Social media marketing has become an important aspect of a brand’s overall marketing strategy, with Instagram emerging as one of the most popular platforms for engagement and brand visibility. With over a billion active users, Instagram offers brands the opportunity to reach a wide and diverse audience. The growing importance of social media marketing, particularly on Instagram, cannot be overstated, as it enables brands to connect with their target audience, build relationships, and promote products and services effectively.

Read also: Marketing Your Business on Instagram

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly impacted social media marketing strategies by providing new tools and techniques to enhance campaign performance and audience engagement. AI is transforming the landscape of social media marketing by automating tasks, analyzing data, and offering valuable insights that were previously difficult or time-consuming to obtain.

The purpose of this blog post is to explore five innovative AI-powered strategies for successful Instagram marketing in 2024. By leveraging AI technologies, brands can optimize their Instagram campaigns and maximize their success on the platform.

The Power of AI in Social Media Marketing

AI is revolutionizing social media marketing by automating repetitive tasks, providing in-depth data analysis, and generating actionable insights. This leads to increased efficiency, improved targeting, and enhanced content creation. Utilizing AI in social media marketing can offer numerous benefits for brands, including:

• Increased Efficiency: Automating tasks such as scheduling posts, analyzing data, and generating reports saves time and resources.
• Improved Targeting: AI analyzes user data and behavior to help brands target their audience more precisely, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates.
• Better Content Creation: AI can generate creative content ideas, captions, and visuals, allowing brands to maintain a consistent and appealing presence on Instagram.

5 Innovative AI-Powered Strategies for Instagram in 2024

1. AI-Driven Content Creation

AI can be utilized to generate creative content ideas, captions, and even visuals for Instagram posts. AI-powered platforms can help brands discover trending topics, create engaging captions, and design visually appealing graphics. This approach ensures that content remains fresh and relevant, which can boost audience engagement and growth.

2. Smart Audience Targeting & Segmentation

AI can analyze user data and behavior to identify ideal target audiences for Instagram campaigns. By leveraging AI-driven insights, brands can segment their audience based on preferences, interests, and behaviors. This precise targeting allows brands to reach the right people with the right message, ultimately increasing the chances of conversion and engagement.

3. Personalized User Experiences

AI can be used to personalize the user experience on Instagram through tailored recommendations, interactive chatbots, and custom content feeds. Personalized experiences are crucial in social media marketing as they foster deeper connections with customers and enhance engagement. By using AI to understand individual preferences, brands can create tailored content that resonates with their audience.

4. Shoppable Video Optimization with AI

Shoppable videos are a powerful tool for driving sales on Instagram. AI can optimize shoppable videos by tagging products, targeting audiences based on user preferences, and providing real-time analytics. This allows brands to create seamless shopping experiences and measure the effectiveness of their shoppable video campaigns.

5. Enhanced Performance Tracking & Reporting

AI can track and analyze Instagram campaign performance in real-time, providing brands with valuable insights into what’s working and what needs improvement. AI-powered tools offer comprehensive data on engagement, reach, and conversion rates, enabling brands to optimize their campaigns for better results.

Conclusion

In summary, the five innovative AI-powered strategies for Instagram marketing in 2024 offer brands the potential to maximize success on the platform. By leveraging AI-driven content creation, smart audience targeting, personalized user experiences, shoppable video optimization, and enhanced performance tracking, brands can elevate their Instagram campaigns to new heights.

AI holds the key to unlocking new possibilities for social media marketing, providing brands with the tools and insights they need to thrive on Instagram. As the platform continues to evolve, embracing AI-powered strategies will be essential for brands looking to stay ahead of the competition and achieve their marketing goals.

The post How AI is Revolutionizing Social Media Marketing: 5 Innovative Strategies for Instagram in 2024 appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

Each country has its own preference for payment methods and being able to successfully integrate them can be the make or break of an international expansion mission. 451Nexus had released a report that flagged poor payment mixes had led to merchants losing over £16.6 billion ($20.1 billion) in revenue in 2021.  

Thus, its key to optimize your payment stack and embrace payment method trends. 

Why is it important to optimize your payment stack?
Being a key part of the customer’s journey and improving your conversion rates significantly, the payment stage of the journey is important to develop an understanding around, as well as being able to respect each market’s payment trends. This will help you adapt and get on the good side of your new potential customers, that will lead to increased revenue.

If you add new payment methods to your mix, this will allow you to reach new pools of consumers you may not have necessarily had access to previously.

One thing to note with cross-border ecommerce and the extension of payment methods, is the increase risk of fraud opportunities. Using data and the knowledge of a rich commerce network will help you detect fraudulent orders and approve more good ones. Partnering with a third-party provider can introduce you to machine-learning and order automation to take the toll off manual order review and assist you on your cross-border expansion journey, all while optimizing your revenue.

E Wallets are overtaking credit cards in North America
Whilst credit cards are the most preferred method within the US as of 2021, e-wallets have become another major player to have entered the scene. As the digital-first buyer is headlining the ecommerce landscape in the US, e-wallets are gaining momentum. By 2025, they are expected to exceed credit cards in popularity, rising from 38.2% in 2020 to 53.2%.

In Canada, things are looking similar. While credit cards are the dominant force with a share of 50% in 2021, digital wallets follow them with a 22% share and are expected to increase as a result of the current ecommerce revolution.

Europe’s adopting a more dispersed approach to payment methods
Digital wallets have become a dominant method of payment, the likes of PayPal and Alipay have been used by  42% of shoppers. Other preferred payment methods include Visa and Mastercard (35% of buyers) followed by domestic bank credit and debit cards (24%).

