2012 Membership News promoting norwegian-american business relations Dear Members & Partners We hope you have all had a good start to 2012 And what an exciting year it will be! The race for the US Presidency is already well underway and we have been closely following primary elections taking place in multiple US states By summertime, we will know who will face President Obama as the Republican opponent in the November 6th election Now a popular AmCham tradition, we will mark the occasion in “US Election Night Celebration” style! In the meantime, we urge you to read herein a first-hand assessment of the candidates and the preliminary elections As you know, AmCham undertakes various lobbying initiatives on behalf of our members as there are several hurdles in US/Norway trade relations One recurring issue during bilateral talks is US tariffs on Norwegian salmon We are very happy to report that this issue has now been resolved, with antidumping and countervailing duty orders being discontinued This issue of Membership News also includes in- Photo: © K.-U. Häßler - Fotolia.com formation about the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in US Foreign policy, information on getting children involved in playing baseball in Norway, At Last: US Penalty new information from Shippingklubben, and new American wines to sample We hope you find this new Membership News both Duty on Norwegian interesting and enlightening It provides a snapshot of the issues and efforts we pursue each and every day – for you Salmon Abolished Sincerely, THe AMcHAM STAFF In early 2012, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) announced If your company wishes to advertise in this their ruling to discontinue antidumping and countervailing duty orders publication please do not hesitate to contact us at on Norwegian Salmon The decision to rescind duties on fresh and chilled [email protected]. Atlantic salmon came as a result of the USITC’s negative determination that dumping practices of artificially cheap salmon would continue The import tariffs on salmon from Norway have remained in place In this issue since they were first implemented in 1991, the same year Norway became the world’s largest salmon farming nation A review of the tariffs came as Salmon Duties Abolished 1 part of a mandatory five-year sunset review as established by the Uruguay New Voting Rules 2 Round Agreements Act No Candidate of Their Dreams 3 Regulated by the World Trade Organization, the act requires that an Jeep is Relaunched in Norway! 4 antidumping or countervailing duty order be revoked after five years New US Wine Releases 5 unless enough evidence is presented showing that revocation of the CSR in US Foreign Policy 6 duties would result in further dumping practices Although salmon Norwegian Baseball Academy 7 exports from Norway reached 979,000 tons valued at about $5 billion, Past Events 8 New AmCham members 10 2 2012 Membership News the US receives a rather small percentage of this as the majority of salmon entering the US is by way of Canadian suppliers It is for this reason, among others, that the Norwegian industry contested the tariffs in the latest sunset review Although tariffs on salmon entering the US from Norway may not be an issue that will necessarily affect a large number of Norwegians, it is the bigger picture that is important This is an issue that has acted as trade hurdle for one of Norway’s largest industries for over 20 years What this case of antidumping and countervailing duties on fresh and chilled Atlantic salmon highlights is the need for vigilance in the New Voting Rules wide spectrum of trade issues that exist between Norway and the United States This case also highlights the long and To Benefit Overseas arduous process that can occur when trying to eradicate cumbersome trade barriers Americans According to a Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs spokesman, both the Nor- This year is shaping up to be an exciting election year for the United States, not wegian government and salmon industry only for voters living there, but overseas voters as well At the U S Embassy in were heavily engaged in preparations for Oslo we want to encourage all Americans to exercise their right to vote and we the USITC’s decision As the Ministry stand ready to help states, this is largely an issue of principle This election year will see a number of significant changes in overseas voting that is important for Norway’s long-term rules that will help ensure that Americans casting their ballots from outside the export interests U S will have their say in the upcoming election The most important of these Given its position as the global business changes is that each voter must register and request their ballot for the upcoming leader, it is of paramount importance that election Ballots will no longer be sent out based on previous registration Other the US sets the standard for, and maintains changes take advantage of current technology to speed up delivery and return fair and clear international trade policies of ballots and no matter what state you vote in For example, you can now ask There is hope that this decision will set a your local election officials to provide your blank ballots to you electronically precedent for similar trade issues between (by email, internet download, or fax, depending on your state) You can now also Norway and the United States in the future, confirm your registration and ballot delivery on-line but given the complexity and time needed There are also websites that can help you through the absentee voting process to solve trans-Atlantic trade issues like the The first of these is the official website of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, case of Norwegian salmon, it is simply too www.fvap.gov This easy to use website has state by state voting instructions, early to say The trade relationship between online ballot request wizards, contact information for every county voting Norway and the US is a strong one, but as registrar, a great list of online FAQs, and an online help desk to help guide you we see with the case of Norwegian salmon, through getting your ballot and then casting it this fall It serves as a one stop there is still work to be done shop for getting and casting ballots for every state in the Union and the District of Columbia Another great resource is the website of the Overseas Vote Foundation, www.overseasvotefoundation.org This non-partisan website is dedicated to helping By Benjamin absentee voters in a user friendly format They also have links to a number of Kuban, short videos to help explain how to request, complete, and return ballots AmCham Intern Again, we encourage all U S citizens to be heard this election, and we hope these tools can help you do so If you have other questions you can contact our voting assistance program by sending an email to [email protected] 2012 Membership News 3 No Dream Candidate From freezing Iowa to sunny Florida, it Everyone has a smart phone nowadays, so and journalists They all say the same: the is fascinating to follow the Republican every remark you utter, every odd move tone in the campaign has never been as nomination process as close as you do will be on tape ugly as this year There has never been such when working for a national network You It’s obvious after the first caucuses and a flow of money from anonymous donors, meet “Joe the Plummer” in many versions, primaries that Republican voters haven’t and the negative ads invade TV screens and they all have a story to tell You get to found the candidate of their dreams I wrote The four candidates that are still in know the candidates a little bit as well I a blog in November last year where I was the race are in for the long haul, perhaps have exchanged some words with everyone willing to bet that former governor Mitt with the exception of Rick Santorum This except Rick Perry and Herman Cain, but Romney was going to be the republican will last until the summer It’s heaven for they exited the race pretty early candidate Now, in February, I’m still political junkies My impression is that While writing this column I’m at the willing to bet on that I see the frustra- the strong polarization also engages the airport in Tampa, and we’ve just finished tion of the Tea Party movement, but in American people, even if the attacks and the Florida primary – the most important Florida Romney received the most votes the ads are nasty until now, if you take into consideration in every demographic, except for the most One expert put it like this: It’s a reflection the number of votes and delegates to the conservative voters He won the Latinos, of the reality television trend This is a Republican Convention in August As you the women, the young and the old He has political reality show well know, it is all about delegates There are remained faithful to his message during the I still think Mitt Romney will be the last a total of 2286 delegates and a candidate campaign: I’m a successful businessman, to be voted off of the island, putting him has to capture at least 1144 delegates to I have created jobs and I can restore the up against the phenomenal campaigner bring the nomination home greatness of this nation Apparently this Barack Obama Before I went to Iowa in December message has started to resonate with the last year for a TV debate, I thought the voters, even if he has flip-flopped in the By Elin republican presidential heat was a kind past on important Republicans issues Sørsdahl, of ”horror show ” However, after several like mandatory