Transport, Trade and Regulation News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., severely downplayed the prospects of a federal fuel tax hike...

The Defense Department's decision to drop the TWIC card as a trusted key to its online transportation systems doesn’t throw up roadblocks that would stop TWIC-carrying truckers, but it will raise costs for some companies that employ them.

The European Parliament approved a series of free trade pacts with Colombia, Peru and six Central America nations.

Logistics technology company Transplace, PepsiCo, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and multiple carriers recently released a survey of more than 65 transportation carriers to gain insight into...

Denis Lebel, Canada’s Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, today introduced the Fair Rail Freight Service Act bill...

Retailers project a drop in containerized imports in November because of the eight-day clerical workers strike in Los Angeles-Long Beach, but volumes should be up 3.9 percent in December compared to the same month last year.

The U.S. Department of the Army has issued a notice that the Transportation Worker Identification Credential can no longer be used to authenticate users for access to Electronic Transportation Acquisition, effective Jan. 29, 2013.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently seized 35,712 imported holiday-themed rubber ducks, worth $18,522, at the Port of Los Angeles for containing too much phthalate...

India’s federal government has extended a 2 percent interest subsidy on pre- and post-shipment export credit for labor intensive sectors, including handicrafts, carpets, handlooms...

India’s federal government has taken steps to meet demand for edible oils in the country, according to India's Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

The Teamsters Union recently argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Court that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s pilot program to open the border to Mexican trucks must be shut down...

U.S. shippers could get some holiday cheer if Congress passes legislation by the end of the year that would suspend tariffs on materials and products not available domestically.

The U.S. has asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel to examine Argentina’s import restrictions on all U.S. goods.

The 2012 U.S. corn crop is high quality and improves upon last year’s good marks across a range of test factors, despite the worst drought in decades this year...

The Export-Import Bank of the United States has approved its fourth supply chain finance transaction and will guarantee up to 90 percent of $450 million in liquidity offered by a JPMorgan Chase loan...

Officials from the Port of Long Beach and the Panama Canal Authority have renewed a memorandum of understanding that promotes trade between Latin America and the U.S.

Chief executive of Apple, Timothy D. Cook, said in interviews with NBC and Bloomberg Businessweek that Apple will manufacture one its existing lines in the U.S., The New York Times reported today.

Hair samples would be used to screen truck drivers for illegal drug use if a bill introduced in the House of Representatives this week becomes law.

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a bill, HR 2838, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2012, for regulatory reforms for the Coast Guard and maritime small businesses.

China’s demand for iron ore and coal imports for its steel-making industry is expected to increase in 2013, according to Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at shipping association BIMCO.

Pig producers in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. have warned Canada that its pork subsidization program will be challenged in thisround of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations...

Twenty-four senators recently signed a letter to President Obama expressing support for negotiating strengthened labor rights and protections against outsourcing in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership.

U.S. Steel imports in October were 2.54 million tons, dropping 2.5 percent from 2.60 million tons in September and falling 8.5 percent from 2.34 million tons in October 2011...

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged package giant UPS with religious discrimination in a lawsuit filed on behalf a Jehovah’s Witness fired by the company.

The National Association of Manufacturers and 104 businesses and business groups today sent a letter to congressional leaders urging the passage of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill...

Containerized volumes of grains and soybeans from the U.S. will see double-digit declines in the coming months.

Federal regulators ordered a truck driver involved in a fatal crash off the road after discovering he had a medical condition that disqualifies him from driving.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the UK government’s regulatory department, recently clarified at a conference its policy on authorized economic operators for imports and exports...

The U.S. transportation construction infrastructure market is expected to increase 3 percent from $126.5 billion to $130.3 billion in 2013...

The Federal Highway Administration today selected Caitlin Hughes Rayman, Maryland Department of Transportation’s Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy and Freight...

The House chose Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., to head the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, starting in January, after the current chair, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., dropped his waiver bid to hold onto the gavel.

The trucking and railroad industries face little risk of regulatory surprises in the next few years, as the pipeline of rules laid out in President Obama’s first term will continue to flow through his second.

Customs and Border Protection will open six Centers of Excellence and Expertise nationally in 2013, as the agency works to bring uniformity to the handling of major product imports.