However, there’s a certain divide of preferred payments throughout the different regions of Europe.

In Westen Europe for example, credit cards and debit cards are still predominately used, however there are some big differences amongst certain countries. In the Netherlands, for instance, the national payment method iDEAL was a top choice with 53% of the Dutch using it in 2020.

While in Eastern Europe countries, some like Slovakia are relying on traditional cash payments, at least, two-thirds of payments are handled this way.

China riding the digital revolution wave
Being at the forefront of digitised payments, China had recorded 72.1% of ecommerce purchases in 2021 being made via digital wallets.

Digital Wallets being utilised in China tend to be tied with the online platform running the cross-border ecommerce scene in the region, such as Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay. By the end of 2021, Tmall Global, an Alibaba-backed cross-border shopping platform, had over one-third of all B2C cross-border ecommerce retailers.

The reign of credit cards dominates Latin America
Credit cards are the dominant payment method in Latin America. In 2021, they comprised 39.3% of the value of transactions across all Latin American markets. In Mexico, 45% of transactions were made this way, while Brazil had a 44.7% of usage, followed by debit cards (18.2%).

However, digital wallets are an emerging trend in Mexico and gaining momentum. In 2021, they comprised a 27.7% share of all transactions. Some of the most popular e-wallets in the country are PayPal, Visa Checkout, Masterpass, and domestic player Mercado Pago.

If you develop a clear understanding of payments and their strategic place within your cross-border expansion, then this can increase your chances of your international expansion success. After that, it’s crucial to optimise your payments stack based on the market you’re expanding into to see good results.

The post Why You Should Optimize Your Payments Stack for a Successful Cross-Border Expansion appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

Read also: Report: Seafood Product Market in the USA

With global concerns mounting over the sustainability of seafood consumption, industry leaders and experts will convene to discuss the critical factors driving what some call the ‘Blue Revolution.’ This revolution seeks to address the urgent need for sustainable practices in seafood production and consumption. Amidst growing awareness, attendees will delve into innovative solutions and developments aimed at ensuring a healthier future for the industry.

At the heart of the event is the question: Can seafood ever feed the planet sustainably? Despite fish accounting for only 2% of human calorie consumption, a staggering 93% of global fish stocks are either fully exploited or overexploited. The symposium aims to tackle this challenge head-on, with a focus on accessible solutions to make sustainable seafood a reality.

The event’s keynote speaker, Jenny Jefferies, an acclaimed author, food writer, and advocate for sustainable food practices, will set the stage for the day’s discussions. Noteworthy sessions include ‘Water to Table,’ which will explore sustainable seafood sourcing and production, and ‘Fish Remade,’ showcasing high-tech alternative fish products.

Attendees can also look forward to interactive sessions such as ‘Making Fish Fashionable,’ led by industry experts, and ‘The Art of Sushi’ workshop, offering hands-on experience with sushi preparation.

Commenting on the event, Paul Smyth, Co-founder and Creative Director of Mission Kitchen, emphasized the importance of addressing critical food matters. He highlighted the urgency of the seafood sustainability agenda amidst heightened media attention and diverse economic and political factors influencing fish availability.

Sponsored by the Mark Leonard Trust, tickets for ‘Future of Fish’ are now available.  For more information and to register, visit Future of Fish. This symposium promises to be a groundbreaking initiative, bringing together over 100 speakers and delegates to foster constructive discussions and share valuable insights.

Mission Kitchen, known for its role as a shared workspace and incubator for food and drink start-ups, aims to drive positive change in the food industry through events like Tomorrow’s Table. By showcasing and amplifying innovative food solutions, Mission Kitchen seeks to contribute to a more sustainable future for food systems worldwide.

For the full schedule of speakers, see the event info.

The post Charting the Course for Sustainable Seafood: The Future of Fish appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

Years ago, consumers only knew a few powerful entrepreneurs and business owners in the e-commerce industry. But things have changed in the past decades and will continue to progress in the coming years as many companies have entered the industry.

When we want to learn about the man behind a company’s triumph, we check the company website or LinkedIn as the profile link will be from the biography. We read their achievements, hoping to learn something from their career advancements.

Starting a company where there are already a lot of dominators can be somewhat intimidating. But these five fearless individuals have successfully helped their companies be e-commerce leaders.

Josh Silverman
CEO, Etsy

Guiding vision:“When you’re looking for socks or batteries or all the commodities needed in daily life, there are plenty of places that can ship them to you quickly. But there are many times in your life you want something to be special— something representing your personal sense of style or taste—for you or as a gift for a friend or relative. It’s those moments where I want people to think ‘There’s no place like Etsy.’”

Josh Silverman is the current CEO of Etsy, an American e-commerce company that focuses on handmade or vintage items.

Etsy was founded in 2005. It was a small company started by Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire, and Haim Schoppik, with Jared Tarbell joining later. Maria Thomas came aboard as chief operating officer in 2008, later became the CEO and then left the company in December 2009. With the company becoming bigger, Kalin resumed his role as CEO through July 2011, when he was fired and Chad Dickerson, the chief technology officer since 2008, was named CEO.

Before Josh Silverman came to Etsy, he had a long and fruitful career. He worked at ADAC Laboratories until resigning in1998. He worked at another establishment, which became Elite. In 2006, he became the CEO of a company owned by eBay. In 2008, he also became the CEO of Skype.

