Agenda for ITDU Spring Conference June 19-20, 2007 Baruch College, NY
Changes in Measuring Trade and Maintaining U.S. Competitiveness
An International Trade Data Users (ITDU) Conference Co-Sponsored by the Weissman Center for International Business, Baruch College
June 19-20, 2007
Baruch College Newman Conference Center
151 East 25th Street
(Btw. Lexington and Third Ave, Fl. 7)
New York, NY
Tuesday, June 19
8:30 – 9:15 Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:15 – 9:30 Opening Remarks – Alvis Pauga, Executive Director, ITDU; Lene Skou, Deputy Director, Weissman Center for International Business, Baruch College; Scudder Smith, Chairman ITDU
9:30 – 10:30 I. Impact of Harmonized System Code Changes on Worldwide Trade Data – Don Brasher, President, Global Trade Information Services, Inc.
10:30 – 10:45 Refreshment Break
10:45 – 12:00 II. Perspectives on HS 2007 Code Changes
- The Legal Perspective on Implementation of HS Code Changes – Robert Leo, Esq., Partner, Meeks & Sheppard
- U.S. International Trade Commission, Mara Alexander
- U.S. Customs & Border Protection Perspective – Tom Russo, C&BP
- Discussion
12:15 – 1:45 LUNCHEON (included)
Keynote address: Leveling the Worldwide Playing Field for U.S. Trade – Irving A. Williamson, Commissioner, U.S. International Trade Commission. Text of Mr. Williamson’s comments.
2:00 – 3:00 III. Measuring the Impact of U.S. Export Control Regulations
3:00 – 3:15 Refreshment Break
3:15 – 4:30 IV. The Role of Trade Data in Valuation of Recent Port Asset Sales
- The Need for Better Trade Information – Scudder Smith, Principal Consultant, PB Consulting
- Trade Forecasts and Role of Trade Data – Michael Lapson, Moffatt & Nichol
- Another Perspective – Paul Bingham, Global Insight
- What’s Needed? – Discussion by panel and conference participants.
- Web Site Overview – Forum, Links, TradeWiki
- Discussion of What’s Desired
4:45 – 5:15 Annual ITDU Membership Meeting (all invited)
5:15 – 7:30 Networking Reception (included) hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, soda
We thank our sponsors Zepol Corp and Global Trade Information Services, Inc.
Wednesday, June 20
8:30 – 9:00 Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 9:45 VI. U.S. Trade Statistics Developments
- Update on Current and Future Programs – William A. Bostic, Jr., Chief, Census FTD
- Demonstration of Related Party Trade New Web Application – Tim Baxter, Census FTD
- AES Compliance and Marketing Initiative Review – Jerome Greenwell, Census FTD
- How Data is Defined and Collected – Alison Gajcowski, Methods Research and Quality Assurance Branch, Census FTD
- Comparison of 2005 MarAd Data to Census Bureau’s Data – John Sexton
- Comments on MarAd/Army Corps Waterborne Data Methodology – Douglas McDonald, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
10:30 –10:45 Refreshment Break
10:45 – 12:15 VIII. Identifying U.S. Inland Cargo Origins and Destinations
- Identifying Inland Container Destinations for U.S. Imports – A New Approach – Scudder Smith, Principal Consultant, PB Consult; Ryan Butler, PIERS
- Michael Lapson, Moffatt & Nichol
- Michael Filippov, Senior Consultant – Global Transportation, Global Insight
- Alan Torrance, Statistics Canada
12:15 –12:30 IX. Role of ITDU in Advocating Trade Data Needs
- Containerized Data
- Inland Origin/Destination
- U.S. State of Destination Data
- Manifest Data for Exports
- Other Data
12:30 End of Official Conference
An Additional In-Depth Presentation (no additional charge):
1:30 – 4:30 Accessing STAT-USA Products – An In-Depth Review and Demonstration – Forrest Williams, Ph.D., Director, STAT-USA, Dept. of Commerce
- Detailed U.S. Trade statistics, including recently released U.S. port data with containerized field, on USA Trade Online
- Trade of individual European Union countries by year and month, available on EuroTrade Online
- All the information available on the National Trade Data Bank now online at STAT-USA/Internet
Note: Program subject to change, depending on availability of speakers.
