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...Muro affair is a reminder that the harmony between the U.S. and Japan is still fragile. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky certainly won't bother pushing Japan to take in American umpires the way Washington once demanded the country import more Louisville Slugger bats. But Japan's trade surplus with the U.S. is once again rising at an alarming rate. At this weekend's Denver summit of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations, the U.S. will push Japan to open its economy further. "Japan's bureaucrats talk all the time about how they have an open market and believe...
That value is purely theoretical, however. Both the export and import of ivory are illegal because of a 1989 international agreement that declares elephants a "most endangered" species. Namibia's treasure is, practically speaking, worthless, as are the hoards sitting in neighboring Zimbabwe and Botswana--an estimated $8 billion worth at last count. All three nations are, frankly, fed up with having to sit on all that wealth. So when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) assembles for its biennial meeting this week in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, delegates from around the world will be asked...
...magazines provide a possible answer: puns involving the words ball or balls. THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR BALLS promises a piece on golf in GQ. DON'T DROP THE BALL says the headline to an article in Men's Health urging early detection of testicular cancer. Maxim, a rude import from Britain that has just published its premiere issue in America, features a photograph of author Tom Clancy standing behind a pool table. The caption? "He's got balls...
Although the Limited is the only legal target to date, other retailers are being challenged on their import records. Chinese dissident Harry Wu made a dramatic appearance at K Mart's annual meeting in Detroit to tell chairman Floyd Hall that the big discounter purchased 73 tons of men's rainwear from China Tiancheng, a company owned by the People's Liberation Army, instrument of the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square. Faced with a similar allegation several years ago, K Mart issued a categorical denial. This time the retailer promised to investigate and sever connections to the company...
...testifying that everything from paper clips to Christmas lights is being manufactured by unpaid convicts and then sold cheaply--and illegally--in America. MFN opponents accuse the Clinton Administration of turning a blind eye toward Beijing. Even George Weise, who heads U.S. Customs, the agency charged with preventing the import of prison-made goods, admits lamely that "we simply do not have the tools" to carry out that mission. Weise admits the agency is similarly tool-less in spotting mislabeled apparel imports, which amount to at least $2 billion annually...