Silverman joined Etsy’s board in 2016. After poor first quarter results, Dickerson, who had been the longest serving Etsy CEO, was forced out. Silverman was appointed as the new chief executive officer in May 2017.

The company had some drawbacks before Silverman became the CEO. Despite the pressure, Silverman didn’t let the company down as it continued to rise.

They acquired Reverb, a music-based marketplace, in 2019.

After that, in 2020, they expanded their clothing line by offering masks to protect against COVID-19. Their share in about 24 million masks was around 11% of gross merchandise sales in the third quarter. During the initial stage of the COVID-19 surge, the company’s profit quadrupled.

And in 2019, they released a statement that they had agreed to acquire Depop, a shopping app.

This proves that Silverman continues to make the company bigger and better, making Etsy one of the most successful e-commerce companies.

Neha Singh
Founder and CEO, Obsess

Guiding vision: “What we do is essentially experiential e-commerce, translating how retailers have gone from being purely transactional to experience based. We aim to take this a step further and create seamless omnichannel strategies that allow products to be part of any scenario. We make virtual stores for brands that are visual, immersive, interactive and discovery driven.”

Obsess was founded in July 2016 in New York. Despite being one of the youngest e-commerce companies, it has proven its dominance in the market in a short amount of time, thanks to the brilliance of its founder and CEO, Neha Singh.

Singh previously worked as a software development intern at Informatica, located in San Francisco, for three months. She moved to a different company and became an investment banking tech intern for Goldman Sachs in New York for three months.

She applied what she learned when she joined Google as a senior software engineer in 2005 and worked there for more than four years.

She started her career in the e-commerce industry when she joined AHAlife as a VP of Product & Engineering. She worked with the founders to create strategies that would increase the company’s business drive.

Vogue was the last company she joined before launching her own. She worked as the head of products for more than three years. She oversaw creating strategies to improve Vogue’s digital platform.

With her tremendous experience in the tech and e-commerce industries, she was able to change how we think about shopping. The company has worked with various brands, including luxury ones.

Their goal is to make the shopping experience of consumers more comfortable. They don’t need to go to the physical store to try the item. Thanks to augmented reality, you will see yourself wearing it on the screen. The shop also offers cosmetics from different brands.

Obsess has been doing it for years and will indeed dominate the market when it comes to adapting the metaverse.

Tarik Faouzi
Senior Vice President of CloudBlue Ingram Micro

Guiding vision: “As digital marketplaces rapidly become the route to market for ISVs [Independent Software Vendors], it’s vital for them to leverage tools that remove barriers to entry by accelerating and streamlining marketplace onboarding, maximizing their ability to get solutions in front of a growing, global audience.”

Tarik Faouzi, who has more than two decades of experience in the IT industry, came to Ingram Micro from Tech Data. He is senior vice president of CloudBlue, which like Ingram Micro is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Faouzi is at the forefront of bringing cloud innovations to the industry. CloudBlue, a marketplace platform for everything-as-a-service solutions, accelerates e-commerce through hyper-efficiency, stability and simplicity.

CloudBlue has worked with various leading companies in the tech and e-commerce industries, such as Dell, Google, and T-Mobile.

When Faouzi rose to vice president, he was put in charge of the product roadmap of Cloud Marketplace-related products, making him one of the key people to Ingram Micro’s strategy and customer success.

Ashish Hemrajani
Founder and CEO, BookMyShow

Guiding vision: “I have nothing against unicorns, it is a great validation to be valued at billion dollars plus. My only concern is that it should not be the only purpose. The purpose of business is to draw from society, create value and be valuable back to society.”

E-commerce isn’t just about fashion and tech. BookMyShow has opened the digital world for performances and concerts. Bookmyshow.com is the No. 1 online ticket booking source for any events in India.

You might not guess that given the company’s humble beginnings. Ashish Hemrajani started his career at J. Walter Thompson Co. as an account and client manager. After going on a vacation with his friends to Africa, he became motivated to start his own business.

He founded the entertainment and recreational services company Bigtree Entertainment in 1999 with Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande. With Hemrajani seeing the need for an online ticketing platform in India, BookMyShow in February 2007 was spun out of Bigtree Entertainment, which now serves as the holding company for its ticketing, information, and analysis subsidiaries.

It was a bumpy ride getting to that point— Bookmyshow.com didn’t have much of an online presence at the start, but excellent management skills helped snare nearly $320,000 (USD) from the company’s first major investor, J.P Morgan.

Hemrajani was patient and waited for the market to catch up. His efforts never went in vain as the company became more popular with many people. Thanks to his excellent leadership, he won the prestigious Executive of the Year 2018 honor at The Ticketing Business Awards held at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England.

He has said in recent interviews that the global pandemic caused BookMyShow to bottom out, as there were no shows or live performances to ticket, but the company bounced back as things opened back up. Bookmyshow.com has now expanded to other countries.

Aside from concerts, the company also caters to sporting events. And people don’t need to pay cash anymore. They can easily buy their tickets through the website or mobile app with debit or credit cards as well as digital banking services such as PayPal.

Harley Finkelstein
President, Shopify

Guiding vision:“Entrepreneurship now is so much more accessible than it’s ever been. And technology is a massive catalyst for that. The internet is this new incredible city, in my mind, that is brand new, and it means that we’re all closer and we connect with more like-minded people and it’s so dynamic. So those examples of starting a brick-and-mortar store versus starting a digital store and being able to get information and pivot and adapt—it’s just the risk tolerance required is very different, which means that there’s no better time, maybe in the history of the planet, to be an entrepreneur than right now.”