Conference Participation Fee: $195, including lunch and networking reception evening of the first day. $165 for ITDU members.
Annual membership is $90. We encourage you to become a member to obtain conference discounts as well as to provide support to our organization’s continuing activities. For additional information on ITDU visit www.itdu.org or contact Alvis Pauga at alvis@att.net or 201.337.0533.
To become an ITDU Member click here!ITDU Spring Conference June 19-20, 2007 at Baruch College in New York
The International Trade Data Users held its recent conference “Changes in Measuring Trade and Maintaining U.S. Competitiveness”, on June 19-20 in New York at the Baruch College Weissman Center for International Business.
Mr. Irving A. Williamson, recently appointed a Commissioner to the U.S. International Trade Commission, was the keynote luncheon speaker. View his presentation and comments using the links from the Conference Agenda (above). He previously served as Deputy General Counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from 1993 to 1998 and for seven years headed his own international trade law consulting firm which worked on a number of development assistance projects in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
The newly established Office of Technology Evaluation at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) discussed how they analyze the effects of export regulations on the competitiveness of U.S. products worldwide. The Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division presented updates on U.S. trade products and their recent studies.
Additional topics at the conference included the current state of identifying inland origins and destinations of international cargo within the U.S., a summary of data improvement requests to government agencies, and a discussion of trade data needs by conference participants.
For additional information on the ITDU contact Alvis Pauga, Executive Director, at alvis@att.net.
ITDU Conference
How Will the 2007 Harmonized Code Changes Affect You?
An International Trade Data Users Conference and Workshop
Co-Sponsored by the International Trade Center/RRB
Conference December 5, 2006
Trade Data Workshop December 6
International Trade Center/Ronald Reagan Building
13th and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW Washington, DC
Map It!
In January 2007, major changes will be made to the Harmonized System (HS). The HS commodity coding system forms the structure for compiling worldwide trade statistics, and is used as the basis for applying import duties. The conference will discuss these changes and their impact. Presenters include David Beck, Acting Dir. of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements, ITC; William Shayne, Esq. of the Shayne Law Group; Customs & BP, Bill Bostic, Jr., Chief, FTD – Census Bureau; Ron Jansen, Chief Int’l. Trade Statistics at the UN. Prof. Simon Pak, Assoc. Prof. of Finance at Penn State University, will present his research findings on “Abnormally High and Low Prices of Import and Export Transactions.” A discussion of implications on U.S. trade deficits will follow.
A Trade Data Workshop will be held the following day. It will cover how data is collected, the documents used, define the terminology, review how the U.S. Census Bureau – FTD processes trade data and corrects errors. It will review U.S. trade data products and demonstrate Internet access to the data. Besides the Census Bureau, presenters include other government agencies such as the ITA, ITC, STAT-USA, as well as commercial companies providing trade data access on a subscription basis (PIERS, WISER, others). The United Nations will discuss their worldwide Comtrade data system and demonstrate Internet access.
Register Now!
Note: Please ignore warning of certificate problem with web site. There is no security problem, and this will be corrected shortly. If questions, call 201.337.0533.
Hotel Info
ITDU Conference Tuesday December 5, 2006
Ronald Reagan Building Conference Room: Hemisphere B
Note: You may click on links to presenters.
