JUNE 13 BRIEFING ON CHINESE INLAND WATERWAYS PORTS

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) will hold an all-day briefing on development opportunities in inland waterway projects in China at the World Trade Center on Thursday, June 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A 12-member Chinese delegation of inland port authority officials will be available during the briefing for one-on-one meetings. The delegates seek contact with U.S. developers, investors, and suppliers in the inland waterway sector who can provide tug boats, dredging vessels, work boats, push boats, port handling equipment for loading and off-loading, vessel traffic and navigation systems, equipment pollution control and recovery equipment, and flood control equipment.

The Chinese delegates include: Mr. Xu Guang, Deputy Director-General, Department of Water Transportation, Ministry of Communications; Mr. Chen JianHua, Director of Port Management Division, Department of Water Transportation, Ministry of Communications; Ms. Zhang Qing, Official on General Affairs, Department of American and Oceanic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation; Mr. Yao ShangFu, Director, Anqing Port Administration Bureau; Mr. Fang LuXiang, Deputy General Director, Headquarters of Shanghai Deepwater Port Construction; Mr. Shi JinGen, Deputy Manager of Port Coordination Department, Headquarters of Shanghai Deepwater Port Construction; Mr. Shi BoXiang, Director, Nantong Port Authority; Mr. Guo XingFa, Section Chief of Port Construction Office, Nantong Port Authority; Mr. Wu XingYuan, Director of Engineering Administration Department, Shanghai Waterway Bureau; Dr. Jia DaShan, Director, Transportation Research and Consultant Department, WTI; Mr. Zhu LiXiang, President, CTE Guangzhou Design and Consulting Corporation; Ms. Cao ZhiMei, Commercial Information Assistant, U.S. Commercial Service, Shanghai.

Registration for the all-day briefing is $50 and includes breakfast, lunch and all briefing materials. To register for the June 13 program, call the WTC at (504) 529-1601, ext. 222, or register online by clicking here.

TULANE LATIN AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE JUNE 26-28

Tulane Law School will hold its new Latin American Law Institute on "Energy Law, Free Trade Agreements, and Law Reform in Latin America" on June 26 - 28. The biannual institute established by the Law School and local international law firms is designed to provide a permanent forum to freely discuss legal and business issues pertinent to Latin America and the United States. The conference is sponsored by: MetroVision; New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce; World Trade Center of New Orleans; Louisiana State Bar Association International Section; Inter-American Bar Association; American Bar Association, Section of International Law and Practice; and Tulane A.B. Freeman School of Business.

The Honorary Chairman of the Latin American Law Institute, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, will speak at the June forum. Additional speakers include: Dr. José Rizo, the new Vice President of Nicaragua; Alberto R. Gonzales, White House Counsel to the President; Ambassador Roger Noriega, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS); Dean Taylor, President, Tidewater, Inc.; James L. McCulloch, General Counsel, GlobalSantaFe; José Antonio Ceballos, Chief Operating Officer, PEMEX; Luis Giusti, Senior Advisor, CSIS and former CEO of Petroleos de Venezuela; and Gary LaGrange, Executive Director, Port of New Orleans.

Cuba’s inclusion in free trade agreements will be the subject of a debate between Ambassador Dennis Hays, Executive Vice President for the Cuban American National Foundation and Ambassador Sally Grooms Cowal, President of the Cuba Policy Foundation.

For more information, contact Paige Lemieux at (504) 865-5900 or by e-mail at plemieux@law.tulane.edu. Information about the Latin American Law Institute is also available online at www.law.tulane.edu/lali.

NEW TRADE SPECIALIST AT EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTER

The New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) is pleased to welcome International Trade Specialist Belinda K. McCorkle to the staff. Belinda comes to New Orleans from the San Diego, California USEAC with a Master in Business Administration and a Bachelor degree in Communication. She will work in tandem with the New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi USEACs by covering the Gulf Coast area from the North Shore of Louisiana to the south counties of Mississippi. Belinda’s background focuses on export trade within the industries of Travel and Tourism, Consumer Goods, and Professional Services. If you would like to discuss your export potential, please contact Belinda at (504) 589-6730.

USEAC DIRECTOR COMPLETES SECOND YEAR OF SERVICE

Donald van de Werken recently celebrated his second anniversary as Director of the New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center. Please join us in congratulating Don on his good work in support of the Louisiana trade community.

LOUISIANA TRADE EVENTS

June 7 -Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana quarterly luncheon at Andrea’s Restaurant at 12:00 noon. Call (504) 885-4262.

June 12 -International Mixer at the WTC to commemorate World Trade Centers Association Day. Call (504) 529-1601, ext. 226.

June 13 -Development Opportunities in Chinese Inland Waterway Ports all-day seminar at the WTC. Call (504) 529-1601, ext. 222.