Ottawa, Canada’s Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake opened the online snowboard shop Snowdevil in 2004. However, they became dissatisfied by the results and concentrated instead on the e-commerce platform they built and launched in June 2006: Shopify.

Lütke, who may very well be the only fortysomething billionaire on the planet nicknamed “Tobi,” is now the multinational e-commerce company’s CEO.

After finishing his studies at the University of Ottawa, Harley Finkelstein worked for a year at a Toronto law film. In 2009, he met Lütke, and the pair started discussing career opportunities at Shopify. Finkelstein became chief platform officer.

In December 2014, he was appointed a member of the board of C100, a support organization for Canada’s technology community that builds a bridge between the tech industry there and Silicon Valley.

Two years later, Finkelstein became Shopify’s chief operations officer, and a year after that he joined the board of CBC, Canada’s public broadcasting company. He rose to president of Shopify in September 2020, and the 38-year-old also serves as company spokesman.

E-commerce is here to stay. It will indeed become a larger industry in the future as we progress. People want to experience convenience through innovations. And that phenomenon is baked into these companies.

Some, if not all, of the e-commerce leaders we featured sustained hardships throughout their careers, but one thing is for sure: They never gave up pursuing their goals. And they were dedicated to ensuring their respective company’s success.

They deserve to be named e-commerce’s new leaders who will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs, businessmen and employees.

Written by Owen Carter, Senior Account Manager at Plat.com

The post THE A-TEAM OF E-COMM appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

Work in manufacturing was traditionally viewed as a path to the middle class. Higher levels of education weren’t required and the pay was above average. Yet, over the past thirty years, manufacturing has taken a hit. The sector has witnessed a precipitous drop from its mid-20th century heights, and some are wondering if the golden years are officially behind us.  

As globalization continues to advance, more and more companies have moved offshore, seeking lower costs and thus greater profit margins. Trade deals like NAFTA create more competitors for US producers and technological advances have lessened the need for physical human beings (in support of automized bots) in some industries. Couple this with many industrialized countries encouraging university studies as opposed to trade schools, sectors that traditionally relied on more manual labor are having to contend with declining labor-related interest.  

Yet, despite these challenges, the US is a large country and we are witnessing a rebound of sorts in manufacturing’s share of employment in some states. Traditionally, northern states like Pennsylvania and New York were manufacturing hubs. Employment and output have dropped, but it hasn’t disappeared. Rather, other states have picked up the slack. 

Take for example Utah. The state posted an impressive 23.2% manufacturing employment growth from 2010 to 2020 and 18.5% manufacturing GDP growth over the same period. In Oregon, the employment growth was lower than in Utah (13.4%), but the Beaver State boasts an impressive manufacturing share of total GDP for the state – 15.4%.

Three decades ago neither state would have been considered a manufacturing hub. So while US manufacturing is certainly nowhere near its World War II level, southern and western US states are advancing the sector forward and providing meaningful employment opportunities for millions of Americans. 

State metro areas are categorized as large, medium, and small. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California is a large metro area and has seen its share of manufacturing GDP growth absolutely balloon by nearly 100% (94.6%) from 2010 to 2020. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee is another large metro area that has just arrived to double digits with respect to the state’s manufacturing share of total GDP – 10.3%.

Narrowing down further, midsize metros like Vallejo, California, Reno, Nevada, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Mobile, Alabama are now manufacturing hotbeds. Small metro areas like Lake Charles, Louisiana, Spartanburg, South Carolina, Kankakee, Illinois, and Bellingham, Washington are bringing much-needed employment and growth to their respective communities. 

Domestic manufacturing contributes to more resilient supply chains and can be a safety net of sorts when global chains falter. If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, the world economy is as integrated as it’s ever been. As such, bolstering a national manufacturing sector could not be more important.         

The post A U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance  appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of CGEP and Co-Founding Dean at the Columbia Climate School made it known that the latest IPCC report has made it clear the Agency needed to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions if they’re to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees C and Although challenging, getting to net-zero emissions for industry isn’t impossible while also adding that Chris is a welcome addition to the growing team at their Carbon Management Research Initiative.

Industrialization is a key driver of economic growth but also responsible for roughly 24 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. In the heavy industry group, cement, steel, and petrochemicals are the top emitters and pose some of the biggest decarbonization challenges in any net-zero scenario. Emissions from heavy industry are primarily produced from the burning of fossil fuels for energy. CGEP has prioritized looking at low-carbon solutions for industrial heat.

Dr. Bataille emphasized that Net-zero deep decarbonization of heavy industry has been his passion and focus since the Paris Agreement was signed in late 2015 and While time is short, so much more seems possible now with concentrated effort adding that He looks forward to working with CGEP and its global community to make heavy industry decarbonization a physical reality.

Dr. Bataille is also an Associate Researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris and an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University. He was a Lead Author for the Industry Chapter of IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, as well as the Summary for Policy Makers and Technical Summary.

The post Dr. Chris Bataille Joins the Center on Global Energy Policy as Adjunct Research Fellow appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

The stakes and opportunities of such a move are nowhere higher than in clean energy sectors, where China currently dominates global manufacturing. China makes roughly two-thirds of the world’s solar panels, nearly half of global wind turbines, and three quarters of lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles and on-grid energy storage. To date, the U.S. federal government has not done enough to improve the competitive position of domestic clean energy sectors, which could provide an alternative to the current reliance on China. In the absence of policies to support these industries domestically, tariffs—the main U.S. government response to China’s rise—have made clean energy technologies more expensive but have not drastically improved the competitive position of American firms.

