INFO SQUEEZE - Technology, Economy, Business: September 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

HBR October 2009 Issue Highlights

Saturday, September 19, 2009

How I can Bring Traffic in my Blog through Search Engine?

Today i am going to share my experience with you or you can take it as trick to increase your visitors. As everybody has been blogging on different niche in which he's good but at one time in a day you would think for sure, today i should blog about which thing, that can give me visitors.

Yes friends everybody want to increase the visitors to there blog and try to convert them to there readers as much as possible. So i will share one trick on how to get increase your visitors from the search engines,if your blog receives a part of traffic from them.

Lets share an trick with you. What i use to do is, i daily use to check my traffic counter for visitors coming to my blog once a day for sure. As its not possible to check the all thousands visitors daily so just i use to check at random a day and at any time. Now my counter let me know the keywords from which the visitors searched on engines and came to my blog. When i use to check these keywords, i daily use to find some keywords for which the visitors seems to coming to my blog but the content visitor needed based on those keywords was not into my blog.

This means the visitors need some content on that topic and content is not easily provided and he's coming to my blog accidentally. So why not i should provide that content on my blog. So why you miss an opportunity to blog about that particular information on your blog and lets increase your visitors from search engines,if you will do this regularly i promise not only your visitors will increase, your blog will also become so much seo that it will be started loving by engines and will give you high rank in it.

And if you try little bit to target some keywords too on search engines keeping in mind, what keywords people use, to find any particualr content on web and will easily find you with that keyword on top, will also help a lot in beggining.

Pakistan among Top in Citations in Computer Science, Engineering, Material Sciences, Mathematics, Plant & Animal Sciences

Following the latest bimonthly update to Essential Science Indicators from Thomson Reuters, ScienceWatch.com has produced a listing of the scientists, institutions, countries, and journals that have achieved the highest percentage increase in total citations from the first to the second bimonthly period of 2008—that is, from February to April 2008. These entities are singled out as Rising Stars in their respective fields.

The list of countries with the highest percent increase in total citations is given below, and includes some countries with this distinction in multiple fields, including Pakistan, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates.

TUNISIA in Agricultural Sciences
NIGERIA In Biology & Chemistry
SERBIA MONTENEG in Chemistry
IRAN in Clinical Medicine
PAKISTAN in Computer Science
UAE in Economics & Business
PAKISTAN in Engineering
IRAN in Environment/Ecology
ZAMBIA in Geosciences
NIGERIA in Immunology
PAKISTAN in Material Sciences
PAKISTAN in Mathematics
TUNISIA in Microbiology
THAILAND in Molecular Biology & Genetics
SINGAPORE in Multidisciplinary
ARMENIA in Neuroscience & Behavior
UAE in Pharmacology & Toxicology
SERBIA MONTENEG in Physics
PAKISTAN in Plant & Animal Science
TRINID & TOBAGO in Psychiatry/Psychology
BRAZIL in Social Sciences, general
NAMIBIA in Space Science

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Why businesses should Tweet?

I can think of seven specific, revenue-producing reasons why most businesses should be on Twitter. If your customers are using Twitter, you probably should be to. But how, and why? Here are seven places to start:

Get New Customers

What do you sell? There are prospective customers talking about it on Twitter right now. Do a search for that product or service or topic and you'll find them. Reply to their tweets, and engage with them directly as prospective new customers. Better yet, start sending your own tweets with the same keywords or hashtags (which is the keyword with a # in front of it to help others find it). That way you'll start attracting new customers to you with the same topics or products.

Keep In Touch With Customers & Fans

Find out which of your customers are using Twitter, ask them to follow you. Follow them in return. Share news about your business, your new products, and topics your customers collectively will care about. Reply directly to your customers & fans, and retweet their Twitter posts that would be interesting to the rest of your followers. Twitter is a great way to keep an ongoing, interactive conversation going with your customers between purchases.

Watch Your Competitors

Who do you compete with? They're either on Twitter too, or are being talked about there. Do searches for them directly, and you'll not only see what they're talking about to their customers and prospects, but you'll also see what their current customers are saying about them - good, bad and ugly. Not a bad way to find new prospective customers, but at minimum you'll keep closer tabs on the competition - including gleaning things you could be doing to grow your own business.