June 26-28 -Tulane Latin American Law Institute Conference on energy, free trade, and law reform issues involving the U.S. and Latin America. Contact Paige Lemieux at (504) 865-5900 or by e-mail at plemieux@law.tulane.edu.

June 28 -Fourth Annual Muscadet Wine Festival at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Visit the FACC/LA website at http://www.faccla.com, or call (504) 524-2042.

WTC TO HOST INTERNATIONAL MIXER ON JUNE 12

The WTC, in conjunction with 14 other local international trade and transportation organizations, will host an "International Mixer" on Wednesday, June 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Plimsoll Club in celebration of World Trade Centers Association Day. United Parcel Service (UPS) is the sponsor of this event. The members of the Consular Corps of New Orleans will be special guests. WTCA Day reaffirms the commitment of more than 300 World Trade Centers in 91 countries to promote world peace and stability through trade.

Enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, free parking, door prizes and great networking with local chapters of the following organizations:

Council for International Visitors

Foreign Relations Association of New Orleans

French-American Chamber of Commerce/Louisiana Chapter

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana

International Committee of the Young Leadership Council

International Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers Assn.

Mississippi Valley Trade and Transport Council

New Orleans Air Cargo Association

New Orleans Board of Trade

Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce

Propeller Club of the U. S., Port of New Orleans

Steamship Association of Louisiana

Traffic and Transportation Club of Greater New Orleans

World Trade Club of Greater New Orleans

World Trade Center of New Orleans

Please RSVP by calling (504) 529-1601 ext. 220. Guests and prospective members are welcome, but must be registered prior to the event.

WORKING CAPITAL AVAILABLE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Small businesses can obtain a 90% federal government guarantee of any working capital bank credit that is used for both pre-sales and/or post-sales costs, provided the ultimate destination is outside the United States. This is true even if the borrower’s sale is only to a domestic customer.

By using the Export Working Capital Program (EWCP), small business borrowers may qualify for more credit, or longer terms, or perhaps get a lower interest rate. The regular domestic Small Business Administration (SBA) programs carry a lower percentage of guarantee.

Expanding any business requires increasing the sales base. Often exporting, either directly or indirectly, can make this possible in situations where domestic competition is too strong, a small market cannot otherwise be expanded, or where a company wants to offset cyclical downturns. Sales to U.S. intermediaries who in turn sell to foreign buyers is one way to increase a firm’s sales base. An SBA guarantee is one way to ensure that the credit to finance those sales will be there.

Tom Williams, Export Finance Specialist at the U.S. Export Assistance Center in New Orleans, is responsible for promoting the use of the Export Working Capital Program in Louisiana. He welcomes the opportunity to meet with officials of small companies to discuss SBA export finance programs. Contact Mr. Williams at (504) 589-6702.

U.S. COMMERCE TRADE MISSION TO CANADA

On September 8-13, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Sam Bodman will lead a delegation of senior executives on a business development trade mission to Canada. Meetings will be held in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver. Targeted industries sectors are: automotive, information technology, telecommunications, safety and security, electric power generation, aerospace, and pharmaceuticals. Mission goals include:

• Assist U.S. firms to pursue export and other new business opportunities in Canada by introducing them to key host government decision-making officials and to potential business partners;

• Assist small and new-to-market firms to evaluate the market potential for their products and gain an understanding of how to operate successfully in Canada’s commercial environment;

• Enhance the dialogue between government and industry on issues affecting the development of U.S.-Canadian commercial relations;

• Highlight the accessibility of the market and the successes of small and medium-sized U.S. businesses in Canada; and

• Highlight examples of corporate citizenship and active involvement by U.S. businesses in Canada.

The deadline to apply is June 28. To request additional information and an application form, call the New Orleans USEAC at (504) 589-6546 or the Shreveport USEAC at (318) 676-3064.

LOUISIANA REPRESENTED AT MEXICO TRADE CONFERENCE

New Orleans Councilman Marlin N. Gusman, representing Mayor Ray Nagin, and the Consul General of Mexico in New Orleans, Arturo Puente, led a 12-member Louisiana delegation to the Fourth Summit Conference of the North American International Trade Corridor Partnership (NAITCP) held May 15-18 in Querétaro, Mexico. NAITCP is a network of cities in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada that jointly promotes trade, investment, technology exchange, and economic development on the north-south axes. NAITCP members from the U.S. include Austin, Fort Worth, Laredo, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Kansas City and Wichita. New Orleans joined NAITCP at the conference in Queretaro.

The conference host was Dr. Rolando Garc’a Ortiz, Mayor of Querétaro. The speakers included senior government and private sector leaders in North America, including Mexico’s Deputy Secretary of Economy, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Mexico’s Ambassador to Canada, and numerous mayors and other municipal officials and business executives.

