From Seattle to DC and Back (Part 5)

My responsibilities at my internship include researching tariff and taxes rates for various countries that exporters are send their products to and responding to these requests in a timely manner. I also answer these questions on the phone along with other information that exporters may want to know about such as sanctions and export licenses. I also work with the China Business Center in research projects and other tasks. In addition, I do research and projects for other regions.

A highlight that sticks out is going to John Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies for a presentation about being in the Foreign Service. I am interested in the other agencies especially Commerce and USAID as what these two agencies do when taken in aggregate has a substantial impact on foreign relations.

The experience of being in Washington DC has been an interesting and exciting semester so far as I am always expanding my knowledge through my internship, class, and events around DC. This is also a very unique time to be in Washington DC as it has again become the focal point with the new administration and for many due to the issues that are facing the world.

I was finally contacted by the Capital Region Maryland Small Business Center. The surprising part of this was I was just inquiring about doing some volunteer work with them but they offered me an internship instead! Sadly, due to the distance of College Park the logistics of doing this would not work. I have also been attending weekly events around DC focusing on trade and China issues. Besides this I have been able to learn a lot at my internship by just talking with people in my office as they have a wealth of knowledge and experience. At this point I’m considering interviewing someone at the Foreign Commercial Service section for the informational interview. I’m also considering arranging to continue my internship at the Commercial Service office in Seattle when I go home.

Nathan Gardner
Boeing Fellow
International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

From Seattle to DC and Back (Part 4)

Besides doing tariff requests through email, I have begun answering calls at my internship; the majority of these calls are people asking for HS codes so I have to refer them to the census bureau to get these for their products. The other portion of calls are from exporters that have their HS codes and want to know tariff rates and taxes. At first I felt intimidated by the phones as it feels people are waiting for an answer and I wasn’t used to getting information from the databases yet but this took only a few phone calls to get down and now the process goes by smoothly. Besides answering phones I have also been working on updating export data for a China and India presentation that will be taking place in Oklahoma City. Another project I was working on was an excel file with taxes on imports for every country we trade with. An interesting project I have been assigned is finding exporters of various products for the finance minister to the president of the Congo.

The events I have attended were a lecture on the Philippines and their counterinsurgency operations. China was mentioned when they were trying to build a road in a Maoist guerrilla held area and the guerrillas demand payment but the Chinese argued that they were both Maoist so why should they pay but the guerrillas argued that the Chinese are revisionist and demanded payment anyways. Another event that I really enjoyed was a presentation at SAIS on a career in the Foreign Service. This presentation gave a real clarity to what a Foreign Service Officer and the State Department do. Recently there have been a number of events dealing with China and US-China relations among other events that I have attended throughout the last two weeks. Of note was the ‘Smart Power in US-China Relations’ report of the CSIS Commission on China that consisted in a diversity of speakers from different specialties.

Nathan Gardner
Boeing Fellow
International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

From Seattle to DC and Back (Part 3)

The past two weeks have really gone by too quickly; luckily I have been keeping notes of my activities since I started my internship. The amount of information I am receiving from my internship, class, and events I attend during the week are giving me the type of solid foundation in understanding trade that I was looking for when I applied to this program.

The knowledge I have gained through my internship in just two weeks really surprises me. Recently we went to an event on business opportunities in India for hi-technology and bio-pharmaceutical companies. Through shadowing with Trade Specialist I now have a thorough understanding of the practical side of doing NAFTA certification and all the details it involves. Another subject that surprised me was the depth of EU privacy rights when compared to US privacy rights. We learned about this during a presentation about Safe Harbor Certification for US companies to be EU compliant when it came to privacy rights.

I am trying to volunteer at the Maryland Small Business Development Center. The reason I am interested in this organization is currently I am interning at the US Department of Commerce in the Trade Information Center assisting small and medium sized businesses in exporting. I would like to volunteer with this organization to get an understanding of the process business owners go through in establishing and growing their businesses in the domestic market as well. Being from a family that runs a small business I believe that what is done at this organization is not only helping people realize their aspirations but also contributing to the well being of the surrounding community, which is another reason why I would like to volunteer at the Capital Region Small Business Development Center.

Nathan Gardner
Boeing Fellow
International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

From Seattle to DC and Back (Part 2)

My internship site is in the Ronald Reagan/International Trade Center which is relatively new for a federal building. Some bonuses of being at this location are a food court in the basement and a large cafeteria in the Hoover building at the Department of Commerce. The metro station is also located directly below our building so we don’t have to walk a long distance after getting off the metro. Also the Smithsonian Institution is located across Pennsylvania Avenue from our building so we can go there on our lunch breaks. People in my office get along with each other very well so the environment is very relaxed. This past week we have been doing training on looking up tariff information and using the different databases depending on whether the country is Brazil, Panama, or the products are covered under NAFTA. On Friday I did my first tariff and tax information request for a company in Missouri that was exporting to Mexico.

Nathan Gardner
Boeing Fellow
International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

From Seattle to DC and Back (Part 1)

The internship placement process went very smooth as I received contact from the Department of Commerce soon after I had requested to have my information sent.  Although my contact at my internship indicated that work would include working on trade regions outside of China, which I don’t mind, I hope that I will still be able to apply general business principles learned in the academic course to these regions also, which I believe is possible with a little innovative thinking.  I believe being able to work on trade regions outside China will strengthen my trade and business knowledge.

Nathan Gardner
Boeing Fellow
International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce