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IHA’s blog features informative posts written to keep the housewares industry educated and informed about key strategic issues and IHA member services.

Global Retail Intelligence – April

April 15 – UK’s Morrisons Launches Telesales to Help Elderly and VulnerableMorrisons announced a new, dedicated telesales shopping service aimed specifically at helping to ensure vulnerable and elderly people can get the groceries they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. This one of a number of measures that are being introduced to help with customers who may otherwise…

Putting Coronavirus in Perspective: What Does it Mean for the Future of Globalization?

By Professor Joshua Ault As COVID-19, or Coronavirus, continues to spread across the country and the world, the most important conversations we are having now are how to stay safe and how to protect the economy from a sudden drop in activity. However, a secondary theme that we are tackling at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management is how COVID-19…

Special Report (2nd Edition) on Coronavirus Assistance

Federal Legislation and Administrative Actions as of April 2, 2020 This special report is to provide basic information on federal legislation and administrative actions in place to help individuals and businesses deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19 virus) epidemic. Congress passed and the President signed a $2 trillion recovery bill (the CARES Act) on March 27, and…

Special Report on Coronavirus Assistance

Federal Legislation and Administrative Actions Taken as of March 20, 2020 This special report is to provide basic information to IHA members on federal legislation and administrative actions now in place to help individuals and businesses deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19 virus) epidemic. While Congress works on a massive stimulus bill of $1 trillion or more that…

IHSA Ocean Contract Negotiations

IHSA and our carrier partners are fully engaged in contract negotiations that determine annual shipping rates for cargo shipped from Asia to the US. The new shipping rates will go into effect on May 1, 2020 and expire on April 30, 2021. When negotiations began, both parties were prepared to discuss the usual topics of rates, fuel, detention free time and space allocation.…

2020 IBC Global Forum: Speakers Announced!

The IBC 2020 Global Forum will be presented in a live-streamed webinar format this year. Attendees can anticipate learning from key industry buyers and IHA’s Global Offices and Representatives. Please save the dates of September 22 – 24 for a twice daily livestream, featuring confirmed speakers from Sodimac (Latin America), Indòmit (Spain & Portugal), EPA (Costa Rica),…

Global Retail Intelligence – February

February 26 – Amazon Enters Food Delivery Market in IndiaIn the wake of Uber’s attempt at food delivery in India, after falling to the competition of two local competitors, Swiggy and Zomato, Amazon is on the brink of launching its food delivery service in India. The launch is delayed from the original plan of launching by Diwali. The initial launch will be in Bangalore…

Combatting Counterfeit and Pirated Goods

On July 24, 2019, IHA President Derek Miller submitted comments to a U.S. Dept. of Commerce notice seeking input on how to curb the importation and sale of counterfeit products. IHA’s comments noted that legitimate businesses like those belonging to IHA are victims of counterfeit goods that are sold by bad actors and often directly compete with goods produced by IHA…

Carriers Monitoring the Coronavirus

The carriers are monitoring the impact the coronavirus could have on containers moving from China to the US. They have refrained from cancelling sailings so far, but the situation is very fluid. To help contain the coronavirus, the Chinese government extended the Chinese New Year holiday for most of the country by 3 days. Factories located in areas hardest hit by the…