| 8:15 – 8:45 | Registration and Coffee |
| 8:50 | Introductions and Opening Remarks – Alvis Pauga, Executive Dir. ITDU; Scudder Smith, Chmn. ITDU; Susan Sylvester, Director of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center |
| 9:00 | ● Brief Review of the Harmonized System (HS) for Classifying Trade – William Shayne, Esq., Shayne Law Group |
| 9:20 | ● Extent of Harmonized Code Changes Effective January 2007 David Beck, Acting Dir. of Tariff Affairs, International Trade Commission ITC Site |
| 10:00 | ● HS Code Change Impact on Business and Imports William Shayne, Esq., Shayne Law Group |
| 10:30 | Refreshment Break |
| 10:50 | ● Impact of HS Changes on U.S. Exports – Carol Aristone, U.S. Census Bureau – FTD FTD Site
● Implications for Data Collection, Dissemination and Historical Time Series – Carol Aristone, U.S. Census Bureau – FTD |
| 11:20 | ● Accommodating 2007 HS Code Revisions in Forecasting Models Paul Bingham, Global Insight GI Site |
| 12:00 – 1:30 | LUNCH (RRB Food Court) |
| 1:30 | ● United Nation’s Perspective on 2007 HS Code Changes ● Impact on Comtrade Database ● The Updated SITC-Rev. 4 Commodity Code System Ronald Jansen, Chief Commodity Trade Stats, UN |
| 2:15 | ● Abnormally High and Low Valuation for U.S. Export and Import Transactions Prof. Simon Pak, Assoc. Prof. of Finance, Penn State University See Article |
| 3:00 | ● Implications of Abnormal Trade Valuation |
| 3:15 | Refreshment Break |
| 3:30 | ● New Data Initiatives at the Census Bureau–Foreign Trade Division William G. Bostic, Jr., Chief FTD, Census Bureau |
| 4:30 | End of Conference |
Join us for an informal Networking Event at the end of Tuesday’s conference at Aria Trattoria in the Ronald Reagan Building off the Woodrow Wilson Plaza.
Note: Program subject to change, depending on availability of speakers.
ITDU Workshop, Wednesday December 6, 2006
Ronald Reagan Building Conference Room: Meridian C
| 8:00 – 8:30 | Coffee |
| 8:30 | The A, B C’s of U.S. Foreign Trade Data
|
| 10:30 | Refreshment Break |
| 10:45 | Accessing Census Data – Demonstration of USA Trade Online – Joe Kafchinski, FTD Census Bureau |
| 11:30 | STAT-USA – Dr. Forrest Williams, Dir, STAT-USA |
| 12:00 – 1:00 | LUNCH (RRB Food Court) |
| 1:00 | Additional Sources of U. S. Trade Statistics
|
| 2:00 | International Trade Data Sources United Nations – World Trade Data Collection and UN Comtrade Knowledge Base – Ronald Jansen, Chief Commodity Trade Stats, UN |
| 2:45 | Accessing Commodity Trade Data and Waterborne Manifest Data on Shippers and Consignees – Case Study Examples – World Institute for Strategic Economic Research (WISER), PIERS, and other trade data system providers. |
| 4:30 – 5:00 | What Source to Use When? The Pros and Cons – An Open Discussion. |
Register Now!
Please ignore warning of certificate problem with web site. There is no security problem, and this will be corrected shortly. If questions, call 201.337.0533.
Note: For Additional Information contact Executive Director Alvis Pauga at info@itdu.org, alvis@att.net, or call 201.337.0533
Program subject to change, depending on availability of speakers.
Hotels near the Ronald Reagan Building, Washington DC
ITDU provides these recommendations as a service to its members; no endorsement by ITDU is implied.
Other sources of lodging options include travelocity.com, expedia.com, and quikbook.com.
A recommended close to the Reagan Building:
Washington Plaza
10 Thomas Circle, NW
Washington, DC 2005
202-842-1300
www.washingtonplazahotel.com
Snapshots from the ITDU June 2006 Conference!
Re-live the ITDU Conference experience through these photos taken at the June 21 & 22 2006 ITDU Conference in New York City.