Other economies have taken a different approach. Partly in response to China’s dominance in clean technology industries, European policymaking  now treats climate change as an economic imperative, as governments seek to expand shares for domestic firms in growing global clean energy technologies markets and hope to meet a growing share of domestic demand with home-grown technologies. From offshore wind turbines to hydrogen and battery technologies, Europe has combined economic and climate objectives in strategic initiatives to support the growth of domestic clean energy industries. For instance, the EU established the European Battery Alliance to reduce dependence on China for the highest value components in electric vehicle manufacturing. Its goal is to position domestic firms along the entire battery supply chain for economic and security reasons, with the alliance taking on a coordinating function to bring the required industrial actors together. The EU’s push to self-sufficiency in the use of clean energy technologies has taken on new urgency since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the continent seeks to reduce its dependence on imports of Russian fossil fuels.

The United States needs to treat climate policy as economic policy or risk falling behind other economies that have made clean energy industries a domestic priority. Not just since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, the Biden administration has looked for ways to boost the domestic production of clean energy technologies. Yet the use of tools such as the Defense Production Act alone won’t be sufficient to secure the domestic production of clean energy technologies that are needed more than ever for energy security and to protect the United States from a volatile global price environment. To strengthen the competitive position of domestic clean energy sectors, the United States should (i) improve financing for domestic clean technology industries through the creation of a national lending institution, (ii) create a stable domestic market environment for low-carbon technologies to reduce investment uncertainty, and (iii) renew investments in vocational training to create a workforce ready to tackle the clean energy challenge. Without a clear strategy to support the growth of domestic clean energy sectors, calls for greater economic separation from China will likely jeopardize climate goals while ceding economic gains to nations with more comprehensive green growth strategies.

WHY CLIMATE POLICY IS ECONOMIC POLICY

Historically, governments have often prioritized economic growth over climate policy, particularly during periods of economic hardship. Yet the view that emissions reductions and good economic policy are irreconcilable is increasingly outdated. In 2021, global markets for renewable energy and electric vehicles soared to USD $366 and USD $273 billion, respectively; global investment in the clean transition topped USD $755 billion. Global clean energy markets are now roughly equivalent to the GDP of Switzerland and roughly three times the size they were ten years ago.

In light of rapidly growing markets for clean energy technologies, policymakers around the world have begun to promise new jobs, industries, and sources of prosperity in the transition to a zero-carbon economy. In addition to creating service-sector jobs in the installation and maintenance of clean energy technologies and infrastructure for the electrification of the transportation sector, policymakers have argued that climate policy will lead firms to invest in technological innovation and ultimately co-locate manufacturing to commercialize and produce clean energy technologies domestically. Among policy options to address climate change, those that pursued the dual objective of achieving emissions reductions while creating new sources of economic growth have been easier to implement politically. Such economic benefits have also helped justify growing public investments in the clean energy transition.

Yet economic co-benefits from climate policy have not been achieved everywhere. Although governments worldwide have connected climate policymaking to the broader premise of “green growth,” not all economies have successfully built large industrial sectors in support of decarbonization. One reason green sources of economic growth have proven elusive has been the political opposition of industries invested in fossil fuels. Clean energy sectors—wind, solar, storage, and electric vehicles, among others—continue to compete with an existing fossil fuel-based energy system. Utility companies, car manufacturers, and traditional energy providers have mounted political opposition to the clean energy transition. In many cases, such opposition has undermined policies to create markets for clean energy technologies and prevented state support for firms seeking to develop zero-carbon alternatives. This is true even if in many parts of the world new energy technologies are now cheaper than those they are seeking to replace.

Other governments have begun to strategically position their domestic economies to benefit from rapidly growing investment in clean energy. Nowhere is this more the case than in China, which has rapidly established itself as the dominant manufacturer in industries central to addressing greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past two decades, China has increased its share of global solar photovoltaic production from less than 1 percent to over 60 percent of the world’s solar panels. For 15 of the past 17 years, China has added more production capacity for crystalline solar cells than any other country in the world. China is also one of the world’s largest producers of and market for electric vehicles. It now commands roughly 75 percent of global production capacity for non-consumer batteries, which are the highest value component in electric vehicles and critical for on-grid electricity storage. China dominates most individual steps in the supply chain, including in the mining and production of Nickel, Cobalt, and Lithium, in the manufacturing of cathodes and anodes, and lithium-ion cell manufacturing. In 2020, China accounted for 58 percent of global production capacity for wind turbine nacelles, primarily for its large and growing domestic market. In addition to producing components for domestic turbine assembly, China produces gearboxes and generators that are used by turbine manufacturers around the world.

China’s dominance in the production of low-carbon energy technologies has national security implications in the United States and elsewhere. Without investments in alternative supply chains from raw materials to final assembly, meeting global climate goals could mean trading dependence on Russian fossil fuels for  reliance on China for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy products. As the Ukraine crisis has demonstrated, such interdependencies are easily weaponized.

China’s rise to dominance in clean energy industries was not accidental, but the result of strategic and aggressive government support for R&D and manufacturing. No other economy has devoted a similar level of resources to the expansion of production capacity and manufacturing R&D in clean energy sectors central to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This has especially been the case since 2006, when the central government began encouraging “indigenous innovation” to reduce dependence on foreign technologies through increased domestic R&D efforts. Efforts further accelerated under President Xi’s Made in China 2025 initiative, which designated the development of domestic low-carbon emitting technology sectors as a strategic national priority. China’s provincial and municipal governments, meanwhile, brokered bank loans and provided land, facilities, and tax incentives to manufacturers in wind, solar, and battery industries. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2012 alone, wind and solar firms received credit lines of USD $47 billion by Chinese banks; the China Development Bank, one of three state-owned policy banks, reportedly extended USD $29 billion in credit to the 15 largest wind and solar firms.