Announce Sales & Specials

Putting that summer line on sale? Tell your Twitter fans. Announce that anyone who retweets the discount to their own followers is entered in a drawing for free product. Send special coupons and offers exclusively to your Twitter followers (which will encourage more customers to follow you).

Generate Referrals

Contribute content or links that your followers will retweet to their own followers. This will drive new customers to discover and follow you. Run a contest for anyone who retweets about your business today - all new followers and those who retweet are entered in a drawing for a gift card, or free product.

Cross-Promote Neighboring Businesses

If you're in retail or a restaurant in particular, and physically sit with other businesses, you're in it together as far as foot traffic goes. Help promote your neighbor businesses to your followers - even if they themselves aren't yet on Twitter. The more business you help drive to them, the more they'll help drive to you - either directly or via the increased foot traffic to your general area.

Cross-promote Similar Businesses in Other Markets

You're a unique hotel in Seattle? Partner with similar hotels in other markets and cross-promote each other to travelers. High-end French restaurant? Do the same. Build a partner network via Twitter to quickly accelerate the volume of out-of-town traffic you generate.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Ash Singh
Singapore
Age: 27

Company: Interactive SG

Interactive is a versatile creative digital media company based in Singapore that specializes in market research, in-game advertising and product placements, Web application development, and other e-commerce services. Ash's startup has already collaborated on projects with established companies from such diverse industries as entertainment, technology, electronics, and media. Partners include Mattel, StarCommentator.com, and BiggestLoserAsia.com

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Carlos Fernandes
Singapore

Age: 33

Company: RecordTV

Carlos Fernandes founded RecordTV after acquiring the assets of a U.S.-based company in 2007. RecordTV is an Internet-based digital video recorder (DVR) with 30,000 subscribers in Singapore and is the latest startup from this entrepreneur. In 2000 he co-founded a software company, and thanks to his work there in 2003 the Singapore Computer Society named Fernandes "Young Professional of the Year."

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Iim Fahima Jachja
Indonesia

Age: 31

Company: Virus Communications

Virus Communications is an online marketing consulting firm founded in 2006 by Iim Fahima and her husband, Adhitia Sofyan. Today it is Indonesia's leading online business consultant, known for its online-behavior knowledge and technology. In just three years the company has won big business pitches and handled more than 10 blue chip clients, including Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Auto 2000, Telkom, XL, Smart Telco, Lippo Group, Tupperware, and Sosro.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Lawrence Yang
South Korea

Age: 33

Company: KA Models

Yang's company, KA Models, makes parts and kits for miniature models of cars, aircraft, ships and tanks. KA Models exports to wholesalers, retailers, or model companies in 20 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Britain, France, Italy, Taiwan, and Russia. The company expects to post sales worth $1.6 million this year. That's about double its revenues last year, with about 97% coming from exports.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Charles Pyo
South Korea

Age: 23

Company: Wizard Works

Pyo set up his company in 2006 as a provider of personalized portal services, with the site offering a wide choice of widgets (small chunks of code that can drive applications on Web sites). The personalized portal didn't take off but its widget services were a hit, so Pyo decided to focus on widgets and has now become Korea's leading creator and distributor of them. Wizard Works offers widget marketing services and helps build widget-incorporated intranets for companies. All big portals in Korea, including Naver, Daum, Google, and Yahoo offer widgets created by Wizard Works. Pyo expects revenue to top $1.2 million this year, about triple that of a year ago.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Antonius Dian Adhy Feryanto
Indonesia

Age: 30

Company: PT Pavettia Atsiri Indonesia (PAI)

Since Indonesia is rich in nutmeg, patchouli, and citronella oils, Feryanto figured there was an opportunity to harness them in an ethical way. This chemical engineer embarked on a steep learning curve to acquire the expertise necessary to develop a suitable production process to transform the raw materials into a commercial product. By 2006, Feryanto and his associates established Pavettia Atsiri Indonesia to produce the essential oils on an industrial scale. Since the business began trading it has enjoyed considerable success; its production has increased tenfold and the company has developed a network of farmers.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Roihatul Jannah
Indonesia
Age: 30
Company: Helmiat Bonceng Bocah

