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Hello International Traders! Canada is one of the world's biggest trading nations, and I've got a site in this issue that will help you explore opportunities there. Also, I revisit a site where you can search for European suppliers in hundreds of industries. Do you want to find trade shows in Asia? I have a site in this issue that will show you all the upcoming shows in that part of the world. Finally, I profile a search engine that will help you find credible answers to your health questions in an instant.
| CANADA -- OUR FEATURED COUNTRY
Lately in Really Useful Sites I've been trying to find hidden gems, countries
that are small but have the potential for growth as trading partners. This
issue, I want to focus on a country that dwarfs all others as a trading partner
for the U.S. - Canada. Just one example: in 2005 it averaged $1.3 million
Canadian dollars a minute (!) in two-way trade with the U.S. But there's lots of
potential for other countries also - Canada is one of the world's leading
importers and exporters.
If you'd like to learn more about trade with Canada, go to Canada International (http://canadainternational.gc.ca/ci/main_menu-en.aspx), which is a gateway to
information about Canada and its economy. There are lots of links to useful
information at the home page, but businesspeople will definitely want to click
on "Doing Business With Canada". Then, you simply select a topic, an industry or
sector you're interested in, your country, and you'll get links to a robust
amount of information from various Canadian agencies. You'll find: market
research; updates on duties, rules and regulations for selling in Canada; a
directory of Canadian companies; a calendar of business events; and information
about Canada's investment climate. This is just one section of the site, and
other sections have lots more information about business travel in Canada,
investing in Canada, and establishing a business, to name a few topics.
Another good resource is the Canada Mini Portal (http://fita.org/countries/canada.html), one of the new features at the FITA
site. The Mini Portal is a good place to start your research. There is
information about the language, currency, climate, etc., plus more specific
information about the economy, Canadian markets, taxes, news, labor market
indicators, tips on doing business, and a search engine to help you find market
research on the Internet.
Click on "Useful Links" and you'll find a variety of sources for market
research, trade leads, business directories, logistics, government contacts,
travel, financing, and lots more.
The Canada Mini Portal is one of many research gateways at the newly redesigned
FITA site. To find Mini Portals for other regions or countries, just click on
"Country Profiles" from within a Mini Portal, or at the FITA home page (
http://www.fita.org ).
FITA's Global Trade Book Store has some excellent books about doing
business in Canada. Check out Success Secrets to Maximize Business in Canada and Canada Business: The Portable Encyclopedia for Doing Business With Canada. And there are 17 FITA member associations in Canada. Check out their websites
from the FITA Member Directory at http://www.fita.org/members_dir.html for more resources about doing business with Canada.
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WLW -- WER LIEFERT WAS
I wrote about WLW ( http://www.wlw.com ), a European supplier search engine, a
couple of years ago, and I recently went back to evaluate it again. WLW stands
for "wer liefert was?" which is loosely translated from German as "Who supplies
which?". On my recent visit I found the site as useful as before, and I was
happy to see that the site's owners resisted the temptation to jazz it up (and
slow it down) with a lot of fancy graphics, pop-up windows, or company bragging.
It's a no-frills site, but it runs fast, and it will give you a list of
suppliers in seconds. Choose a language and a country (there are six) on the
home page, then you can search by either product/service or company name. In
seconds you'll get a list of suppliers, with names, addresses, telephone
numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web sites. You can filter your results to show
only manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and/or service providers. The
site is still free, as it was when I last visited, and it's still got plenty of
useful information on thousands of companies.
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US CUSTOMS HOUSE GUIDE AND THE OFFICIAL EXPORT GUIDE
http://www.officialexportguide.com
The U.S. Custom House Guide and the Official Export Guide
Subscription Packages provide you with the latest updates on changing
policies, procedures, and regulations for international trade that will
save you time and money. Plus, throughout the year you will have
access to FREE weekly updates online, so you will always have the
latest information from these easy to use, one-stop sources.
- Exclusive Country Trade Profiles
- Complete Harmonized Tariff Schedule
- Uncover emerging opportunities and promising exports
- Investigate foreign countries’ importing regulations
- Up-to-date restricted list
- Import for less as foreign currencies rise
- Avoid a multimillion-dollar lawsuit
- And much more!
To find out more, please visit us at www.customhouseguide.com and www.officialexportguide.com, or call us toll free at 888-215-6084. |
FITA/GLOBAL SOURCES TRADE SHOW CENTER
I don't think there are many industries in the world that haven't been affected
by the booming Chinese economy. China has made great progress in
manufacturing quality products for an attractive price, and you can't ignore
that if you're in business. If you want to keep up with the latest developments
in Chinese products, you should go to a trade show. FITA and Global Sources have teamed up to offer the FITA/Global Sources Trade Show Center ( http://fita.org/gsol ). The Center has listings of all the important trade shows in China, Asia, and even the rest of the world. You can search the trade show listings right from the home page, and click on
the ones that interest you to get more information. You can also register, which
is free, so you can use Global Sources’ directories and trade leads sections ( http://www.fita.globalsources.com ), where you can: do a product and supplier search and inquiry, get product and news alerts sent to your e-mail address, and send inquiries about products you're interested in. There are also many services that suppliers can use to sell, list, and exhibit their products online.
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KOSMIX HEALTH
Kosmix Health (http://kosmix.com/index.html?out=health-js) is a site that makes
me wax rhapsodic about the power of the Internet to do good. This is a search
engine, but it's like a search engine on steroids. Type in a keyword and you get
thousands of results, in a matter of seconds. Don't worry, you won't get
overwhelmed by a search list of that size, because Kosmix Health organizes the
results so well. I typed "acne" (I'm the parent of teenagers), and the results
list came back with categories like: Basic Information, Causes, Treatment,
Prevention, Support Groups & Tools, Natural Remedies, and more. Each link has a
sentence or two of description, so you can see if it's relevant to your query.
At the top of the page were links to the latest news about acne, too. Kosmix
Health is one of five Kosmix search engines - the others deal with video games,
finance, travel, and U.S. politics. Each one delivers thousands of solid,
dependable results in seconds.
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FITA CAREER HEADQUARTERS - FEATURED JOB - INTERNATIONAL TRADE MANAGER
In the new FITA Career Headquarters job seekers can now apply for jobs online
and post their resume--free of charge--in an exclusive database that will be searched
by hundreds of industry employers seeking employees with international degrees
and/or related work experience. Featured job this week is to be International Trade Manager for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The position is based in Richmond, VA Click
here to browse more than 700 other positions! Employers - Click
here to advertise your job openings on FITA's Career HQ.
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GIVE US FEEDBACK!
Please tell us what you think of these Really Useful Sites! Send us your comments (newsletter@fita.org) about this or past issues or to give us suggestions about future editions!
ADVERTISING
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BENEFITS FOR OUR SUBSCRIBERS
http://www.fita.org/marketplace FITA offers our subscribers many benefits. Go to the "Global Trade Shop" for services that are of great value. For example:
Take a look! We welcome our subscribers to publish this whole issue or articles from it. But please note that all material is copyrighted by FITA and must be copied with the following attribution: "This is copied from the newsletter Really Useful Sites for International Trade Professionals, a free, bi-weekly email publication of FITA - The Federation of International Trade Associations. Please feel free to subscribe to this newsletter at http://fita.org/useful."
If you'd like to see all back issues of Really Useful Sites for International Trade Professionals, the full list is at http://www.fita.org/useful/archives. |
Published by Federation of International Trade Associations
Copyright © 2006 Federation of International Trade Associations. All rights
reserved.
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