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US DELIVERY SERVICES FACE OVERSEAS BARRIERS

WASHINGTON, DC - US-based express delivery services operating in foreign markets face a range of trade impediments that could be alleviated through postal reforms, customs improvements and trade negotiations, according to a report issued by the US  International Trade Commission (ITC).

The report, requested by the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, was aimed at determining "the extent to which competition among express delivery suppliers in foreign markets may be affected by government-sanctioned monopolies."

It found that US-based express delivery services "increasingly compete with postal service monopolies overseas and that, in some cases, these monopolies impede competition by subsidizing competitive services with profits gained from monopoly-protected operations."

The study also said that "international trade of express delivery services is affected by a range of issues, including laws and regulations in the areas of telecommunications, storage and warehousing, postal and courier services and customs clearance."

Impediments in any one of these areas "holds the potential to hinder market entry, reduce geographic coverage, narrow the scope of service offerings, or otherwise adversely affect the competitive posture of US firms in foreign markets," it concluded.

The ITC is an independent, nonpartisan federal agency, does not make recommendations on policy or other matters in general fact-finding reports.

The full text of the 140-page report is available on the Internet at:
ftp://ftp.usitc.gov/pub/reports/studies/PUB3678.PDF

MAGLEV AN OPTION FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Times reports that the backers of two multibillion-dollar, high-speed rail projects are throwing their support behind a plan crafted by the California High-Speed Rail Authority to bring its San Francisco-to-San Diego maglev rail line through Los Angeles.

At the same time, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) hopes for a magnetic-levitation system that would criss-cross Southern California.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority recently held a public hearing today in Los Angeles on its draft environmental report. The $37 billion project calls for running electric trains at 200 mph between Northern and Southern California, connecting its major cities and airports.

The trains would carry an estimated 32 million passengers annually by 2020. For $59 one way, travelers could go between Los Angeles' Union Station and San Francisco in about three hours. A trip between Palmdale and downtown LA would take about a half-hour.

Key for San Fernando Valley-area commuters is whether the Bakersfield-to-Los Angeles route should follow the Interstate 5 Freeway corridor or swing around to Palmdale.

Northern Los Angeles County is expected to swell from 500,000 residents today to 1.1 million by 2030, according to SCAG. Also, two major housing projects are planned along the 5 Freeway - the already approved Newhall Ranch and the proposed Centennial community at Tejon Ranch.

The project has a spot on the November ballot for a $9.9 billion bond to begin work, but various laws to postpone that measure are pending in Sacramento.

As the California project undergoes the environmental review, SCAG continues to pursue efforts to build a high-speed maglev system linking Southern California's communities. The first leg would be a $5 billion, 55-mile route between West Los Angeles and Ontario Airport.

A separate maglev project by the 15-year-old California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission also proposes a route between Orange County and Las Vegas.

While the state project would be built with taxpayer funds, SCAG wants to have the maglev system built and operated privately.

More information on the proposed maglev rail projects can be found at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov

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