As the motorcycle is the main means of transportation in Indonesia, Roihatul's Helmiat Bonceng Bocah (HBB) came up with a product that makes it safer for parents to carry their children on a two-wheeled vehicle. This product is designed especially for child safety. Roihatul refined her design to produce a carrier that successfully combines safety and comfort.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Malariantika Yulianggi
Indonesia

Age: 19

Company: Shoyu Pia Cake

When Malariantika was in the middle of her research on local foods such as cassava, she realized its abundance—and the fact that it still isn't widely used by Indonesian people. So she started to make Shoyu Pia cake (shoyu is Japanese for cassava). Nowadays, Anggi, as she likes to be called, has six employees to meet increasing demand from her customers.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Aziz Setyawijaya
Indonesia

Age: 19

Company: Nomaden Experimental Artworks

Aziz didn't even have his own camera when he founded Nomaden Experimental Artworks in 2008. But as a member of the photography club at Gadjah Mada University, he was able to borrow a camera from his friends to get his work done. The success of his business has allowed it to broaden by producing what he calls a memorial book. In just a few months, Yogyakarta-based Nomaden has generated $7,000 in revenue.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Steve Chao
ChinaAge: 33

Company: Qdero

Chao founded Qdero late last year because he saw the potential of augmented reality technology going mainstream. He focuses on mobile technologies, looking at cross-platform compatibilities. Following the success of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone operating system, Qdero decided to concentrate on user experience and has partnered with a popular domestic mobile-phone brand to create a range of applications tailored for the Chinese market. Qdero is only 10 months old but already has 14 employees, and Chao expects to see strong revenues starting next year. He now is working on servicing the needs of visitors to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Oscar Lawalata
Indonesia
Age: 32
Company: Oscar Lawalata Culture

Traditional Indonesian textiles, natural dyes, and ethnic cultures have always been the elements driving Oscar Lawalata to accomplish his work as a fashion designer and entrepreneur. The fact that nearly all of his designs are 90% handmade gives him the edge in the segmented market of the cultural-based fashion business. Last February he won the British Council's International Young Creative Entrepreneur (IYCE) Fashion Award 2009 at London's Fashion Week.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Kanchan Panjabi
Hong Kong

Age: 26

Company: Kanchan Couture

After studying economics and French in New York, Kanchan Panjabi moved on to work with fashion designer Amanda Wakeley in London, where she embarked on an MA in fashion design and enterprise. Kanch, as she likes to be known, is now back in Hong Kong and has launched her own label, Kanchan Couture, of luxury women's wear. With the opening of L'atelier de Kanch, her Hong Kong-based workshop, studio, and creative hub, she has developed a reputation for designing luxurious, elegant women's wear and accessories. Her inspiration is derived from India, Kanchan's country of origin. She hopes to branch into shoes soon.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Eriko Yamaguchi
Japan
Age: 27
Company: Mother House Co.

While studying at graduate school in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Yamaguchi realized that even small children were forced to work for a pittance. Eventually she returned home with 160 jute bags made by local people from her own design. These bags, at $80 each, quickly sold out, and Yamaguchi decided to launch Mother House. Nowadays she has five directly managed stores in Tokyo and Fukuoka and also sells at some major department stores. Sales have gone up to more than $2 million from $30,000 a year ago. Yet Yamaguchi doesn't plan to settle down; she is now in Nepal to start a new business.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Brandon Chang
Taiwan

Age: 26

Company: Greedy Genius

At age 22, Chang formed a sneaker brand called Greedy Genius, which ended up fitting in the market at the right time, securing its name in the footwear industry when there weren't too many lifestyle sneaker brands. For its first launch he teamed up with Barneys New York; that was followed by national campaigns with Toyota and AT&T. This exposure led him to giant retailers such as Finish Line, Foot Locker, and other chains around the world. He says a key to his success is the growth of Internet blogs and social networks that help expand the Greedy Genius brand by word of mouth.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Goris Mustaqim
Indonesia

Age: 26

Company: PT Resultan Nusantara and ASGAR MUDA Foundation

Goris helps young people turn business ideas into workable plans so they can determine their own professional journeys. He does so while merging an entrepreneurial spirit with environmental concerns. In 2006, Goris founded Asgar Muda, a foundation that empowers youth in his hometown to become involved in educational and cultural issues, with the intent of improving the welfare of the local people.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Carlos Moncayo
China

