Chinese Tariffs Discourage US Fashion Companies

A recent report by the U.S. Fashion Industry Association revealed the U.S.-China trade war has pushed U.S. companies to reduce how much they source from China. Up by more than 15% from 2018, 83% said they plan on reducing their sourcing from China. The companies also cited U.S. protectionism and rising production costs as some of the main strains o...
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Progress on US and Chinese Trade Talks Remains Slow

Agriculture is the most recent point of contention between the U.S. and China, with President Trump off-put by China's "lack of agricultural concessions" and requests to ease up on trade restrictions, according to a recent article by Bloomberg.Trump said China did not boost their purchases of American farm products, despite the fact that President ...
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Monthly, Yearly Construction Input Prices Stumble in June

Monthly fluctuations are common, which is why construction economists weren't surprised to see a decrease in June's construction input prices. What experts didn't expect was the same decrease in year-over-year readings for the first time in nearly three years.On July 12, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported a 1.3% decrease in month-ov...
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Las Vegas Stadium Hit with Nonpayment Suit

The under-construction Las Vegas Stadium is facing another hiccup. While the project continues to power through steel work, with substantial completion just weeks away, the future home of the Oakland Raiders is facing a lawsuit. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a subcontractor filed suit claiming it's owed $2.8 million. Las Vegas Stadium ...
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Billtrust Adds to Its Payment Network

Business-to-business order-to-cash solutions firm Billtrust continued to add to its Business Payments Network (BPN) earlier this week. A month after adding Comdata to the BPN, Billtrust welcomed Priority Commercial Payments in a release on July 10."As like-minded FinTechs focused on converting paper check to digital forms of commerce, we are well-p...
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Construction Job Growth Climbs Higher in June

Job growth is continuing to rise in the construction industry, where 21,000 net new jobs were added in June. Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported a total of 7,508,000 construction jobs last month—a 3.1% increase over June 2018."Today's employment numbers indicate the economy is n...
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US Proposes Tariffs on EU Imports, Mostly Food

The U.S. proposed tariffs on goods from the European Union, totaling $4 billion, according to a recent article by Supply Chain Dive. Many of the items on the list are food-related—cheese, olives, meats, pasta and whiskey—but some metals and chemicals made the list as well.Most of the controversy surrounding these tariffs stems from a dispute over a...
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Construction Spending Saw a Decline in May

Construction spending fell during the month of May, according to a recent report by Wells Fargo. Construction expenditures dropped by 0.8%, and residential spending is still much weaker compared to public spending.Residential spending fell 0.6%, and nonresidential spending fell by almost 1%⁠—the first time nonresidential has dipped in about a year....
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June CMI Disappoints After Small Positive Trend

The June Credit Managers' Index (CMI) is not what credit professionals would have hoped for following two straight months of improvement; however, the report is not all bad despite the 0.7-point decline. June's combined reading of 55 is still comfortably within expansion territory (score above 50)."Last month we were grasping at straws and thought ...
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Contractors Show Confidence After Second Quarter’s Upswing

Contractors are looking into the past to prepare for the future and, according to the latest Commercial Construction Index (CCI), the future is positive. USG Corp. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently released the second-quarter CCI, where contractors responded with more optimism than the previous quarter.On June 19, Construction Dive reported...
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Steel Industry Representatives Challenge Tariffs

Representatives from the steel industry went up to the Hill this week to challenge President Trump's tariffs on global steel imports, but the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, according to Supply Chain Dive. The representatives from the steel industry argued the tariffs are unconstitutional. Since the Supreme Court refused the ...
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Capital One Enhancing B2B Footprint

Fortune 500 company Capital One is developing its business-to-business (B2B) services web. Capital One is the latest company to expand its B2B and small- and medium-sized business reach following others such as Visa, Southwest, RBS, UBS, WESCO and others. The company announced last week the acquisition of Maine-based BlueTarp Financial, which speci...
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Existing Home Sales Increase During Month of May

During the month of May, U.S. existing home sales increased by 2.5% compared to last month, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million units, according to a recent article by Reuters. Lower interest rates for mortgages helped give the data a boost this month.Reuters speculated the existing home sale rate would reach 5.25 million uni...
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Small Businesses Feeling Positive About Months to Come

Heading into the summer months, small business owners are feeling hopeful about the business opportunities ahead, according to the latest findings from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). On June 11, FNIB announced that several components in the Small Business Optimism Index improved—the overall index increased 1.5 points for a ...
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Builder Confidence Strong Despite June Letdown

Builder confidence for newly built single-family homes is on the decline, yet overall confidence is still very high. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) slipped two points in June to a reading of 64, the first month-to-month drop since December. However, this is the fifth consecutive month in the 60s. "W...
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Bankruptcy Filings Increase in May

Bankruptcy filings are on the rise. May bankruptcy filings increased 2% year-over-year, according to this week's release from the American Bankruptcy Institute. Commercial filings jumped 3% last month compared to May 2018.Commercial Chapter 11 filings increased 7% in May to nearly 500. "High filing costs place additional debt burdens on struggling ...
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Companies Begin to Move Manufacturing Out of China Amid Tariff Threats and Implementation

Amid the threats and implementation of Chinese tariffs, more companies consider moving operations out of China. According to Supply Chain Dive, companies like Apple and Nintendo have plans to move production to Southeast Asia from China. The fourth list of Chinese tariffs will likely be approved halfway through the month of June, impacting Apple an...
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Construction Jobs Maintain Monthly Growth but Future Uncertain

Jobs in the construction industry rose minimally in May but garnered a 3% year-over-year (YOY) increase, according to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). In its assessment of the latest labor statistics data, ABC reported an additional 4,000 net new construction jobs were added in May, while the overall number of jobs increased to 215,000 co...
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Trade Talks with Mexico Continue Amid Tariff Threats

​Negotiations between the U.S. and Mexico were set to resume June 6 after President Donald Trump said "not nearly enough" progress was made during a meeting between American officials and Mexico's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, according to a recent article by Bloomberg. The tariffs are set to be implemented June 10, leaving little time for furt...
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Sears Bankruptcy Creates More Challenges for Suppliers

The most successful business-supplier relationship is one of reliability. When one of the parties fails to hold its own, the relationship becomes harder to maintain and may even suffer as is the case with retailer Sears and its vendors.Sears first filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018, and about a month later, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approv...
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