready! team of experts responded to the call to meet with these companies and welcome them to Irvine. “We are fortunate to partner with these organizations to showcase the strength of our innovation ecosystem and introduce the scope of resources and talent available in Irvine/Orange County. This was an opportunity to encourage their consideration o...

Port of Long Beach Follows LA’s Lead, Will Launch Incentive Program as US-China Trade War, Other Issues Throw Industry in Tumult

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Port of Long Beach will soon launch an incentive program for oceanic carriers — about a year after its Los Angeles neighbor started its own — in an attempt to stabilize cargo traffic, which has declined each month this year amid the ongoing trade dispute. The incentives will begin Oct. 1, the start of Long Beach’s fiscal year. The two incentive programs, taken together, are a response to seismic tumult in the industry, officials for those ports said last week. The China-U.S. trade war, which began last summer, has continually deepened: President Donald Trump has levied or announced tariffs on $550 billio...

Two New Task Forces for the Greater Irvine Chamber’s Economic Vitality Council Support International Trade and Business Expansion

Wednesday, September 04, 2019

The Greater Irvine Chamber’s Economic Vitality Council (EVC) has formed two new task forces to support the Chamber’s capacity to influence Irvine’s competitiveness in a global economy, attract new businesses, improve business retention, and expand and grow businesses. The Growing Irvine Exporters Task Force has been formed to identify local companies that are not exporting but that would benefit from exporting to grow their business. The task force will focus on developing a set of criteria to evaluate a company’s viability to export. It will then connect interested companies to such export assets as U.S. Commercial Service, Export Assistance Center, U.S...

Mexico Supplants China as #1 US Trading Partner

Tuesday, August 06, 2019

The ongoing trade spat with China – and the subsequent U.S. tariffs on over $500 billion of Chinese goods has had another effect on the relationship between the two countries. For the first six months of 2019, Mexico supplanted China as the top trading partner of the United States. For the first half of the year, imports from China decreased 12%. In the same period, U.S. exports to China decreased 19%. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that for the six months of the year, the total value of the bilateral trade of goods between the U.S. and China was $271.04 billion. Thi...

Ambassador of the Month Archive

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