According to American Shipper magazine, The U.S. Trade Representatives (USTR) have asked the International Trade Commission this week to determine the size of small to mid-sized enterprises (SME) in export throughout the U.S.

As globalization mores forward, it is becoming so that international sourcing is no longer considered a competitive advantage, but a necessity for companies. People are realizing this, and more and more companies are expanding operations to a global level. Since there are major differences between global and domestic supply chain strategies, this can be a little overwhelming. World Trade Magazine has published an article with helpful advice for companies who are in this situation.

There are about a million terms and acronyms thrown around the transportation industry - 3PL, 4PL, ITM, LLP, etc. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of everything. Logistics Today recently published a good solid description of what constitutes a third-party logistics provider (3PL). The quantifiable definitions that they came up with came from their 2009 salary survey results. Respondents were asked to describe themselves in a series of questions. Check out the article for an interesting list of statistics of how 3PLs answering the survey described themselves.

Mr. Leclercq, founder and publisher and Mr. Zednik, ceo, both of EurActiv.com published an article in the Wall Street Journal discussing the need for the European Commission and its members to acknowledge the difficulty for small to mid-size enterprises(SME) to expand and compete compared to large enterprises, and to show more commitment to help.

A nice overview of the export compliance process showing key technology enablers. Good 3 minute overview for management to understand what you are trying to do...Introduction to Automating Export Compliance.

We get a lot of questions from importers and exporters regarding trade compliance. Unfortunately since we're so busy, we don't have time to personally answer every one, especially considering many of the emails we receive are very specialized to certain situations.

World Trade Magazine will be hosting an upcoming webinar on establishing an Export Management System.

According to American Shipper magazine, many government officials believe the small to mid-sized companies will be in the forefront of the United States' economic recovery, particularly with several federal programs to assist their export efforts.

Global trade and among other things have hurt the Dairy Farm industry, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A recent article, The Idea Of Trading Internationally Can Seem Intimidating. Only The Big Players Do It, Right?, gave me the idea for this blog post. By either offering a small niche product or wanting to expand profit, stepping into an international market can be rewarding. Each situation offers the ability to market to a larger audience and gain more exposure for your business.