Age: 28

Company: ASIAM

Ecuador-born Carlos Moncayo's ASIAM is an offshore manufacturing management company that specializes in the garment industry. Based in Shanghai, ASIAM provides a competitive edge to private clothing brands in Latin America, which compete with big corporations in their respective local markets. Since its inception in 2004, ASIAM has facilitated interaction between buyers and suppliers, reducing problems associated with distance and cultural barriers and allowing international transactions to become as easy and secure as local transactions. Last March, ASIAM was awarded 2009 Bizz Awards in the Inspiring Company and Entrepreneurial Company categories.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Darran Nathan
Singapore

Age: 29

Company: Progeniq

After graduating from Ngee Ann Polytechnic Singapore, Darran Nathan continued to work with the institute on developing reconfigurable computing technology. He pursued commercialization after seeing reconfigurable computing's potential to change the way applications use computational resources. Darran co-founded Progeniq in 2005, offering computing hardware accelerators for the bioinformatics industry. Within six months, Progeniq already had customers from countries in Asia, the Middle East, and the U.S.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Chalermruth Narkvichien
Thailand

Age: 33

Company: NetDesign

Chalermruth began his entrepreneurial career as a 15-year-old during his first year at Silpakorn University. After two years of building Web sites, Chalermruth decided he wanted to focus on a more upstream business, teaching would-be Web designers the tricks of the business. NetDesign was thus born as a Web design and e-commerce training center in 1999.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Wahyu Aditya
Indonesia

Age: 29

Company: HelloMotion School

When Wahyu was 24, he quit his full-time job as an animator to start his own business, HelloMotion School, which today produces hundreds of the brightest young talents in Indonesian film and animation. His Hello festival attracts 300 new works annually, creating jobs and business opportunities for Indonesia's ever-growing film and content industries. Wahyu was a national finalist for the 2006 IYCEY Design Award and winner of the 2007 IYCEY Design and Screen Award. At 27, he became the first Indonesian and youngest overall to be crowned the British Council's International Young Screen Entrepreneur of the Year. He is now planning to use his $12,000 grand prize to study the film industry in London and Bristol.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Aung Kyaw Moe
Thailand

Age: 33

Company: SinaptIQ

Growing up in Rangoon, Aung Kyaw Moe didn't plan on becoming a businessman. He dreamed of becoming a doctor but his scores on the national examinations weren't high enough. Today, he lives in Bangkok and his online payment business, SinaptIQ, has expanded within six years to include three subsidiaries. One of them, PaySbuy, is among Thailand's top business-to-consumer Internet- and mobile-payment providers. Aung Kyaw Moe credits his success to his determination and spirit that repeatedly transformed obstacles into opportunities.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Pranoti Nagarkar Israni
Singapore

Age: 27

Company: Zimplistic Pte Ltd.

Breads such as roti or chapati are staples in the diet of some 800 million Indians, and so Israni decided to launch her own startup in June 2008 when she came up with her first invention, an automatic "Rotimatic" set to be the rice cooker for the roti-eating population. The appliance, about the size of a mini-microwave oven, does the measuring, mixing, kneading, making, and baking of rotis, with users only required to refill the wheat and water compartments after a few days. Zimplistic recently won the prestigious StartUp@Singapore 2009 grand champion trophy, which comes with $28,000 in prize money and one free year of office space. Prior to this, Israni's Zimplistic was awarded the YES! Spring Singapore grant for young entrepreneurs valued at $35,000. Israni amis to partner or license with a consumer appliance brand to bring Rotimatic to market in 2010.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Rex Ng, Terry Cheng, and Chris Lee
Hong Kong

Ages: 34, 29, and 28, respectively

Company: 6waves

Ex-Yahoo (YHOO) workers Ng, Cheng, and Lee reconnected on Facebook and created 6waves, a startup that since its early 2008 inception has developed social applications and casual games on the Facebook platform. During the last year, 6waves has grown quickly and has already acquired more than 32 million monthly users. That makes 6waves the largest social games distributor on Facebook, say the three founders, who have partnered with top-notch companies and developers to deploy and promote their games. Although they don't have venture funding or a sizable development team, Ng, Cheng, and Lee have been able to compete with such big names in the social gaming industry as Zynga and Playfish.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Neo Shi Yong and Victor Goh Hai Kiat
Singapore

