Trade in Everything

From the Daily Telegraph: US authorities are considering relaxing an import ban on the Scottish delicacy, brought about by the BSE crisis in 1989, it was reported. The meat dish contains offal, including sheep lung, which was covered by the American restriction on some imported animal products. ... A spokeswoman for

From the Palm Beach Post: About a dozen senior members of the crew of the beleaguered Palm Beach Princess [cruise ship] were fired Saturday, ... ... The crew is mostly made up of foreign nationals who have work visas that do not allow them on U.S. soil. Those fired were escorted

It's definitely the Christmas season.  Santa yesterday, now a reader points me to this story about nutcrackers: Low-cost imports of nutcrackers pose a risk to the age-old woodcraft of eastern Germany's Erzgebirge region, famous for its Christmas ornaments. The Chinese-made replicas may increasingly look like the

From the Washington Post (via Reuters): Cuban musicians are returning to perform in the United States after a long freeze on such visits, seizing the opportunity of friendlier overtures toward Havana from U.S. President Barack Obama. Well-known Cuban musicians are being granted visas to perform at U.S. venues

From the NY Times: No matter what Congress does with health care legislation in the next few weeks, one thing is already clear: the result will not do much to control the climbing costs of medical care in the United States. And that is why many employers and insurance companies

Maybe some day soon: Cuba is ready to ship 1 million cases of rum to America if Washington eases its 47-year-old embargo, but would hold off exporting its flagship Havana Club brand because of U.S. trademark battles, one of the island's top rum executives said Wednesday....Cuban

From the Economist: Malaysia banned sand exports as long ago as 1997. Indonesia followed suit in 2007 on environmental and, some say, political grounds. Ever since, it has become harder for Singapore to secure supplies for its booming construction industry and sea-fill plans.... So Singaporean contractors turned to Cambodia, where

A reader points me to the following from the Onion: More American Workers Outsourcing Own Jobs Overseas

From the Austrian Times: Egg imports are set to jump this Easter in Austria on the back of falling supply and growing demand, producers have said. Imports of eggs from Germany and the Netherlands are expected to rise by 25 per cent as Austrians will reportedly buy 50 million Easter