Zhimeitong | International Highlights

For more information, pay attention to the public number: Zhimeitong Research Institute

[Amazon US logistics fee adjustment and discount plan] Amazon issued a notice: Like other major carriers, Amazon will charge the 2022 Holiday Peak Fulfillment Fee during the peak season of each year. The notice reads as follows: From October 15, 2022 to January 14, 2023, items sold using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) in the US and Canada will be charged an average of 35 cents per item.

[U.S. President Biden signs the "2022 Inflation Reduction Act"] On August 16, local time, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the "2022 Inflation Reduction Act" (Inflation Reduction Act) with a total value of $750 billion. The legislation came into effect. The legislation includes tackling climate change and expanding health care coverage, among other things.

Over the next few weeks, Biden will travel across the country to lay out how the legislation will help Americans, the White House said. Biden will also host a Sept. 6 event to celebrate the enactment of the legislation. "This historic legislation will lower energy, prescription drug and other health care costs for American households, address the climate crisis, reduce deficits, and allow large corporations to pay their fair share of taxes," the White House said.

01. North America

[The US First Lady tested positive for the new crown, and Biden tested negative for the antigen on the morning of the 16th] On August 16, local time, the White House issued a statement saying that the US First Lady Jill Biden's nucleic acid test for the new crown virus was positive. Another White House statement said that Biden's new crown antigen test on the morning of the 16th was negative.

[US media: About 70% of the western United States is in a state of drought] According to CNN local time on August 16, data from the US Drought Monitoring Agency showed that as of the 11th, about 70% of the western United States was in a state of drought. , of which nearly 300,000 square miles is considered to be in "extreme" or "abnormal" drought, the worst category of drought.

[The monkeypox epidemic in the United States has infected more than 12,000 people, including at least 8 children] According to the ABC report on the 16th, as the monkeypox epidemic continues to spread in the United States, the number of monkeypox cases in the United States has exceeded 12,000, of which at least 8 Cases are confirmed cases in children.

According to a survey conducted by freelance marketplace Fiverr International Ltd., about 78% of business owners said they would More likely to hire freelancers than full-time employees. The survey showed that 85% of U.S. companies plan to freeze hiring and 78% plan to lay off workers due to the uncertain economic outlook. In Fiverr's survey of more than 1,000 large and medium-sized business owners, more than 80% said they are currently hiring freelancers and that there is an increased demand for freelancers, especially by large businesses.

[Walmart's total revenue in the second fiscal quarter was US$152.9 billion, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year] Walmart released its second quarter financial report for fiscal 2023. The financial report shows that the total revenue in the second quarter was 152.9 billion US dollars, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year; the operating profit was 6.9 billion US dollars. Among them, Walmart China's Q2 net sales increased by 15.9%, and comparable sales increased by 14.1%.

[Amazon's warehouse workers apply to unionize again] The National Labor Relations Board (National Labor Relations Board) confirmed that employees at an Amazon warehouse in upstate New York have applied to form a union with the NLRB.

Warehouse workers want to be part of the Amazon Labor Union. The Amazon Workers Union was formed by current and former Amazon employees, and it was Amazon's first union. The workers who want to unionize this time are from Amazon in Albany, New York.

NLRB spokeswoman Kayla Blado confirmed that the warehouse's organizers, known as ALB1, had filed a petition with the group, representing a group of about 400 people. ALB1 organizers are preparing to hold a press conference on August 17, U.S. time, to discuss matters related to union activities.

[Amazon asks FTC to stop excessive harassment of Bezos and his executives] Amazon has recently come under fire from regulators for its strategy of getting consumers to sign up for Prime memberships and then erecting barriers to complicate the process of canceling subscriptions. Last month, Amazon changed its cancellation process in Europe, but the U.S. site hasn't.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has investigated Amazon since March 2021. According to Business Insider, Amazon has accused the FTC of making the lives of its executives difficult for its excessive demands.

The report said regulatory filings in early August showed Amazon was unhappy with the "excessively onerous" demands of the 19 people subpoenaed by the FTC. The 19 included the former CEO, as well as the current CEO, who were asked to testify in very detailed detail, a practice that Amazon deemed "a huge burden on them."