In part in response to China’s rise in clean energy industries, the European Union has increasingly treated climate policy as economic policy. The EU’s “Fit for 55” proposal seeks to marry climate and economic goals by investing in low-carbon industries that guarantee jobs and prosperity as Europe pushes emissions reductions. Such goals are also noticeable in Europe’s transportation sector, where the EU has proposed reducing new vehicles’ average emissions by 55 percent in 2030 and 100 percent in 2035. This amounts to an outright ban of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035, expanding on policies that have already passed in individual member states including France.

The EU proposals send a strong signal to European firms that they need to participate in the transition away from fossil fuels or be left behind in a global industrial policy competition with China. In combination with promises to expand renewable energy capacity and charging infrastructure, increase taxes on conventional fuels, and develop low-carbon sources of hydrogen, these policies for clean energy industries build on ongoing efforts to close key gaps in industrial supply chains. As mentioned above, the EU has already funded a European Battery Alliance to establish a competitive European battery industry that would reduce Europe’s dependence on China.

All this fits with a broader shift to push back globalization and create domestic sources of growth, particularly in strategic clean energy sectors with rapidly growing global markets and domestic security implications. More than forty percent of Europe’s pandemic stimulus package is dedicated to projects that further both economic competitiveness and address greenhouse gas emissions through support for green industries. The pace and level of support of the creation of domestic low-carbon industries has only accelerated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

THE PROBLEM WITH U.S. POLICIES FOR LOW-CARBON INDUSTRIES

As China began to dominate global supply chains for clean energy technologies, the U.S. responded with a series of trade barriers against Chinese imports. Initially targeting Chinese wind turbine towers, tariffs were expanded to Chinese solar panels under the Obama administration. Tariffs were renewed in 2018 under the Trump administration, again targeting Chinese solar cells despite vocal opposition from the domestic solar industry which feared the impact of rising prices in the large U.S. solar installation and maintenance industry.

Despite these trade barriers, manufacturing did not “come back” to the United States as both Democratic and Republican administrations had argued. Tariffs instead led to relocation of production capacity to other Asian economies, including to Vietnam and Malaysia, but they did not forge a reorganization of the solar industry in the United States or promote the expansion of domestic manufacturing capacity. China continues to account for roughly two-thirds of global production capacity in the solar sector, and most U.S. panels are imported.

More recently, the Biden administration launched a broad investigation into gaps in domestic supply chains from both economic and security perspectives in the context of China’s dominance in key industrial sectors. But the administration has thus far continued to primarily rely on tariffs implemented under previous administrations as its main tool to improve the competitiveness of domestic firms. The Strategic Competition Act, which seeks authorization to assist U.S. companies with supply chain diversification away from China, proposes new investments in domestic infrastructure to compete with China and emphasizes the need to build alliances to counteract China’s growing international influence. The bill remains stalled in Congress. The Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, which passed in November 2021 with bipartisan support, includes investments in the domestic grid and electric vehicle (EV)-related infrastructure, but does not directly address the competitiveness of domestic clean energy technology firms. Proposals such as the use of the Defense Production Act to accelerate domestic mining could increase the availability of raw materials needed for low-carbon technologies but do little to address underlying structural problems of U.S. clean tech manufacturing. Meanwhile, the March 2022 launch of an investigation into possible tariff evasion by Chinese companies—and the prospect of new tariffs on Asian solar panels—has prompted protest by the U.S. solar industry which fears higher prices.

WHAT THE UNITED STATES CAN DO TO BUILD A CLEAN ENERGY MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The United States is uniquely equipped to lead the development of new energy technologies needed to meet global climate goals. However, China is on course to overtake the U.S. in R&D spending unless domestic efforts are accelerated. The U.S. has historically been the largest investor in clean energy R&D and continues to lead research and development for many key low-carbon technologies. U.S. companies remain at the forefront of developing next-generation technologies that could make decarbonization cheaper and more efficient, including next-generation solar technologies, advanced battery chemistries, new building materials, smart grid technologies, and software to manage complex energy systems.

Eventually, new technologies have to be commercialized and manufactured at scale, and currently little support exists for such activities domestically. U.S. startups, unable to fund or find domestic manufacturing capabilities, often work with foreign partners or are bought by multinational firms. Tariffs against Chinese imports or finger-pointing at China’s industrial policies have done little to change the global division of labor in favor of domestic clean energy industries.

A three-pronged policy approach to support domestic clean energy industries as part of a national strategy for technological innovation could help America combine economic and climate objectives.

1. A national lending institution to help fund manufacturing

First, a government-established lending institution should finance clean energy firms that the U.S. financial system has been unwilling to fund. A key reason for the lack of domestic clean tech manufacturing in particular has been the scarcity of capital among clean technology firms. Clean energy startups have struggled to raise sufficient funds to invest in domestic manufacturing capacity, as American financial institutions have prioritized industrial sectors—including software—that have historically yielded higher and faster returns. Proposals to establish a national climate bank have not included support for the clean technology industries needed to achieve climate goals.

