A slew of luxury goods retailers are leaving Argentina in response to import barriers, currency controls and soaring inflation. American designer Ralph Lauren was the most recent departure when it announced last month that it was closing three of its stores in Buenos Aires, including its flagship in the upscale Recoleta district, as draconian measures on imports have all but left it unable to stock its shelves.

Iconic motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has selected Penske Logistics to manage its logistics processes in Brazil.

Chris Schrage, instructor of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa, describes a unique global trade-practices project that involved students from the U.S. and Brazil, and artisans from Latin America.

DHL Express has obtained a multi-site quality-management certification from the International Standards Organization (ISO).

FedEx is changing its aircraft on the route between Memphis and Queretaro, Mexico to a Boeing 757-200 and will operate five times weekly, increasing its capacity in the market by 50 percent. Jorge Torres, recently named president of FedEx in Mexico, stated: "The decision to increase our cargo capacity is in response to our strategy to become a real business partner with the business in the region, offering competitive services at very reasonable prices ... The decision to increase our cargo capacity responds to our strategy of listening to our clients and their solicitation in a quick way."

Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico, was 6.6 percent higher in June 2012 than in June 2011, totaling $82.6bn, unadjusted for inflation, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Panama Canal will implement more sound "green building" practices in future construction in order to improve compatibility with the environment, according to the canal's development authority.

U.S. shippers importing goods from Mexico say they are looking for new transportation options, such as rail, as truckload capacity along the border gets tighter.

Mexican consumers have been hit harder than their U.S. counterparts by the downturn since 2008, but they are more optimistic about their country's prospects than their neighbors to the north are. Their attitudes are of key importance to consumer packaged goods and retail companies.

In 2001, Jim O'Neill kicked off a decade-long investment boom with a catchy acronym for the four largest emerging-market economies - BRIC, for Brazil, Russia, India and China. The Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairman is now promoting a new foursome of fast-track countries: Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey. Call them MIST countries.