Presentation files from the June 21-22, 2006 ITDU Conference
The list below contains links to the files containing presentations made by speakers at the ITDU’s June 21-22 2006 Conference in NYC:
- Forecasting China Waterborne Trade – Mike Andrews, Ph.D., PIERS
- Global Demand Forecast for Air Freight – Including AirBus A380 and B747 – Marty Graham, BACK Aviation Solutions
- Ralph Kozlow, Associate Director for International Economics, BEA
- Using Census Data for Market Determination – Kathy Chen, Manager Business Analysis, FedEx
- Hayes Howard, President ComPair Data
- Issues In Measuring U.S. Trade – William Zeile, Research Staff, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Dept. of Commerce
- The Economy and Exports are Stronger Than You Think – Michael Mandel, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Business Week
- The A,B,C’s of U.S. Foreign Trade Data – Collection, Definitions, Processing, and Dissemination – Diane Oberg, FTD, Census
- Understanding the China Market – Roy C. Sheldon, Principal, China Business Associates
There are three presentations by Vanessa Ware, Foreign Trade Division, Bureau of the Census:
- Census Foreign Trade Data
- New Data Series by 4-digit “Port” Code for Waterborne and Air Cargo
- State of Destination Data for Imports
There are two presentations by Alan Glube, OOCL Inc.:
ITDU Brings Industry, Government, and Users Together at its Spring 2006 Conference in New York
The ITDU’s successful Spring 2006 Conference was held on June 21 and 22, 2006 in New York City at the Baruch College Conference Center. You can view a photo gallery of the event below, and review the conference agenda online as well. A list of available conference presentations is available as well.
Hayes Howard, President ComPair Data and Publisher, American Shipper Magazine
Agenda: Fifty Years After Containerization: Is Trade Information Satisfying Our Needs in the 21st Century?
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the cargo container that revolutionized worldwide transportation. Our conference focuses on how world trade has changed in the last fifty years, whether the way we measure trade and economic growth is keeping up with the times, and what is needed. The agenda is packed with speakers you need to hear:
- Our keynote speaker, Marc Levinson, will discuss his new book The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger.
- Michael Mandel, Chief Economist at Business Week, raises the issue of whether we are understating trade in discussing his recent B-W article Why the Economy is a Lot Stronger Than You Think.
- The Bureau of Economic Analysis replies with a discussion on the issues involved in measuring trade and deriving GDP numbers.
Don't Miss ITDU's Spring 2006 Conference -- June 21-22, 2006
Fifty Years after Containerization: Is Trade Information Satisfying Our Needs in the 21st Century?
An International Trade Data Users (ITDU) Conference
June 21 – 22, 2006
Baruch College Newman Conference Center
151 East 25th Street, 7th Floor Map It!
New York, NY
Register online!
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the cargo container that revolutionized worldwide transportation. Our conference focuses on how world trade has changed in the last fifty years, whether the way we measure trade and economic growth is keeping up with the times, and what is needed. The agenda is packed with speakers you need to hear:
- Our keynote speaker, Marc Levinson, will discuss his new book The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger.
- Michael Mandel, Chief Economist at Business Week, raises the issue of whether we are understating trade in discussing his recent B-W article Why the Economy is a Lot Stronger Than You Think.
- The Bureau of Economic Analysis replies with a discussion on the issues involved in measuring trade and deriving GDP numbers.
Additional topics at this two-day conference include presentations by:
- Census Bureau’s new Chief of the Foreign Trade Division and his staff on a new data series for air and waterborne cargo by 4-digit “port” code and trade based on zip code.
- A panel on China trade shows its trade in a worldwide perspective, provides air and waterborne forecasts, and includes a presentation on the demand model for the Airbus 380 freighter.
- There are two basic sources of U.S. trade data – Census-FTD commodity data and Customs’ waterborne manifest data: Which to use and when? “Power users” discuss the pro’s and con’s of their applications.
Wednesday evening come join us at a Networking Reception where you can meet those responsible for publishing trade data, view the exhibits, and network with data users like yourself.
On Thursday Census – FTD will discuss the A, B, C’s of trade data collection, definitions, processing, and distribution. The ITA will update their geospatial display of trade information on the web, and our sponsors and exhibitors will discuss their products.
Concurrently on Thursday, PIERS, of the Commonwealth Business Group, will hold their annual “PIERS Day” program, which ITDU participants are welcome to attend at no additional cost (see www.piers.com/piersdayrsvp).
Important Links
ITDU's Fall 2005 Conference: Dec. 5 2005
“It’s Companies That Trade, Not Countries”
Held Monday December 5, 2005 in Washington, DC
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