In addition to Councilman Gusman and Consul General Puente, the members of the delegation from Louisiana included Larry Collins of the Department of Economic Development, Eugene Schreiber of the World Trade Center, Corliss Stone Littles and Kathia Duran representing the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Patrick DePriest of the Steele Foundation, Mary Lynn Lytal and Sherie Conrad of Sludge Technologies, Maria Montero of Infinite Potential Enterprises, and Jerry Bidleman of Aqua Technologies Corporation. The companies represented reported having made excellent contacts and new business prospects among the 250 participants at the NAITCP conference. Louisiana participants at the conference were able to display their company literature at a special booth sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

Additionally, the two New Orleans Airport representatives also visited with Estafeta Cargo Airline, located in San Luis Potosi 120 miles from Querétaro, to tour their cargo hub operation. Senior executives of Estafeta, a major cargo airline based in Mexico, recently visited New Orleans and had invited Airport representatives to tour their expanding cargo operation and further explore a possible link between Central America and New Orleans via Mexico.

In addition to participating in the conference, Councilman Gusman discussed with Querétaro Mayor Garc’a Ortiz the plans for the installation of a magnificent 12-ton stone fountain which the City of Querétaro is donating to New Orleans. The fountain will be the centerpiece of the Mississippi River Heritage Park on Convention Center Boulevard. As the next step in the installation of the fountain, which recently arrived in New Orleans in 22 pallets by truck from Querétaro, the architect who designed the fountain will visit New Orleans shortly to discuss with city officials the erection of the fountain, which will be done soon thereafter by a team of skilled artisans from Querétaro.

Dr. Garc’a Ortiz visited New Orleans in March with a delegation from Querétaro for the groundbreaking ceremony for the fountain and discussed with regional community and business leaders how Querétaro and New Orleans can work together to build new relationships in the areas of trade, tourism, culture, and education. One such new relationship which has already developed between the two cities is Mayor Garc’a Ortiz’s invitation to New Orleans to be specially featured at the City of Querétaro’s 470th anniversary festival in July. New Orleans food and music will be highlighted at the festival on July 11-14, and a Mardi Gras parade complete with floats, maskers, throws, and marching band will kick off the first day’s activities.

FIVE REBATES LEFT FOR NEW BUYUSA.COM SUBSCRIPTIONS

Five Louisiana companies to date have signed up for BuyUSA.com through the World Trade Center and will receive a 50% rebate on the basic subscription cost. BuyUSA.com is an international electronic marketplace created by the U.S. Commercial Service and IBM. This service provides U.S. companies with instant access to qualified foreign distributors, buyers, and sales leads, and also allows participating companies to post business opportunities online and generate publicity at promotional events worldwide. The Louisiana Department of Economic Development will reimburse five additional Louisiana companies half of the registration fee for BuyUSA.com through the WTC’s Affiliate Partner program. Companies subscribing to BuyUSA.com should contact the WTC at (504) 529-1601, ext. 222, to determine if they were among the first 10 companies to sign up, in which case the WTC will reimburse them.

BRAZIL RESTRICTS IMPORTS OF USED GOODS

The Brazilian government imposes a series of restrictions on the importation of used equipment, parts, pieces, and accessories. Import duties on refurbished machines are the same as on new products. Imports of used vehicles and used consumer goods into Brazil are not allowed. For a four-page report on this subject, call the New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) at (504) 589-6546, or the Shreveport USEAC at (318) 676-3064.

FRENCH CHAMBER TO CELEBRATE MUSCADET WINE FESTIVAL

The French-American Chamber of Commerce (FACC) and the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Nantes (CIVN) will celebrate the Fourth Annual Muscadet Wine Festival at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Friday, June 28 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom. Guests can sample dishes prepared by local chefs designed to complement the featured Muscadet wines. The event will include live music and a drawing for two Air France tickets to Paris. The Royal Sonesta is located at 300 Bourbon Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans. The tickets for the event are $35 for members of the French-American Chamber of Commerce in advance, $350 for groups of 10, and $45 at the door for everyone. For more information, visit the FACC/LA website at http://www.faccla.com, or call (504) 524-2042.

GUIDELINES FOR REPAIR AND WARRANTY RE-EXPORTS

When sending an item out of the U.S. to a foreign country for repairs or alterations, you should register the item with U.S. Customs before shipping to avoid paying U.S. import duties upon its return. Use U.S. Customs Form CF 4455, "Certificate of Registration," to demonstrate your prior ownership of the merchandise (call toll free 1-877-287-8667 to locate the Customs office nearest you). Enclose the original CF 4455 (keep a copy) with the item you are sending abroad for repair. Be sure to instruct your foreign supplier to return the form with the repaired item and to mark on the outside of the return package: "Repaired/Altered Merchandise B CF 4455 enclosed." For more information on this topic, call the U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) in New Orleans at (504) 589-6546 or the USEAC in Shreveport at (318) 676-3046.