Event Recap: 19th Annual International Trade Conference

posted by Katrina Chan

This year marks the WTC Harrisburg's 19th Annual International Trade Conference, held at Reading, PA. The conference theme was "Celebrating Export Excellence in Berks County!", to recognize and showcase successful local exporters from across the region.

Every year, the WTC Harrisburg holds the International Trade Conference, because we recognize the importance for local exporters to establish the right connections, have easy access to available resources, and to have a clear understanding of the current state of our economy in relation to how that affects different industries.

The event started at 8.30am, with a total of 60 attendees. The morning session, "Agony or Ecstasy", was presented by Dave Hanson of Fulton Financial Advisors who gave a lively overview of the state of our global economy and how that ties to the US economy.

The four breakout sessions that followed the morning keynote presentation were:

• Effective Strategies for Global Online Marketing
• Global Trends in Managing Trade Compliance Amid Today’s Changing Trade Policies
• GDPR: Are You Ready for the Most Important Change in Data Privacy Regulation in 20 Years?
• Fraud Detection and Prevention

The luncheon presentation that followed spotlighted 3 successful exporters from Berks county: Adhezion Biomedical, HemaPrep and Radius. Participants were able to ask the panelists questions and gain insight from the experience of these three companies.

The conference ended with a networking reception with an assortment of desserts.

We would like to thank the following:

Silver Sponsor:
UPS

Bronze Sponsors:
Fulton Financial
FTZ 147

Strategic Partners:
MANTEC
Greater Reading Chamber of Alliance
SBA
PA Department of Community and Economic Development


Thank you to our exhibitors and attendees! We hope to see you next year!

Netherlands Day in Harrisburg

posted by Katrina Chan

Left to right: Allan Kline, President of Klinge Corporation and WTC Board Member,
Consul General Dolph Hogewoning and Amabassador Henne Schuwer

The World Trade Center Harrisburg and Stevens & Lee/Griffin International, LLC collaborated in organizing a morning roundtable to host Ambassador Henne Schuwer, Consul General Dolph Hogewoning and his delegation from the Netherlands. The event was held on April 30, 2018, as part of a celebration of King’s Day and the proclamation of “Netherlands Day in PA”.

The Netherlands has a strong trade presence in Pennsylvania. Ambassador Schuwer and his delegation from the Netherlands came to Harrisburg to further strengthen that longstanding relationship and discuss the strong economic bond that exists between Netherlands and PA.

The day started at 10am with a business and economic roundtable discussion with local companies from Central Pennsylvania that conduct business in the Netherlands.  This was a good opportunity for companies to meet with the Dutch Ambassador and his senior staff and discuss business opportunities in the Netherlands.

Lt. Gov. Mike Stack hosted the afternoon lunch reception for the delegation in his Capitol office. The reception was followed by a news conference where Lt. Gov. Mike Stack presented Ambassador Henne Schuwer with a gift and an official proclamation that marks April 30th as "King's Day in Pennsylvania".

What You Need to Know About the New Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

posted by Tina Weyant

Yesterday, President Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation regarding the imports of steel, and a second Proclamation regarding the imports of aluminum.  

A 25% additional duty on steel and a 10% additional duty on aluminum products will become effective on March 23, 2018 for all countries, except Mexico and Canada for now.

Steel Articles
Steel articles are defined with reference to the following U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule's  6-digit subheadings:

• 7206.10 through 7216.50 
• 7216.99 through 7301.10 
• 7302.10 
• 7302.40 through 7302.90 
• 7304.10 through 7306.90 

Aluminum Articles
Aluminum articles are defined as follows:

• HTS 7601 - unwrought aluminum 
• HTS 7604  - aluminum bars, rods, and profiles
• HTS 7605 - aluminum wire
• HTS 7606 and 7607 - flat rolled aluminum products, including plate, sheet, strip, and foil
• HTS 7608 and 7609 - aluminum tubes and pipes and tube and pipe fitting 
• HTS 7616.99.51.60 and 7616.99.51.70 -  aluminum castings and forgings 

These rules include any subsequent revisions to the HTS classifications

Possible Product Exclusions via a Petition Process:

There will be a petition-based, product exclusion process run by the Department of Commerce, based on the following standard of whether the article is: 

• produced in the United States "in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or of a satisfactory quality"  or 
• subject to specific national security considerations

Petitions need to be filed by a directly affected party located in the United States.  The US Dept. of Commerce will issue formal procedures for this process by March 18th.

Possible Country Exclusions:

Imports from Canada and Mexico are exempted from the additional duty for now.  Imports from countries with which the United States has a security relationship are encouraged to discuss with the Administration alternative ways to address the threatened impairment of the national security presented by imports from their country.

Thank you Ted Murphy, of Baker McKenzie 

for background details regarding this article

We would like to know how the new tariffs affect the ability of your company to compete globally.

Please take the survey here 

Recap: 4th Annual State of the Ports Address

posted by Katrina Chan

WTC Harrisburg successfully hosted its Annual State of the Ports Address on 22 February at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey Hotel. 

The State of the Ports Address was the perfect opportunity for companies who wanted to expand internationally to get to know their local port authorities and to network with different business who also attended the event.

This year's speakers were Marie Byers, Dominic O'Brien and Scott Merlo from Harrisburg International Airport, Phila Port, Customs and Border Protection. 

Our speakers presented very informative, useful updates about the Philadelphia port as well as additional knowledge to makes it easier for local companies to understand the importing and exporting process. Attendees found the event to be very insightful and useful, especially companies within the manufacturing business who plan on expanding their business internationally. 

We would like to thank our sponsors and partners:

Gold:

Foreign-Trade Zone 147

Silver:

Fulton International Group

Harrisburg International Airport

UPS

Bronze:

Phila Port

Partners:

MANTEC

Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development

This event would not have been successful without their support and generosity!