[Amazon's Whole Foods Market prohibits employees from wearing any signs] According to foreign media reports, Amazon's US supermarket Whole Foods (hereinafter referred to as Whole Foods Market) has introduced a new and stricter dress code – prohibiting workers from wearing any type of clothing logo, slogan, message, flag or any kind of symbol.

In response, prosecutors are leading a legal battle over the rights of Whole Foods workers to wear masks and other clothing in a show of support for the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement.

【Maersk and Debo Sign a Letter of Intent for Green Methanol Procurement】 AP Muller-Maersk (Maersk) and Hefei Debo Bio-Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (Debo) signed a Letter of Intent to purchase green methanol to ensure the company's first generation of large green containers Ship fuel supply. The signing of this letter of intent is another move after Maersk announced the signing of a memorandum of cooperation with CIMC Enric Holdings Co., Ltd. and Green Tech (Shanghai) Technology Development Co., Ltd. in China in March this year. According to the letter of intent for cooperation, Debo will produce green methanol with an annual output of 200,000 tons, and the project is expected to be put into commercial operation in September 2024. The production raw materials used by Debo are agricultural and forestry wastes, and methanol will be prepared by the pyrolysis gasification synthesis technology route. Maersk has committed to purchasing the fuel.

[Apple and Chicago reach settlement to start collecting "Netflix tax" on September 15] Apple will start collecting Chicago's streaming entertainment services tax on most of its online services on September 15, commonly known as the "Netflix tax" ".

Apple has previously launched a legal challenge, claiming that Chicago’s municipal tax violates the U.S. Constitution and the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, but after four years of litigation, Apple quietly surrendered to Chicago last month, and the two sides reached a settlement .

Starting Sept. 15, Apple will tax all streaming and interactive services it provides to customers in Chicago, with the exception of Apple News+. In addition, Chicago has waived the penalties, taxes, interest, etc. that Apple should have paid before this, and the preliminary calculation may reach millions of dollars.

[A news spurred BBBY to surge by 70%, with a half-day turnover of 160 million shares and multiple suspensions] Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) stock price soared, and retail traders active on social media bought the stock one after another. The news that GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen is making another bet on the struggling retailer is encouraging. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond surged more than 70% to an intraday high of $28.04 in midday U.S. trading on Tuesday, after the company suspended trading several times due to market volatility.

[Mexico makes the first anti-dumping sunset review final ruling on China-related reinforced steel ropes] The Ministry of Economy of Mexico issued an announcement stating that the reinforced steel ropes originating in or imported from China, Spain and Portugal (Spanish: productos de presfuerzo ) made the first affirmative final ruling on anti-dumping sunset review, maintained the final anti-dumping ruling made by the Mexican Ministry of Economy on February 26, 2016 unchanged, and continued to levy US$1.02/kg and US$0.13 on the products involved in China, Spain and Portugal, respectively. /kg and anti-dumping duties of US$0.40/kg, the measures will be effective from February 27, 2021 and will be valid for 5 years. The TIGIE tax numbers of the products involved are 7217.10.02, 7312.10.01, 7312.10.05, 7312.10.07, 7312.10.08 and 7312.10.99. The announcement will take effect from the day after it is issued.

On February 16, 2015, Mexico launched an anti-dumping investigation on reinforced steel ropes originating in China, Spain and Portugal (tax numbers 72171099, 73121001, 73121005, 73121007, 73121008, 73121010 and 73121099). On February 26, 2016, Mexico made an affirmative final ruling on the case, and formally imposed anti-dumping duties of US$1.02/kg, US$0.13/kg and US$0.40/kg on the products involved in China, Spain and Portugal respectively. On February 25, 2021, the Mexican Ministry of Economy issued an announcement to initiate the first sunset review investigation of the case in response to the application of Mexican companies Aceros Camesa, SA de CV and Deacero, SAPI de CV.

02. EU region

[EU says Europe may experience worst drought in 500 years] The EU says Europe may be suffering its worst drought in 500 years. In 2018, Europe experienced its worst drought since 1540, EU spokesman Barker said. And current data suggests that this year's drought could be more severe than 2018.