A government-owned lending institution tasked with providing capital to manufacturing businesses in critical industries such as clean energy would address a financing problem that the private sector has been unable to solve. Although the United States has historically led in the development of new technologies as a result of large injections of public and private capital, long investment horizons, large upfront investment costs, and technological risks associated with the commercialization of new technologies have prevented private investors from supporting domestic manufacturing. This is particularly the case for technologies central to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including renewable energy, batteries, and high-voltage transmission.

A national lending institution would not crowd out the private sector since private financial institutions have historically avoided lending to clean energy manufacturing firms. After a one-time capitalization through the U.S. government, a politically-independent, non-partisan, and not-for-profit lending institution would be self-sustaining, generating enough revenue to maintain and even grow its capital base. It would focus on supporting domestic supply chains in critical industries and promoting the commercialization of U.S.-developed technologies, and it would prioritize the capital needs of manufacturers in traditionally underfunded industrial sectors such as clean energy.

The creation of such an institution—modelled on U.S. intervention in home financing through the establishment of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or the government-owned EXIM Bank—would put clean energy manufacturing firms in the United States on equal footing with firms in other parts of the world, where such financing corporations already exist. China’s state-owned development banks have already demonstrated that large loans for manufacturing business were central to China’s rise in clean energy industries. Germany’s KfW bank, one of the largest in the country, is another example of a government-owned financial institution tasked with addressing the capital needs of underfunded sectors of the economy. Perhaps somewhat ironically, KfW’s initial capitalization, in 1949, was made with U.S. funds dispensed through the Marshall Plan.

2. Stable support for low-carbon technology markets

 Historically, the share of domestically manufactured parts and components in clean energy technologies deployed in the United States have been lower than in other economies, including those in Europe with similar or higher cost of labor. A key obstacle to investments in domestic production has been the unstable regulatory environment and frequent changes or expirations of government incentives. Examples include the federal production and investment tax credits for wind and solar installations, which, although critically important for the financial viability of such projects particularly in early years of the industry, were often allowed to expire or renewed at the last minute. Such uncertainty deterred manufacturers (and their investors), which faced significant investments to build or retool domestic plants for the production of clean energy technologies with uncertain future markets. The lack of industrial coalitions in support of long-term climate policy in turn further undermined the establishment of a regulatory and market environment that would attract such firms in the first place, leaving U.S. climate policy exposed to political pressure from the fossil fuel lobby.

Long-term federal support for low-carbon technology markets, including through government procurement, caps on future auto emissions, and federal incentives for clean energy targets at the state level, could make it easier for firms to finance investments in U.S. production. The Biden administration has already announced federal procurement goals for electric vehicles, which prompted a number of manufacturers to explore the establishment of U.S. production facilities for EV batteries. But other measures would help. For instance, a number of key industrial economies with large domestic auto industries announced future bans of the internal combustion engine, both prompting their automakers to invest in electric vehicle technologies and ensuring them that domestic markets would reward such investments. The United States has not announced such plans at the federal level. Federal procurement goals for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and public support for clean hydrogen and other next-generation technologies would provide additional motivation for the private sector to invest in the U.S. market. Long-term procurement contracts could provide some insulation against the political volatility that often comes with changes in presidential administrations. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the repercussions for global energy markets may have opened new avenues for bipartisan support of domestic low-carbon industries, particularly if public investments are spread across both Republican and Democratic states.

3. Renewed federal investment in vocational training

Third, federal investments in vocational training programs are needed to meet the workforce needs of a growing clean energy manufacturing industry. Historically, large manufacturing corporations in the United States conducted much vocational training internally, with spillover effects for the economy as a whole. They also supported vocational schools in their communities to actively train a labor pool from which they could recruit. Long job tenures provided incentives for firms to invest in such training. Yet changes in the composition of the U.S. manufacturing sector has in many places ended such investments. At the same time, shortening of job tenures now means that firms worry that workers will undergo expensive training only to be poached by other firms. Vocational schools have closed in many parts of the country, as a declining community of local manufacturing businesses has reduced the demand for graduates and public funds have been cut.

The federal government should renew its investments in vocational training programs to train and retrain workers to meet the demand of clean energy industries. Federal grants could support vocational schools and community colleges in establishing dedicated clean energy manufacturing curricula in partnership with industrial partners. Federal support is also critical to overcome collective action problems in the establishment of a paid apprenticeship system, as companies are reluctant to invest in such training on their own for fear that their trainees will eventually be recruited by other firms. The federal government should complement and support state-level initiatives, which often have better information about local conditions, including demand from local businesses and strengths and weaknesses of existing training institutions. But, as the European approach to building a battery industry has demonstrated, training needs for entire new industrial sectors are often greater than the capacity of individual states. The federal government is uniquely equipped to work with the private sector to establish training needs, coordinate such efforts along the entire supply chain, take advantage of network effects in education, and pool resources, particularly in areas with a weak fiscal base.

Such public support for vocational training and retraining is especially important in places that currently depend heavily on fossil fuel industries. Coordination with the private sector is critical to ensure that training meets the needs of clean energy manufacturers. The European Battery Alliance could serve as an example; a key objective of it has been to establish future workforce education needs through public-private collaboration. In the United States, many states have set up “Just Transition” programs with the goal of diversifying the economy, but their coverage is uneven, and they do not always specifically target workforce development for the clean energy industry. Historically, the United States has been outspent by other economies on government resources devoted to training and retraining initiatives, often preventing workers from transitioning to new industrial sectors.