Age: 29

Company: KAI

SquareSingapore-based KAI Square has expertise in multimedia and surveillance data processing. Its technological niche provides solutions for a wide range of application systems catering to large corporations and end users in the Internet and mobile-devices domains. Shi and Goh say they believe in bringing greater business value to their customers and partners by delivering innovative technologies that harness the power of Knowledge-based Artificial Intelligence (KAI). The startup aims to be at the forefront of multimedia information management and improving lives through KAI by building a strong foundation of technical expertise and industry relationships. KAI is also committed to set aside 10% of its profit for charitable purposes and for funding research and development aimed at improving the quality of life for the physically and mentally challenged.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Pranav Bhasin

India

Age: 31

Company: Lifeblob.com

Bhasin's idea was to build an interesting medium to meet new people, find interesting trivia around your activities, and build loosely connected communities around a cause. From its headquarters in Bangalore, Lifeblob is a place to share experiences, memories, and events with friends through photos and videos. For instance, the social networking site allows people to share photos and content related to trips they have made with their friends. One feature of Bhasin's startup is in the way events in people's lives relate them to other people, places, and interests, presented on an interactive rich-media timeline.

Asia's Best Younger Entrepreneur 2009

Andina Nabila Irvani
Indonesia

Age: 19

Company: Spotlight

Andina, a student of visual communication design at Bina Nusantara University, began painting her sister's canvas shoes just for fun. What started as a hobby has turned into a potential business. Andina and her sister Nerissa Arviana, a graduate of the School of Business and Management at the Bandung Institute of Technology, founded Spotlight and started to produce painted canvas shoes in larger quantities. To expand the business, Spotlight decided to make not only painted shoes but also painted T-shirts and bags. The company has five employees and its monthly revenue has reached $1.5 million to $2 million. Andina is in charge of products and promotion while her sister handles the finances and product orders.

Disney Building Brand Image through D23 Expo

Comic-book geeks have Comic-Con. Trekkies have annual Star Trek conventions. And now Disney's most devoted fans have D23.

The Disney expo that opened Sept. 10 at the Anaheim Convention Center, across the street from Disneyland, didn't quite assault the senses like those other two fan conventions, where comic-book devotees mingle with scantily clad models and Klingon brigades tromp through the halls. But here was a guy dressed in the purple robe and yellow crown of the Evil Queen from the Disney movie Snow White. And there was another guy decked out in Pinocchio short pants.

There is something special about an 86-year-old company that still inspires the kind of loyalty for wholesome entertainment that was on display in Anaheim—considering the gathering was to run four days and had only a smattering of kids in attendance. As much as anything, D23 (the name refers to Walt's 1923 creation of the company) at least confirms that few companies can promote their brand with the same gusto as Disney.

Walt Disney (DIS) President and CEO Bob Iger opened the show with a speech that was cheered from the moment he stepped onstage. Outside the auditorium some 815,000 feet of convention space was filled with booths that showed off Disney paint, Disney makeup, Disney food, and Disney collectibles, for as far as the eye could see.

"It's your passion for Disney that helps keep the magic alive," said Iger, who started a half-hour late because he said the company was surprised by the last-minute ticket sales and waited to seat latecomers. (The delay might also have had something to do with the security, which included requiring everyone who entered the 4,000-seat auditorium to turn over their cell phones—a move to keep cameras from pirating the 30-minute segment Iger showed of Disney's upcoming animated film The Princess and the Frog.)

Not that this crowd seemed to mind the wait, security hassles, or anything else. These were true believers, and they even cheered the still pictures of Disneyland, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and everything else that flashed on a giant screen while they waited. Even Iger seemed a little surprised when the almost totally adult audience cheered his mention of Radio Disney, the company's teenybopper radio station. "It's a favorite of the young—and I guess some adults as well," Iger said from the stage. The biggest applause seemed to come when Iger mentioned Disney's recently announced $4 billion bid to buy Marvel Entertainment (MRVL), even though some of the blue-haired ladies from Wisconsin may never have held a Spider-Man comic book in their hands or waited in line to see an X-Men movie.

