China

Washington, DC (May 22) – The United Steelworkers (USW) called today’s affirmative vote by the U.S. International Trade Commission to proceed with the trade case investigation against China imports of oil country tubular goods an urgent step for the thousands of laid-off workers at idled pipe production facilities of seven domestic companies.

“The OCTG producers and jobless pipe workers are paying the price of China’s massive government subsidies and unfair dumping of imports in our market,” USW President Leo W. Gerard declared. “More than a third of this industry’s 6,000 workers are now laid off, threatening the future of a critical product used in our energy extraction industry.”    » read more »

Landrieu participates in Commerce Committee hearing on imported drywall; releases updated "Help Guide."

05/21/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- At the request of United States Senators Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla., the Senate Commerce Committee today held a public hearing to learn more about problems caused by tainted Chinese drywall and federal agencies' proposed response to protect consumers. Because thousands of Louisiana homes may contain the defective product, the Commerce Committee allowed Sen. Landrieu to attend and discuss the impact on Louisiana homeowners.    » read more »

May 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Federal environmental officials have found that Chinese-made drywall - suspected of causing serious corrosion in homes throughout Florida, Louisiana and other states - contains three materials not found in samples of U.S.-manufactured wallboard, according to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s office.

Tests on drywall samples were done at the request of Sens. Nelson and Mary Landrieu, who have initiated an investigation into complaints from homeowners in their respective states, Florida and Louisiana, that drywall in newer or rebuilt homes smells like rotten eggs and is causing corrosion of copper wiring and household appliances. In addition, homeowners are complaining of health problems such as asthma, coughing, headaches and insomnia.    » read more »

Brown Also Writes to CEOs of GM, Chrysler Asking for Economic Rationale of Dealership Closings

May 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) last week wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner regarding reports that General Motors may begin to export vehicles from China to the U.S. in 2011. Brown asked Geithner to require GM to produce subcompact cars in the U.S. if it receives further government assistance.    » read more »

Product categories vary from consumer and industrial packaging to consumer, health and automotive applications

May 14, 2009 -- GUANGZHOU, China -- ExxonMobil Chemical will showcase its broad product portfolio at Booth D41 in Hall 10.2 at ChinaPlas 2009 International Exhibition at the Pazhou Exhibition Complex in Guangzhou.

“With demand for petrochemicals growing throughout China, ChinaPlas is the ideal place for ExxonMobil Chemical to showcase its global leadership in technology and innovation,” said John Verity, vice president, polyolefins, ExxonMobil Chemical. “We’ve been here for nine consecutive years to demonstrate our continued commitment to our customers and the Asian market.”    » read more »

Two Decades on, Continuing Censorship and Persecution of Survivors and Critics

May 13, 2009 -- (New York) - Twenty years after the Chinese army killed untold numbers of unarmed civilians in Beijing and other cities on and around June 3-4, 1989, the Chinese government continues to victimize survivors, victims' families, and others who challenge the official version of events, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch today releases "The Tiananmen Legacy," an assessment of the continuing impact of Tiananmen and a multimedia feature on the crackdown's 20th anniversary, which can be accessed at http://www.hrw.org/.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Monday, May 11, 2009 — One year after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 69,000 people and destroyed an estimated 5 million houses in southwest China, communities are filled with the signs and sounds of recovery. The focus has shifted from putting up prefabricated, transitional shelters and distributing relief items to constructing more permanent, earthquake-resistant homes and helping people work through their emotional trauma.

"The pace of recovery is remarkable, with tens of thousands of houses that the Red Cross is supporting under construction or complete," says David Meltzer, Senior Vice President of International Services for the American Red Cross.    » read more »

Laundering Money Through Las Vegas Casinos

May 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Two former managers of the Bank of China and their wives were sentenced today after their convictions on Aug. 29, 2008, by a federal jury in Las Vegas on charges of racketeering, money laundering, international transportation of stolen property as well as passport and visa fraud, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory A. Brower of the District of Nevada announced today.    » read more »

May 7, 2009 -- DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Chet Culver today sent the following letter to China’s Ambassador to the United States Zhou Wenzhong calling on Chinese Officials to allow for the importation of Iowa pork. The letter comes one day after China announced that it would no longer accept pork exports from Iowa over concerns of H1N1 influenza, though health officials both in the United States and across the globe have repeatedly said that eating pork is safe, and that one cannot contract the H1N1 virus from meat.

Below is the text of the letter sent to Ambassador Zhou:

Dear Ambassador Zhou,    » read more »

May 6, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today denounced attempts by the Chinese government to unduly influence members of the International Trade Commission’s (ITC) examination of imports. The delegation expressed particular concerns about a recently filed petition relating to tires from China exported to the U.S.

“It’s inappropriate under our trade laws that the Chinese government would argue the merits of their case in what was supposed to be a general information meeting,” said USW International president Leo W. Gerard. “They are not new to this process – this misconduct was totally improper and we commend the ITC for recognizing it.”    » read more »

Consumer Confidence Weak but Optimism Exists

New York, NY, April 22, 2009 -- Global declines in consumer activity appear to be moderating or bottoming out, according to this month’s Nielsen Economic Current scorecard of consumer behavior, a regular report from The Nielsen Company. The report found that out of 11 major GDP countries, only one country – Germany – changed positions on the Nielsen scorecard, showing an uptick in consumer behavior during the month of February.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (April 20) – The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced the filing of a major trade case against the flood of imported consumer tires from China that have led to thousands of job losses and a growing number of plant closings throughout the U. S.

Leo W. Gerard, USW international president, declared: “American workers are struggling to make it through the worst economic crisis in 80 years. Our tire industry is collapsing under the weight of 46 million Chinese tires entering our shrinking market annually.”    » read more »

Closes Outblaze Ltd. Asset Acquisition to deliver Secure Web Mail on LotusLive.com

ARMONK, NY and HONG KONG - 16 Apr 2009: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it is establishing the first IBM cloud computing laboratory in Hong Kong. The new facility will provide a global hub for Web-based messaging services to support IBM's emerging LotusLive (www.lotuslive.com/) cloud service portfolio, which offers affordable, company-to-company social networking and online collaboration tools.    » read more »

Global economic optimism at highest since 2004

NEW YORK and LONDON, April 16 -- Risk appetite has started to pick up on the back of improving global economic sentiment, according to the Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for April. Optimism about growth has reached its highest level since early 2004. A net 26 percent of respondents say the global economy will strengthen in the next 12 months, up sharply from negative 24 percent in January.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2009 -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today said that he will attend the Group of Eight (G8) Agricultural Ministerial in Treviso, Italy, April 18-20.

"Hunger and malnutrition afflict more than one billion people around the world, causing human suffering, political instability and economic stagnation," said Vilsack. "This ministerial affirms our strong commitment to global food security and provides a unique opportunity to work with other agriculture ministers in developing a shared strategy to deal with food security issues."    » read more »