CONCLUSION

The United States has traditionally been the largest investor in clean energy research and development and continues to lead in many areas critical for decarbonization. Yet the United States risks losing its leadership position as other economies, including China and the European Union, have made low-carbon industries a priority. To change this, the United States needs to treat climate policy as economic policy and begin improving conditions for segments of low-carbon energy supply chains that are currently not well-supported domestically. This also means investing in domestic manufacturing capabilities as part of a national strategy for technological innovation. Even then, it is unlikely that entire value chains for complex energy technologies would lie entirely within national borders. The United States should therefore not lose sight of the substantial domestic economic benefits from investments in decarbonization, even if a share of these low-carbon energy technologies is, for now, manufactured abroad.

The post The US should Treat Climate Policy as Economic Policy appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

US Secretary of Commerce, Gina M. Raimondo in his remarks made it known today that the more countries that agree to implement tough export controls, the less chance Vladimir Putin has to obtain the commodities, software, and technologies that he needs to sustain his brutal war machine, saying the US welcome the commitment of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland to joining the U.S. and 33 other allies and partners in standing together against Putin’s aggression.

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves added that today’s rule recognizes the strong partnership they have with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland in standing up for democracy and in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. He in his speech also mentioned that the effectiveness of export controls is enhanced greatly when they are joined by committed international allies and partners., recognizing that the more the coalition with foreign countries grows, the fewer places Putin and the Kremlin can turn for aid.

Under a rule issued and implemented today by BIS, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland are added to the list of countries that are excluded from certain license requirements of the U.S. Russia/Belarus Sanctions rules, including the foreign direct product (FDP) rules for Russia/Belarus and Russian/Belarusian Military End Users (MEUs). Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland join Australia, Canada, the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, bringing the total number of countries excluded from application of the FDP rules to 37.

Specifically, under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), countries that have made a commitment to implement substantially similar export controls on Belarus and Russia under their domestic laws may receive full or partial exclusions, as appropriate, from the FDP rules’ license requirements, and such license requirements are not used to determine controlled U.S.-content under the EAR’s de minimus rules provided certain criteria set forth under the new Russia-Belarus restrictions (§746.8 of the EAR) are met.

Adoption of substantially similar export controls by the countries in the coalition expands the scope of products that cannot be obtained by Russia and Belarus. Countries that apply substantially similar controls to those of the United States through their own laws are excluded from application of the FDP rules for Russia/Belarus and Russian/Belarusian MEUs because their own domestic controls duplicate the effects of these FDP rules. These partners are sharing in the effort required to implement these controls globally through their own legal systems, educating companies on compliance responsibilities under their domestic laws, and leveraging their law enforcement resources. The United States will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to share information and enforcement resources, and to coordinate on the commodities, technologies, and software to be controlled, which will result in an increasingly effective global effort.

These BIS actions were taken under the authority of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and its implementing regulations, the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The post Commerce Announces Addition of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland to Global Export Controls Coalition appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

A group of students currently studying Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Auburn University, were given an exclusive, behind-the-scenes air cargo familiarization tour at Atlanta Airport on 25 March 2022. It was a joint initiative planned by Auburn University, JAS Worldwide, Swissport, and Qatar Airways Cargo.

The 7.5-hour event kicked off in the afternoon, first with lunch at the JAS WW Campus Sandy Springs, a meet and greet session with JAS and Qatar Airways Cargo management, and company presentations, before transferring to Atlanta Airport. Following the airport’s introductory presentation, the students were given a tour of the Swissport warehouse and then taken airside to witness the arrival of Qatar Airways Cargo flight QR8141 from Doha, Qatar, and its subsequent offloading and reloading.

In smaller groups of five, the students took turns in visiting the main deck, observing the main deck high loader in operation, and learning how the Swissport warehouse operates from cargo build-up to breakdown, as well as flight planning and preparation. Refreshments in the Swissport warehouse rounded off the educational and informative familiarization tour.

Matthias Frey, Global VP Airfreight Operations at JAS at the event emphasized on the the importance of logistics as it became very visible over the past two years, whereas in the past, the industry was very much the silent strongman in the background, struggling to attract the air cargo managers of tomorrow.

Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways, commented on their partnership with Auburn University in the past, conducting speaking sessions and participating in their Job Fair.

Halleux pointed out the fact that the Atlanta air cargo facility will be their first joint familiarization tour with the university, and it will certainly not be the last, as they look forward to making it a recurring event having planned a second one already  in the Autumn.

The post Auburn University Students Visit the Air Cargo Facility at Atlanta Airport   appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.

According to Westports Holdings, on 4 April at around 4.45 pm, the Port Police Control Centre (PPCC) received a call regarding a fire in the container yard.

Following the call, the PPCC called the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) from Port Klang, who shortly after deployed two fire engines to combat the flames.

The FRD will soon be commencing an investigation as to the cause and source of the incident. The Royal Malaysian Police has also been notified. They too will be investigating.

“At this point in time, we are unable to ascertain the extent of the damaged containers. All the affected box operators will be notified in due course,” said Westports in a statement.

“There were no damages to port equipment and infrastructure. We are also pleased to inform that there were no injuries or disruption to our operations.

“We would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to everyone involved in helping us to put out the fire particularly FRD from various stations.”

Last month, two separate fires also broke out at the Durban Container Terminal in South Africa.

On Saturday afternoon 5 March, a fire broke out inside a container which was situated in the stacking area at the Durban Container Terminal (Pier 2).

A separate fire then broke out on Monday morning 7 March.

The cause of the incidents is still unknown.

The post Fire Breaks out in Port Klang Container Yard appeared first on Global Trade Magazine.