BUSINESS NEWS DIGEST | USCPSC sets up office in China

USCPSC sets up office in China

BEIJING

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission will set up its first office outside the United States in China in a bid to reduce the number of dangerous products reaching the American market.

Commission head Inez Tenenbaum told reporters Monday the “history- making” office also aims to make it easier for the U.S. to raise concerns with the Chinese government about product-safety problems, such as faulty drywall and toxic metals in toys.

Tenenbaum said choosing China as the commission’s first overseas location made sense because 45 percent of the consumer products and 90 percent of all toys sold in the United States come from China and Hong Kong.

China has been working to improve foreign consumer confidence in its exports after a series of food- and product-safety scandals, such as tainted fish and the use of lead-based paints on toys and other goods.

Pipeline operator works on bypass

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

The company that operates the trans-Alaska pipeline is working on a plan to install a bypass line so the flow of oil can be restarted despite a leak.

The pipeline that transports crude from the nation’s largest oil field was shut down Saturday after a leak was discovered in a pipe near a pump station.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. operates the pipeline from the North Slope to the Valdez tanker terminal.

Tom DeRuyter, the on-scene coordinator for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, says there is still a small amount of oil trickling into the basement of Pump Station 1. The pump station is the last stop for crude before it is pumped into the 800-mile main pipeline for delivery to the West Coast.

Obama, Sarkozy discuss economy

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to work together to address currency and other imbalances in the world economy as nations struggle to recover from the global crisis.

“Too many people are still out of work, too many businesses are still having problems getting financing, and there’s still too many imbalances in the world economy that are inhibiting the prospects of growth,” Obama said Monday, sitting alongside Sarkozy in the Oval Office.

France holds the presidency of the Group of Eight industrialized economies and the larger Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations. In his turn at the helm of the G-20, Sarkozy is looking to push for changes that would keep the global monetary system from relying so heavily on the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, though he has not proposed specifics about his plans.

Sarkozy said Monday he would work with the U.S. to reach common ground on matters of currency, commodity prices and other sensitive economic issues ahead of the G8 and G20 summits he’ll host in France later this year.

Associated Press