I’m hearing a lot of anxiety from our customers about the possibility that their factories might fold. This anxiety is justified. The economic slowdown is causing lots of buyers to reduce and delay orders. For suppliers with high fixed costs, this behavior could prove fatal. How do you find out if your supplier falls into […]

Just want to take a moment to welcome those of you who are new to Panjiva’s blog. Panjiva’s mission is to make it easier for companies of all sizes to do business across borders. With this in mind, we’ll be discussing issues affecting the global trade community — those of us doing business across borders. […]

If 2007 was the Year of the Recall, 2008 was the Year of Regulation. This past year, some of the nation’s biggest industries pushed for new federal regulations to cope with consumer concerns about product safety — breaking from a tendency to block regulatory measures. They got what they wanted. This August, the U.S. enacted […]

The past week has been an historic one in the financial markets, and this morning’s retail sales results are just a reminder that we’re not out of the woods yet – and probably won’t be any time soon. The Federal Reserve warns that we face “one of the most challenging economic and policy environments in […]

More bad news for those who are in the business of selling to consumers: September Retail Sales Reflect the Slowdown.  Unfortunately, declining consumer spending is just one of the three alarming trends that, together, constitute “The Great Squeeze.”  What’s The Great Squeeze, and how can you survive it?  Here are our thoughts… One of our […]

Yet another product safety scandal in China.  This time, it’s melamine.  Not surprisingly, many are claiming that there is something unique to Chinese business practices that is the cause of China’s many product safety scandals.  Bee Wilson, in Tuesday’s New York Times, goes a long way toward debunking this notion by pointing out that product […]