22
September
2006
Here is from New York Times columnist Thomas “The World is Flat” Friedman’s column:
Thanks to pressure from Midwest farmers and agribusinesses, who want to protect the U.S. corn ethanol industry from competition from Brazilian sugar ethanol, we have imposed a stiff tariff to keep it out.
“We do this even though Brazilian sugar ethanol provides eight times the energy of the fossil fuel used to make it, while American corn ethanol provides only 1.3 times the energy of the fossil fuel used to make it. We do this even though sugar ethanol reduces greenhouses gases more than corn ethanol.
“And we do this even though sugar cane ethanol can easily be grown in poor tropical countries in Africa or the Caribbean, and could actually help alleviate their poverty.
“Yes, you read all this right. We tax imported sugar ethanol, which could finance our poor friends, but we don’t tax imported crude oil, which definitely finances our rich enemies. We’d rather power anti-Americans with our energy purchases than promote anti-poverty.”
If you have access to Friedman’s columns, you might want to read this one. The Times now requires you pay for access to his columns on-line.
Bottom line: It’s time to line up our trade and terrorism polciies.
Posted: International trade, Oil, Brazil
2
September
2006
Brazilian biofuel company, Tecbio, is working with NASA and Boeing on a biokerosene aviation fuel, according to a report from Mercopress.com.
Tecbio created a vegetable-oil-based fuel to power airplanes in 1980, flight-tested it in 1984 but then abandoned it. Interest has arisen again, thanks to high oil prices.
Posted: Oil, Brazil
31
August
2006
Some little nuggets for your consideration …1. Deficit, deficit, deficit. It’s all you hear. But while the the United States had trade deficits with 118 nations in 2005, it had trade surpluses with 112.
2. Of course, that’s not the whole story. The record $201 billion U.S. deficit with China in 2005 was more than three times greater than the total of all those surpluses combined.
3. Canada is overwhelmingly the nation’s leading trade partner and is on course to surpass one half trillion dollars in trade in 2006, the first nation to cross the $500 billion mark.
4. The U.S. could surpass $100 billion in exports to the world in 2006, surpassing that milestone for the first time, when annual figures are released.
5. Only one of the nation’s leading Customs districts has had a trade surplus every year the last decade: Miami.
6. Los Angeles has the nation’s biggest trade deficit.
7. Many U.S. airports have trade surpluses while most seaports have deficits. That is due to the nature of their trade.
8. Houston has been the nation’s fastest-growing Customs district, in dollar terms, the last couple of years because of one thing – the rising price of oil.
9. Detroit leads the nation in exports, and surpassed $105 billion in 2005, the first Customs district to ever pass $100 billion. Detroit is the nation’s third-ranked Customs district overall, behind Los Angeles and New York.
10. China, which only recently Japan to become the United States’ No. 3 ranked trade partner, is likely to surpass Mexico and become the nation’s No. 2 trade partner when 2006 figures are released.
11. The Savannah Customs district, which includes Atlanta and the rest of Georgia, is likely to surpass Buffalo and leap into the Top 10 in 2006.
12. The United States’ second-largest trade deficit is with Canada followed by Mexico.
Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, Trade Deficit, China, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York, Detroit, Canada, Mexico, Oil, Savannah, Atlanta, Japan
