Trade and industries

FOREIGN TRADE is the official source for U.S. export and import statistics and responsible for issue regulations governing the reporting of all export shipments from the United States. If you're searching for import or export statistics, information on export regulations, commodity classifications, or a host of other trade related topics, this is the place to get the information you need.

A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or practically ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers. In some jurisdictions, such secrets are referred to as "top secret information", but should not be referred to as "classified information", due to the nature of the word in the USA.

Trade secrets are by definition not disclosed to the world at large. Instead, owners of trade secrets seek to protect trade secret in sequence from competitors by instituting special procedures for handling it, as well as technological and legal security measures. Legal protections include non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and non-compete clauses. In exchange for an opportunity to be employed by the holder of secrets, an employee may sign an agreement not to reveal his or her likely employer's proprietary information. An employee may also surrender or dole out to his employer the right to his own intellectual work produced during the course (or as a condition) of employment. breach of the agreement generally carries the possibility of heavy financial penalties. These penalties operate as a disincentive to reveal trade secrets. Though proving a breach of a non-disclosure agreement against a former employee who is legally working for a competitor can be very difficult. A holder of a trade secret may also require similar agreements from other parties he deals with, such as vendors or licensees.

Protection of trade secret can, in standard, extend indefinitely and then may provide an advantage over patent protection, which lasts only for a specific period of time. Coca-Cola, for model, has no patent for its formula and has been very effective in protecting it for many more years than the twenty years of security that a patent would have provided. In fact, Coca-Cola refused to reveal its trade secret under at least two judges' orders.The inconvenience is that there is no protection once information protected as trade secret is uncovered by others through reverse engineering, for example, whereas patent has a guaranteed time of protection in exchange for disclosing the in order to the community.

World trade

To acquire rights in a trademark under U.S. law, one must simply use the mark "in commerce." It is possible to register a trademark in the U.S., both at the federal and state levels. (Registration of trademarks confers some advantages, including stronger protection in certain respects, but it is not required in order to get protection.) Registration may be required in order to file a lawsuit for trademark infringement. Other nations have different trademark policies and this information may not apply to them. Assuming the mark in question meets certain other standards of protectibility, it is protected from infringement on the grounds that other uses might confuse consumers as to the origin or nature of the goods once the mark has been associated with a particular supplier. (Similar considerations apply to service marks and trade dress.) By definition, a trademark enjoys no protection (qua trademark) until and unless it is "disclosed" to consumers, for only then are consumers able to associate it with a supplier or source in the requisite manner. (That a company plans to use a certain trademark might itself be protectible as a trade secret, however, until the mark is actually made public.)

A company can protect its confidential information through non-compete and non-disclosure contracts with its employees (within the constraints of employment law, including only restraint that is reasonable in geographic and time scope). The law of protection of confidential information effectively allows a perpetual monopoly in secret information - it does not expire as would a patent. The lack of formal protection, however, means that a third party is not prevented from independently duplicating and using the secret information once it is discovered.

urveillance of national trade policies is a fundamentally important activity running throughout the work of the WTO. At the centre of this work is the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). All WTO members are reviewed, the frequency of each country’s review varying according to its share of world trade. 

The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

This website is a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you deter, detect, and defend against identity theft.  

On this site, consumers can learn how to avoid identity theft – and learn what to do if their identity is stolen.  Businesses can learn how to help their customers deal with identity theft, as well as how to prevent problems in the first place.  Law enforcement can get resources and learn how to help victims of identity theft.

Read on to find out more about identity theft and what you can do about it.

Here's an example of a "yen carry trade": a trader borrows 1,000 Japanese yen from a Japanese bank, converts the funds into U.S. dollars and buys a bond for the equivalent amount. Let's assume that the bond pays 4.5% and the Japanese interest rate is set at 0%. The trader stands to make a profit of 4.5% as long as the exchange rate between the countries does not change. Many professional traders use this trade because the gains can become very large when leverage is taken into consideration. If the trader in our example uses a common leverage factor of 10:1, then she can stand to make a profit of 45%. 

World trade organization

The big risk in a carry trade is the uncertainty of exchange rates. Using the example above, if the U.S. dollar were to fall in value relative to the Japanese yen, then the trader would run the risk of losing money. Also, these transactions are generally done with a lot of leverage, so a small movement in exchange rates can result in huge losses unless the position is hedged appropriately.

A strategy in which an investor sells a certain currency with a relatively low interest rate and uses the funds to purchase a different currency yielding a higher interest rate. A trader using this strategy attempts to capture the difference between the rates, which can often be substantial, depending on the amount of leverage used.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees you access to your credit report for free from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — every 12 months. The Federal Trade Commission has received complaints from consumers who thought they were ordering their free annual credit report, and yet couldn't get it without paying fees or buying other services. TV ads, email offers, or online search results may tout "free" credit reports, but there is only one authorized source for a truly free credit report. 

Many companies claim to offer free credit reports – and some do. But others give you a report only if you buy other products or services. Still others say they’re giving you a “free” report and then bill you for services you have to cancel. If you go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com and follow the prompts for your free credit report, you can be sure the reports you get really are free. 

Looks like the Nets aren’t waiting for Dwight Howard’s situation to get resolved before making moves. According to Nets Daily, they just went ahead and traded for Joe Johnson, whose contract will have Brooklyn unable to re-sign Deron Williams and still make a deal for the Orlando big man this summer. More details: “The Nets have all but completed a trade for Joe Johnson, the six-time all-star, league sources tell NetsDaily. In return, the Hawks get expiring contracts and a first round pick. NOT included in the trade: MarShon Brooks and Gerald Green. The Nets also didn’t have to give up their own first round pick in the trade. The trade will not be finalized until July 11. Johnson, who is still owed $89.3 million over the next three years, was dealt for Anthony Morrow; Jordan Farmar, who will be bought out at Atlanta’s expense; Jordan Williams, Johan Petro, a signed-and-traded DeShawn Stevenson and the Rockets 2013 lottery protected first round pick.”

Trade agreements usually involve a detailed list of rights that nations must provide to authors of new works -- including any original content from books to software. But while the deals often include general provisions, permitting countries to adopt exceptions to those rights, they have never been explicitly required.

Those exceptions are what allow for the existence of everything from libraries to movie reviews. They're also critical for a host of internet operations, which frequently reference or make use of copyrighted material under well-established "fair use" standards and other key exemptions.

We're encouraged that the USTR (United States Trade Representative) has acknowledged that we can have strong and balanced copyright," said Matthew Schruers, vice president of law and policy at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a tech lobbying organization. "There is still much more to be done, on this issue, other IP issues, as well as issues outside of the IP space. Nevertheless, this is an important first step toward modernizing the trade framework for the twenty-first century."

The USTR -- the White House agency, led by Ron Kirk, that's responsible for negotiating the Trans-Pacific deal -- said this new outline aims to enhance the framework of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"The TPP is intended to be a 21st century agreement, covering a number of emerging issue areas, and it’s clear that this is an issue of major importance to many stakeholders," said USTR spokesperson Carol Guthrie in a written statement. "After consulting with them and with our trading partners, we’ve decided to further enhance our framework."

Tech policy and transparency in the Trans-Pacific deal have generated some concern among a few members of Congress, who have said that key staffers were denied access to draft negotiation documents, even though more than 600 corporate officials were able to view the documents through positions on advisory panels. 

Fair trade