The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement signed by twelve Pacific Rim countries. The deal seeks to serve a path of entry of American goods into Asian markets, and is lately discussed in the context of President Obama’s administration’s “pivot to Asia.” Although the agreement primarily represents elimination of barriers between the United States and Asian countries the contract states 3 Latin American countries: Mexico, Peru and Chile.

An invitation into the TPP signifies these countries entrance to a large trading bloc, which makes up about 40 percent of the world GDP. The counties have decided that their path forward is to embrace he the growing practice of globalisation and free trade agreements. Membership within TPP would facilitate I created integration with one another and offer a more coordinated approach to expanding trade with Asia.

The British economic authorities aim to push for closer trade relationship with China, as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in London for a four-day visit. London is seeking stronger economic ties between the U.K. and China, despite the recent economic slowdown in China. This effort to enhance trading cooperation with China signifies that the U.K. has more options outside of the EU.

Currently, China is the 7^th largest export market that the U.K. trades with, total export to China worth approximately 30 billion dollars last year. The major products that the UK exports to China are automobiles, telecommunications equipment and electronic components. Although the EU and US still take up most of the UK’s exports, the number of UK’s export goods and services to China will be riding on a rising trend, especially after Xi’s recent visit.

Chinese President Xi also states his intention to strengthen trade relationship between the two countries during his visit. China is the UK’s second largest source of imports, right after Germany but ahead of United States, according to Quartz (Quartz). Investments on British real estate coming from China has been increasing over the past five years; in the meantime, the increase of Chinese tourists’ purchasing power boosts local economy in the U.K.. According to the Reuters, “the People’s Republic has picked London as the host city for its first foreign-issued, yuan-denominated bond” (Reuters). Additionally, wealthy Chinese individuals are sending their children to the UK for schools. Reportedly, every one out of seven students on a British University campus is Chinese.

On the other hand, many remain suspicious of this newly established close relationship between the UK and China. One of the arguments against this relationship maintains that China’s economy is at an unstable place right now and that its growth will not skyrocket like it used to in the past ten years. Chinese stock market’s recent crash has hit not only the U.K., but also the world’s confidence in Chinese economy. As a result, critics comment that the timing might not be a perfect one for the two countries to strengthen trading partnerships.

Secondly, the U.K. has been known to the rest of the world for its criticism on Chinese refrain of human rights, represented by Prime Minister David Cameron’s meeting with the Dalai Lama in 2012, which resulted in great diplomatic tension between the two countries. In September 2015, however, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne indicated that the U.K. would no longer engage in “megaphone diplomacy” and will avoid its criticism on Chinese human right issues during his visit to China (Bloomberg). Unfortunately, the two countries’ difference in cultural values might still pose as a barrier before the two countries manage to pull each other closer.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-18/u-k-in-economic-kowtow-to-xi-seeks-golden-era-of-china-trade

http://exportbritain.org.uk/market-snapshots/china.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/china-uk-trade-relations-despite-chinese-economic-slowdown-british-authorities-push-2146891

http://qz.com/526977/what-china-really-wants-from-the-uk-charted-private-education-bank-loans-and-real-estate/

http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2015/10/19/china-is-unreliable-new-best-friend-for-britain/

It’s hard to look at the Port of L.A. and not think about Legoland on steroids — towers of interchangeable blue, grey, and orange containers climbing up toward the sky, cranes as tall as skyscrapers, and a handful of life-size people who, against this scale, looked like little more than Lego men, keeping the whole thing going.

My own forays with Legos were haphazard. Every project would become a multicolored wall about two blocks deep that an X-Men action figure or a plastic dinosaur would end up running through. A technicolored prop, basically. Of course, that bears absolutely no resemblance to the Port of L.A., whose container ships are the building blocks of international trade here in the United States.

Yes, I went there.

While the pun may be obvious, it applies in a number of ways. Sure, the port is the foremost container port in the U.S. (and, depending on whether you count neighboring Long Beach, either in the top 10 or top 20 worldwide). It’s also a living, ever-expanding testimony to the mechanics of modern trade, which is now the most streamlined and efficient it’s ever been. You’ll find thousands of containers packed neatly on ships and on the shores, you’ll ships of all sizes and purposes, you’ll even find sea lions. But absent from the shores of San Pedro are about 15,000 longshore workers.

