Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/643635
8 January 2016 www.cargobusinessnews.com neWs, trends & analysIs of the Federal Maritime Commission's bureau of enforcement. For more of The Wall Street Journal story: blogs.wsj.com dATA REliAbiliTy qUESTioNEd AfTER ChiNA-hoNg koNg TRAdE SURgES 10.8 PERCENT China exports to Hong Kong rose 10.8 percent year-over-year for the biggest increase in over a year, making the city the biggest destination for shipments in December and triggering renewed skepticism over data reliability and the broader recovery in China's exports. Exports to Hong Kong rose to $46 billion last month, according to just- released General Administration of Cus- toms data. That was the highest value in almost three years and the biggest amount for any December period in the last 10 years, customs data show. Imports from Hong Kong surged 65 percent, the most in three years, to $2.16 billion. Economists said the surprise gains may echo past instances of phony in- voicing and other rules skirted to escape currency restrictions. China's govern- ment said in 2013 that some data on trade with Hong Kong were inflated by arbitrage transactions intended to avoid rules, an acknowledgment that export and import figures were overstated. The increase in exports to Hong Kong and China's imports from the city prob - ably indicate "fake invoicing," said Iris Pang, a senior economist for Greater China at Natixis in Hong Kong. Invoic- ing of China trade should be larger in December because of the wider gap be- tween the onshore yuan and the offshore yuan traded in Hong Kong, she said. China's exports to the Special Admin- istrative Region of more than 7 million people eclipsed the $35 billion tallies last month for both the U.S. and the Euro- pean Union, the data show. Exports to Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, and Russia all dropped more than 10 percent. The imports gain "points to potential renewed fake trade activities," said Larry Hu, head of China Economics at Mac - quarie Securities in Hong Kong. When the yuan rose in 2013, exports to Hong Kong were inflated artificially, he said, and "now it's just the opposite." The recovery in exports in December may prove to be a temporary one due to a seasonal increase at the end of the year, and it doesn't represent a trend, a spokesman for customs said. A weak yuan will help exports, but that effect will gradually fade, the spokesman told reporters in Beijing. For more of the Bloomberg story: www.bloomberg.com NoRfolk SoUThERN CoNSolidATES viRgiNiA UNiTS To CUT CoSTS Photo credit: Reuters/Valerie Volcovici U.S. railroad operator Norfolk South- ern Corp, which has repeatedly rejected the Canadian Pacific Railway takeover bid, said it will consolidate its Virginia and Pocahontas units, to cut costs and support growth. The company said the two units will be consolidated to form a new Pocahontas division on Feb. 1. The railroad said the move will affect management and staff positions based in Bluefield, West Virginia, but did not detail the number of employees who would be impacted. It will also idle parts of its West Vir - ginia Secondary, a 253-mile railway line between Columbus, Ohio, and central West Virginia due to business demand declines in recent years. Norfolk has rejected Canadian Pa- cific Railway's multiple bids over the last month, saying the offers were "grossly inadequate." F o r m o r e o f t h e R e u t e r s s t o r y : www.reuters.com U.S. boRdER AgENTS To iNSPECT TRUCkS ENTERiNg U.S. oN MExiCAN SidE For the first time, U.S. border agents will inspect trucks entering the U.S. on Mexican soil, working with their Mexican counterparts. The new facility in Tijuana, which aims to reduce congestion and speed cargo crossings into San Diego, over- came resistance in Mexico to letting U.S. officials carry guns. In April, Mexican lawmakers approved changes to the country's firearms law to permit foreign customs and immigration officials to be armed on the job. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske and Mexican Treasury Secretary Luis Videga- ray were scheduled to open the joint in- spection facility Tuesday in Tijuana's Mesa de Otay section, blocks from one of the busiest crossings on the 1,954-mile border. Customs and Border Protection said the effort "represents the shared com- mitment between the U.S. and Mexico to promote economic growth and prosper- ity between the two countries connected by more than just a shared border." The larger significance is that U.S. and Mexican officials will work under the same roof, sharing intelligence and other information, said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars' Mexico Institute. "They're going to get to know each other better than ever before," Wilson said. "This is really joint border manage - ment in its early stages." Plans for the joint inspection facilities have long been in the works but faced resistance in Mexico over allowing U.S. agents to be armed. An air terminal in San Diego with a bridge that crosses a razor-wire border fence to Tijuana's