Business Without Borders – International Business and Tax Planning Blog

Posts Tagged ‘China’

This week in international business news, we cover Japan’s Sony possible divestiture of its consumer electronics division, the European Commission’s potential investigation of Chinese network-equipment makers, and the fallout from the discovery that Bloomberg reporters had access to sensitive information of financial service companies.

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This week in international business news, we cover SEC cross-border security-based swaps rule promulgated under Dodd-Frank, China’s “pillar industry” policy, and solar panel-related battle between India and U.S.

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This week in international business, we cover news on the World Trade Organization’s forecast for projected trade growth in 2013, China’s new currency trade partner,  Luxembourg’s bank secrecy rules, and U.S. Federal Reserve plans for stimulus-related policy of purchasing of U.S. bonds.

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This week in international business, we have an update on relations between Apple and China.  We also cover news on  efforts in Japan to achieve 2% inflation rate, impact of Puerto Rican bonds on the U.S., and revelations on who is taking advantage of offshore tax shelters.

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This week in international business, we cover news on  World Bank, Apple, and software resale in the EU.

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The news has been filled with stories involving the hacking of companies, governmental departments, and prominent peoples’ private computer information.  U.S. government sources claim that much of the hacking is being done by the Chinese.

With the advent of computer technology, the world has become a smaller, faster, and more organized place.   Each step forward brings downside impact  with it.  With the internet and IT technology, the issue of security has become a critical issue.  There are those at the highest levels of government who concede that cyber warfare is this century’s most lethal weapon.  Hackers can turn off national electric grids; steal secret government information; and obtain intellectual property, development plans, or economic information that can be used for profit or mischief.

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This week in international business, we cover news on  H1B visas, a solar panel manufactures going bankrupt, transparency reports, and the hacking of broadcasters and banks in South Korea.

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AILA has just issued a follow up Practice Alert to the Alert of last Friday concerning the availability of EB2 visas for China and India.  The Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State, Charles Oppenheim has advised AILA that the EB2 priority date will retrograde to August 15, 2007, when the May Visa bulletin is issued.   According to the Alert, the USCIS will continue processing EB2 adjustment applications from China and India (which they refer to as “preadjudication”) if filed by the end of April.  The preadjuicated cases will be held as “pending” just in case the visa numbers reopen during the current fiscal year.  There was no mention of the EB3 regression dates in the Alert.  If you have been thinking of filing for EB2 and you are from China or India, this is not good news at all.  It is also not good news for U.S. employers who need the skills those who qualify for EB2 status have.    The U.S. will fall further and further behind in the international market place until such time as Congress wakes up and reforms this unpredictable and inefficient system of visa allocation.  Make the employer verify that it can not hire from the U.S. work force, but let the marketplace, not arbitrary numbers, govern the number of people who can come and  contribute to the economy of the U.S.

The U.S. State Department today released the visa bulletin showing the immigrant visas available during the month of April. China, India, Mexico and the Philippines have their own allocations of visas, with the rest of the world lumped into one overall visa group. As with the bulletins of the past months, there is again slight improvement in both the family sponsored and employment based visa categories for both China and India. The family visa numbers for Mexico and the Philippines remained fairly constant and the general world wide categories show some slight improvement. Even with the improved numbers the wait time for an EB3 (Skilled worker or professionals) based immigration petition is still over nine years for India, seven years for China, EB2s (Advance degree holders or Persons of Exceptional Ability) from both India and China are at May 2010 priority dates with Mexico and the Philippines being current.  F1s (Unmarried children of U.S. citizens) do not fair much better in the visa waiting game with worldwide, China, and India visas available for priority dates of April 2005.  Mexico is at May 1993 and Philippines at June 1997 for F1s. The priority date for F2s (Spouses of Permanent U.S. Residents) remains in 2009 for all countries. The complete bulletin can be found here.

Reuters reports: Jeff Immelt, co-CEO of the largest U.S. conglomerate GE and a top adviser to the Obama administration on jobs and the economy, says the U.S. is not trying hard enough to boost exports, which is contributing to the poor economy and high unemployment. He thinks if U.S. companies focus on exporting more goods, making the effort “to compete, educate and sell our products around the world,” the U.S. economy would improve. Immelt notes the vigor with which German manufacturers support Chancellor Merkel in promoting German products around the world and believes that American business should support Obama’s drive to double exports over the next five years in the same way. He believes that the U.S. can compete with China and sees Russia and resource-rich African countries as significant investment opportunities. Ultimately, Immelt notes that stronger growth is the only real answer to the rising disillusionment and unemployment. “The only way to solve this specific problem is growth,” Immelt said. “If unemployment comes down, people will feel better. If unemployment goes up, people will feel worse, no matter what goes on Wall Street.”

U.S. not “trying that hard” on exports: GE’s Immelt