[EU plans to provide 15 million euros in aid to southern African countries by 2024] A document disclosed by the European External Action Service shows that the agency plans to provide 15 million euros in financial assistance to the Southern African Development Community by 2024 to help Mozambique stabilizes the security situation to ensure local gas production by European companies. This aid will be 5 times the current aid. Mozambique's natural gas reserves are second only to Nigeria and Albania in Africa. European oil and gas companies such as France and Italy have invested in natural gas exploration and are building LNG terminals. However, the domestic security situation in Mozambique is unstable, and it is necessary for the Southern African Development Community countries to send troops to assist the Mozambique government to stabilize the situation. The EU has provided 2.9 million euros in aid to SADC for this purpose.

[Institutional analysis: European energy crisis may help oil prices out of trough] The agency pointed out that there are signs that although more crude oil supplies from Libya (and possibly Iran) and the deepening of the global economic slowdown have caused oil prices to plummet, traders may still Underestimating the impact of the European energy crisis on oil prices. The continued surge in gas prices in Europe is alarming, and it's hard to be sure there won't be a knock-on effect if European gas prices soar to $375/bbl of oil equivalent. It is difficult to fully assess the impact of Europe's energy crisis on oil prices, but in the past two months, European gas prices have risen by a total of 160%, and this rally does not seem to be ending soon. Europe's already aging oil-fired power plants are expected to will be put into operation again as a result. Combined with Europe's imposition of a ban on Russian crude later this year, the energy crisis is sure to heat up crude trading heading into winter.

03. Other regions

["Southeast Asian Small Tencent" Sea's revenue in the second quarter was US$2.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29%] The Singapore Internet giant Sea released its second quarter 2022 financial report as of June 30. According to the financial report, Sea’s total revenue in the second quarter was $2.9 billion, an increase of 29.0% compared with $2.3 billion in the same period last year. A net loss of $931.2 million compared to a net loss of $433.7 million a year earlier. Non-GAAP net loss was $569.8 million, compared with a net loss of $321.2 million a year earlier.

[Brazil e-commerce Americanas e-commerce sales reached 6 billion reais in Q2 this year] Brazilian cross-border e-commerce Americanas released its financial results for the second quarter of this year. According to the financial report, Americanas’ e-commerce sales in the second quarter of this year reached 6 billion reais, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%.

In the second quarter of this year, Americanas' total revenue reached 7.96 billion reais, a year-on-year increase of 5.1%; gross profit reached 6.69 billion reais, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%; sales reached 13.9 billion reais, a year-on-year increase of 10.4%; Store sales reached 3.5 billion reais, a year-on-year increase of 26.9%; adjusted Ebitda was 843 million reais, a year-on-year increase of 29.2%.

Zhimeitong | Logistics Highlights

For more information, pay attention to the public number: Zhimeitong Research Institute

[The first "Jing-Shi-Ou" China-Europe freight train starts today] The first "Jing-Shi-Ou" China-Europe freight train departs from Beijing Shijingshan South Station on the dedicated line of Beijing Sinotrans Land Transportation Co., Ltd. Drive to Nizhny Kamsk, Russia.

The train is jointly organized by Beijing Sinotrans Transportation Co., Ltd., Hebei Sinotrans Jifa Logistics Co., Ltd. and Shijiazhuang International Dry Port. The entire train of 50 trucks loaded with refrigerated and freezer boxes, self-adhesive paper, condiments and other goods, weighing more than 240 tons and worth more than 7.6 million yuan, left the country through the Erlianhot port and went to Nizhny Kamsk, Russia.

[The Baltic Dry Index fell for the fourth consecutive session to the lowest level in more than six months] The Baltic Dry Index fell 17 points, or 1.2%, to 1387 on Tuesday, or more than six lowest level in a month. Freight rates for panamax and capesize vessels fell to their lowest level in more than six months. The capesize index fell for a fourth straight session, down 39 points, or 3.6%, to 1,059, its lowest level since Jan. 27. Average daily earnings for capesize vessels fell $321 to $8,783. The panamax index fell 35 points, or 1.9%, to 1,850, its biggest drop in more than a month. Average daily earnings for Panamax vessels fell by $314 to $16,653. The VLCC index rose for a third straight session, rising 19 points to 1,626 in its best day in nearly three months.

