The first voluntary U.S. sustainability standard for small appliances and floor care appliances has been released, intended to help portable and floor care appliance manufacturers evaluate the environmental sustainability of their products.

The value of exports from America's foreign-trade zones increased by 13.7 percent in 2013, to a record high $79.5bn in merchandise exported, according to figures released by the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board in its Annual Report to Congress. At $835.8bn, the 2013 value of received merchandise into FTZs also reached a new high, surpassing the previous year’s record of $732.2bn – a 14.1 percent increase.

A vote for independence from the UK would have a negative effect on the Scottish shipping and offshore maritime sector, according to a survey by international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens.

Big-box electronics giant Best Buy reported sagging second-quarter sales Tuesday amid increasingly intense competition from rival retailers. The company's comparable sales dipped 2 percent in the U.S., though it still managed to post $146m in profit, largely thanks to a long-term cost-cutting program. But with few new electronics products to capture consumers' attention, the rest of 2014 isn't looking any sunnier.

With Burger King planning to relocate there after completing its buy of coffee-and-donut chain Tim Hortons for about $11.4bn, Canada is emerging as the latest tax haven for U.S. firms fleeing a high tax code at home.