The Custom-House

Higher tariffs on goods from poorer countries

This January the US imported almost $3 billion in goods from France and almost $0.2 billion in goods from Cambodia.  She collected about $30 million in tariffs on the imports from each country.  In fact she collected slightly more from Cambodia.

The staff of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) explain why: The United States Collects More Tariffs on Cambodian Goods than on French Goods (PPI's "Trade Fact of the Week" for March 22):

Exon-Florio/CFIUS reform proposals

Foreign acquisitions in the United States are subject to security review under the provisions of the Exon-Florio Act of 1988, as modified by the Byrd amendment of 1992.  By executive order, the President has placed responsibility for the review in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). 

The process, and its history, is summarized in this Congressional Research Service (CRS) report: The Exon-Florio National Security Test for Foreign Investment .

Blogging from Paradise

Fazeer Sheik Rahim, a macroeconomics lecturer at the University of Mauritius, started blogging in February: An Economist in Paradise. Mauritius, A Rediscovery .  He's a Mauritian who has recently returned home from many years overseas, which is why his blog is billed as a "rediscovery."

Rahim has been posting every few days.  The posts are carefully prepared essays on economic topics, often suggested by daily life - the economics of playground markets for sports stickers, sorting phenomona and segregation in Port Louis.  While they're interesting for economists, they've been written to appeal to a broader audience as well.  The audience should also extend beyond people with an interest in Mauritius; despite being billed as a "rediscovery" this is more about economics than Mauritius.

It's the weekend, take some time off!

Go out to dinner... in Kinshasa: Gombe, Kinshasa / The Taj 

... or take in a pet show in Mauritius: SPCA Pet Show, November 6 .

The last post is from Isabelle Kai Wing, a young Mauritian, who posts intermittently on life in her country: Mauritius. 

Wing has been posting once or twice a month since last spring.  In general she posts on recreational activities, visits to parks, the car show, a night out with her husband, the dog show, a family wedding.  There are some posts on political events. 

Lots of pictures, but she apparently posts them separately from the related text posts.  You have to go the relevant month in the archives to see text and pictures together.

This post ( Doulos, 3rd - 13th November ) describes how local booksellers protested the visit of the Doulos, the vehicle for the German based charitable foundation, Good Books for All.  The foundation's mission:

Dubai Ports World to divest U.S. port assets

The Financial Times reports that Dubai Ports World is going to divest the U.S. port assets it recently purchased from P&O: Dubai cedes control of US ports  (Edward Alden, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Demetri Sevastopulo, March 9).

This morning President Bush met with Republican Congressional leaders, and realized he was going to lose this fight.  Administration sources conveyed that to UAE leaders, and they ordered DP World executives to divest.

Why the WTO is so important to poor countries

Dipak Patel, the Zambian trade minister explains:

See and hear the WTO

The WTO offers webcasts of news events and training videos: WTO webcasting files are now downloadable.  (You can also view webcasts of the public sessions of the recent  Hong Kong Ministerial meetings. )

The introductory and training videos include:

Countdown to controversy: Dubai Ports World

How did the Dubai Ports World controversy develop? 

These notes cover the review process from October 17, when Dubai Ports World and P&O notified the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. of their intended deal, to their request for a new 45 day investigation on February 27.

What is to be done: Bergsten's advice

Fred Bergsten is the director of the respected Institute for International Economics (IIE), a  former assistant secretary of the Treasury for international affairs, and the second chairman of the CFIUS.

Based on his review of the situation, the Dubai Ports World purchase "will have no operational impact on the national security of the United States."  He has some ideas about what to do next.  He offered his thoughts in yesterday's Washington Post: Avoiding Another Dubai (Feb 28 - includes transcript of on-line discussion of his column).