There are a handful of shipping lanes in the world as vital as the Suez Canal, which serves as a linchpin for East and West trade. The next shortest route for shippers traveling from Asia to Europe or vice-versa is around Cape Horn at the bottom of Africa, adding a week of time and costs to shipments.

India and Japan signed a free trade agreement February 16th, eliminating tariffs on 94% of goods between the two countries within ten years and making the two countries each other’s biggest free-trade partners. The two are now Asia's second and third largest economies after China. The deal comes as Japan looks to expand its markets and improve its competitiveness in relation to South Korea and China, reported the Wall Street Journal. India anticipates the Free Trade Agreement will not only increase its exports but gain the country access to cheaper imports. The FTA is Japan’s twelfth, reported the Journal of Commerce. Currently two-way trade between the two countries totals less than one percent of Japan’s total foreign trade.

The retail industry is challenged with fluctuating customer demand, ever-changing styles and seasonality, and the need to boost top-line growth through store expansion. A streamlined and efficiently run supply chain is a crucial piece of the puzzle when it comes to keeping overall costs down. As pointed out in World Trade Magazine's article, Timely Ocean Transit for Retailers, inconsistent transit times can drive up total supply chain costs.

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Since December, when President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak announced that they made further progress on the US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS-FTA), the agreement has been highly debated on its way to Congress. In order for the measure to take effect, both the Congress of the United States and the Congress of South Korea must ratify the agreement.

U.S. authorities have charged an Iranian businessman with conspiracy, illegal export and smuggling. Milad Jafari was secretly charged with these acts in July of 2010, but the 11-count indictment was just unsealed today. The Justice Department accuses Jafari of acting "as a 'lifeline' to his country's missile program by smuggling metals and other vital materials from the United States in violation of a trade embargo."