Years ago, it would take that amount of man-power to offload these ships, which typically carry between 5,000 and 8,000 containers. Now, a few automated cranes can handle that load between two and five days, depending on the size of the ship. These efforts have been largely rewarded as the Port remains ever busy, thanks in part to a rebounding economy and new, expansive trade deals. One official noted that even a “bad year for cargo” typically sees growth of 4%.

Expedience is key in shipping, as the goods from these containers need to be transported throughout the United States, traversing America’s highways and railways before they land in your local Ralph’s, Target, Forever 21, Meineke, or Best Buy.

The number one good found in these containers now is furniture — and has been for the last twenty years. In second comes autoparts, which have seen an increase in import rates. These parts are shipped here from Asian, then assembled in autoplants throughout Mexico and North America (namely, Texas; Memphis, Tennesee and Detroit, Michigan). Next comes clothing and shoes, followed by electronic goods. Rounding out the U.S.’s top five imports are toys and sporting goods — the latter of which is already causing an uptick of activity at the port as the holidays approach.

And what are we sending back to Asia?

Air, for the most part. Since U.S. imports far outpace U.S. exports, many of our containers will go back to Asia empty. And what we do send back to countries like China aren’t ready-made goods, like the ones we receive, but commodities.

More specifically, trash.

The top export out of the Port of L.A. is waste paper — material you directly contribute to when you accidentally print out 10 copies of that out-dated resume. Next is metal scrap, which is shredded before being put on the ships, followed by plastic scraps, which will be recycled and repurposed in China before making their way back to the United States as eco-friendly dog bowls. Through the Port of L.A., we also send animal feeds and autoparts. Since the port also processes these materials, you don’t have to go too far to smell the burning metal, dust and rust of the scrap factory as it mixes in with the sea air.

Eli Goodstein, who refused to be intimidated even though his camera wasn’t the largest on the yacht.

In fact, along the shores of the Port is an entire ecosystem that features industries from the past and present. Nissans and Infinities fill one side of the dock, as 150,000 of these cars are brought in to the Port per year before being distributed throughout the U.S.

You’ll also find a cement processor — previously out of commission, but scheduled to rev up again in 2016 — and a borax factory. Not to be confused with the Kazakh reporter, borax is an earth mineral commonly used as a household cleaner that can only be found in South Africa, Turkey, and Southern California. Experts estimate that, as it stands, there are only 30-40 years of borax left on earth.

And that’s among the things most interesting about the port — how you can see remnants of old mechanisms, old industries, old ways of doing trade, even as management charges the port’s systems and technologies forward.

By Alexa Ritacco

The number of empty containers being shipped back to China from US ports is pretty alarming. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Ports of Long Beach and Oakland have reported a 20% increase in the number of empties since last year. That is a pretty steep jump. In August, the Port of LA dealt with more than 225,000 empty shipping containers, bring their increase up to 21% from the following year. Even the east coast is feeling the effects, with New York and New Jersey ports reporting a combined increase in empty container exports of 31.5%.
It was crazy to actually see all of the giant empty containers in person on our class trip to the Port of LA. It really put the importance of this issue into perspective, and obviously made it seem much more real as well as pressing. The fact that most of those containers used to be going back filled, and that are now just sitting there empty, is most definitely concerning, and something that needs to be more widely addressed.
These increases are huge, and are happening because of a few reasons, but the main one being the high-profile slow down of China’s economy. The article notes that normally after receiving the imports from China, the containers are stuffed with American agricultural products, specialty luxury goods and recycling waste, that is typically turned into products or packaging once it enters China’s factories.
China’s demand for U.S goods has been faltering over the past few years, with the article citing that its “imports fell 20.4% year-over-year in September following a 13.8% decline in August” and as “of June, U.S. exports of scrap materials were down 36% from their peak of $32.6 billion in 2011.” These figures not only reflect the weakening of China’s economy, but economist Paul Bingham believes it to reflect a lowering demand in Europe as well, so it would only be natural for the US to be feeling these types of effects at our ports.
It will be very interesting to see how these issues progress, and to see what solutions are brought forward as concrete ideas to help handle these looming problems. The continuous growth of empty containers being shipped back is just not sustainable for US Trade. Is this simply just a cyclical slow down that the global economy will bounce back from? Or is it something more serious that may require some sort of intervention?