Zhimeitong | E-commerce highlights

For more information, pay attention to the public number: Zhimeitong Research Institute

[Amazon Japan announced a partnership with beauty company istyle] Amazon Japan announced a partnership with beauty company istyle to improve customers’ shopping experience in the cosmetics and beauty fields.

Specifically, the two parties will focus on providing various services and technologies for Amazon Japan sellers, as well as cosmetics and beauty products developed by istyle. Consumers’ needs for related shopping such as cosmetics and beauty.

[Notice on the Protection of Unable to Ship Transactions in Some Cities Affected by the Epidemic] eBay has learned that some Yiwu sellers are unable to carry out normal business operations, including normal shipments, due to the impact of the epidemic. At present, the platform has decided to provide policy protection for some transactions that have already occurred, but cannot be shipped normally due to logistics obstruction, insufficient inventory or limited manpower. For transactions shipped from Yiwu and the payment time is from August 3 (inclusive) to August 31 (inclusive) Beijing time ("epidemic impact period"), if the seller is at 23:59 on August 31, Beijing time 59 If you submit an order cancellation application within seconds and the reason for transaction cancellation is Stockout, the platform will protect it uniformly. . We recommend that you cancel the Cancel Transaction before Wednesday (August 31st) Beijing time. This protection is expected to take effect within a week from August 16. During this period, Seller Standard will be temporarily affected. Please don’t worry, Seller Standard will be updated in time after the protection is completed.

[AliExpress will set up a warehouse in Israel] AliExpress, which is owned by Alibaba, will soon lease a warehouse near Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, greatly reducing the delivery time from at least 1 month to 3-7 days. Shipping costs will also be reduced. To celebrate the opening of the warehouse in Israel, many products on AliExpress's website will be marked down at the end of August. The director of international development of AliExpress said that the Israeli market is constantly growing, and sales in the Jewish state are growing very rapidly, prompting AliExpress to gradually invest in marketing to consumers in the country. Israel will become the fifth country to have an AliExpress warehouse after Russia, the United States, Spain and Brazil.

[AliExpress Russia orders before July 9th, the third exchange settlement will be completed on August 17th] AliExpress released the latest announcement, sellers who completed the Wanlihui account signing before August 14th, August 17th You can go to "RU Order Fund Management" for fund operations.

The third exchange settlement is expected to be completed during 14:00-18:00 on August 17. This settlement covers orders that have reached the disbursement status before July 9 (Western Time) (the user confirms the receipt and has passed the dispute protection period). Please check the order details on the "Funding Center" page of the AliExpress seller backend. AliExpress will waive the withdrawal and transfer fees for the new portal until August 31, 2022.

[Bubble Mart will launch new products on AliExpress "Super Brand Day"] Foreign media reported that AliExpress POP MART (Bubble Mart) "Super Brand Day" promotion will start on August 17. With the theme of "Go For Fun", this Super Brand Day promotion has attracted the attention of popular toy lovers by launching new products and limited series.

On the day of the event, Bubble Mart will use its overseas omni-channels to launch two series of products through the AliExpress platform – SKULLPANDA-The Mare of Animals series and HIRONO-Little Mischief series.

In addition, the event will also launch a variety of limited products, such as MEGA COLLECTION 1000% SPACE MOLLY Mickey Mouse, Molly 2 Headed Figure, Black-Silver Ver. STEAMPUNK BIKE LOVELY MOLLY will also be released during Super Brand Day, attracting loyal news watchers of the popular toy.

【Wish Launches Global Brand Campaign "You Wish" to Support Rebranding Efforts】 Wish announced the launch of its global comprehensive brand campaign "You Wish" to support rebranding efforts. Developed in partnership with ad agency Whale, the campaign will allow shoppers to experience Wish shopping, buy apparel, makeup and accessories in the ad, as well as edit a wish list feature. Featuring custom scoring, the campaign will be available in the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy and Australia, and will run across TV and streaming, radio, digital, social, talent and PR and more.