From Avid Watcher to Top Boss

Iger grew up a Disney-phile himself, and he talked about how when he was growing up in New York City, he used to sit in front of the TV "a little closer than my mother might have wanted" on Sunday nights when Uncle Walt warmed up the audience for his weekly Wonderful World of Disney. "I idolized Davy Crockett," said Iger. "Annette was cute, but I really liked Davy. I even had a coonskin cap." Fifty-odd years later, Iger says he is "proud that he can be leading this company that Walt created."

After Iger's speech, all he had to do was walk outside the hall to see the Disney world that he has helped create, enhancing and modernizing old Walt's original vision. A little girl walked around in a Snow White costume, folks lined up for Breyers yogurt at the Disney Food booth, or ambled over to check out the latest Disney paint color at a booth anchored by the Behr paint folks. Hallmark was offering Disney-themed cards and diaries.

Dan Learn, from Marietta, Calif., was the winner of a night's stay at the Disneyland Dream Suite, a lavishly decorated apartment that Disney created in an unused room in the New Orleans section of Disneyland. The apartment had been originally designed for Walt to use as his apartment away from home, but Walt died before the work was done. Learn has been a Disney fan all his life, dating back to the stories his dad told him of working as a street sweeper at the Happiest Place on Earth. Toward the end of Iger's presentation, Learn found the magic envelope under his chair that landed him the Dream Suite. His "heart was pounding" as he made his way to the stage; then he stood for a picture, between Iger, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, and, of course, Mickey.

D23 also drew its share of stars who have appeared in Disney movies or TV shows. Robin Williams did his usual shtick when he was awarded a place in Disney's version of the Hall of Fame. Later that day, fans got a chance to hear Tom Bergeron, the host of the ABC show Dancing with the Stars, and Donny Osmond, one of this season's hoofer contestants. ABC sitcom stars Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton were there, as well.

How many folks showed up? Disney isn't saying, other than it was in "the tens of thousands." And with folks paying as much as $37 to get in—$111 for a four-day pass—that's a lot of love.

Obama Imposed a 3 Year Tariff on Chinese-made Tire Imports

President Barack Obama slapped a stiff tariff on the import of Chinese-made tires into the U.S., but elected not to act as tough as he could have. The politically charged decision appeared calibrated to strike a middle ground between satisfying his influential labor constituency while signaling to much-needed China that the U.S. values the bilateral relationship. It comes while the White House is attempting to hold together the Democratic majority in Congress in order to pass the President’s No. 1 priority – health care reform.

In the Sept. 12 decision, Obama imposed a 3-year tariff on Chinese-made tire imports. In the first year, it will be set at 35%, far below the 55% levy recommended by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The second year it will be 30%, and the final year 25%. The tariffs begin in 15 days.

The decision was in response to a complaint by the United Steelworkers union, which invoked a provision in China’s agreement to join the World Trade Organization that allows protection from surging imports from the country. The union documented a tripling of Chinese tire imports from 2004 to 2008 that it said threatened thousands of jobs at U.S. tire factories. No U.S. tiremakers backed the complaint. Most major U.S. tiremarkers manufacture tires in China.

The ITC ruled in the union’s favor. Then Obama had to decide whether to accept the decision, and if so to what degree. He issued his decision five days before a Sept. 17 deadline, and one night after commencing a hard push to get health care reform approved in Congress.

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said in a statement that the decision “means China and other countries can no longer assume they can engage in predatory trade practices with impunity.” On Sept. 9, Gerard had told reporters in a Washington news conference that he expected tough sanctions by Obama.

In a statement, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama “decided to remedy the clear disruption to the U.S. tire industry based on the facts and the law in this case.” Separately, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said, “This Administration is doing what is necessary to enforce trade agreements on behalf of American workers and manufacturers. Enforcing trade laws is key to maintaining an open and free trading system.”

The decision was cheered by key congressional Democrats. Rep. Sander Levin, chairman of the House Trade Subcommittee, said, “This remedy is consistent with WTO rules governing China’s membership, and President Obama is making good on his commitment to pursue a new trade policy that puts Americans workers, farmers and businesses first.” Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus said, “Strong trade enforcement must be the cornerstone of U.S. international trade policy.”

But David Spooner, a lawyer with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey who represents trade associations of China’s tire producers, said in a statement, "These tariffs are unwarranted. It's troubling that the Administration would invoke an import surge safeguard over the objections U.S. industry and in response to falling imports. Not a single U.S. tire company supports’ the tariffs."

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