Breaking Waves
- You really should take your own bags to the store, folks. And now you have added reason. The U.S. Department of Commerce this week issued final antidumping duty determinations on plastic carrying bags from Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan. The duties vary by manufacturer, but will go from a low of 36.54% to a high of nearly 96%. You can bet your grocer will start charging for plastic bags.
- Hawaii’s visitor industry is paying close attention to China’s development of Hainan as a massive destination resort. Just as Hawaii seems on the verge of attracting large numbers of Chinese tourists, Hainan poses a competitive threat to convince Chinese that they can get to a tropical paradise more quickly and easily at home. Now come the rumblings of over-development on Hainan and a massive bubble in housing prices. Looks as if Hainan’s developers are going over the top.
- Have you seen Hong Kong recently? The magnificent views from the Peak are increasingly blanketed by air pollution, worse than it has ever been before. Fifteen years ago, when I was working in Singapore, companies were already moving regional HQ operations from Hong Kong to Singapore to escape Hong Kong’s air pollution. Look for this to pick up again – and look for plenty of Singapore ads in Hong Kong featuring clear landscapes, and the new casinos. Good business for Singapore’s property managers.
- Bad news for Honolulu, but we’re used to this one. Another report was issued this week that says Honolulu is the most expensive city in the United States for doing business. No surprise, as we have to ship in nearly everything we use, and we have a state legislature that doesn’t hesitate to raise taxes on business. This is a hangover from the days, more than 50 years ago, when five big companies virtually ruled these islands. The Big 5 are dead and gone, but the political response persists. Local politicians think any business is a cash cow. On an international scale, Honolulu comes out somewhere between Tokyo and Osaka. Ouch!
- Those of you who do business on the many trade lead sites (Alibaba.com, TradeIndia.com and all the others) need to check out TradeFeeds.com. TradeFeeds aggregates leads from virtually all the others, saving you a heck of a lot of time. I have never found these sites very useful, producing stale leads or fishing expeditions. But others have made a bundle using them. If it works for you, give TradeFeeds a try. And let me know: Do you get sales from these sites?
Might save a little time.
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