Trade Data Services, Inc.
| File:Import Genius logo.svg | |
| Private | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | |
| Founded 📆 | 2006 |
| Founder 👔 |
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| Headquarters 🏙️ | , |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people |
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| Members | |
Number of employees | 50-100 (as of 2023) |
| 🌐 Website | importgenius |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
ImportGenius (Trade Data Services, Inc.) is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based company that specializes in trade data. It was founded by Michael Kanko, David Petersen, and Ryan Petersen.[1]
The company organizes and maintains a database of hundreds of millions of shipping manifests and customs records from government agencies and private companies around the world. It currently covers 18 territories from North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.
The data provided by ImportGenius are sourced from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and similar agencies from other countries. US data are obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and is considered public record. Data from other countries and territories, on the other hand, are legally obtained proprietary data.[2]
Subscribers of ImportGenius can search through their database to analyze import and export activities at a granular level, identifying the origin and destination, entities involved for individual shipments, and other essential details for every shipment.[3]
History[edit]
In May 2008, ImportGenius, through its analysis of electronic customs clearance data, identified that Apple and its logistics partners have imported 188 ocean containers of a product type that was never declared on shipping manifests before.[4] This gave them an insight into Apple's launch of the iPhone 3G before it was officially revealed by Steve Jobs at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 2008.[5][6]
In October 2017, ImportGenius joined Panjiva, another trade data company, in a lawsuit against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Treasury filed at the Southern District of New York. They claimed that the CBP is in violation of Section 431 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 by not making public the manifests of aircraft entering the United States, which contain information about their cargo and origin. However, the district court and the appeals court ruled in favor of the government, finding that section 431 only applies to waterborne vessels and not aircraft.[7][8]
In July 2019, historical maritime records compiled by ImportGenius identified a 53-pound shredder shipped to Jeffrey Epstein's private island on Palm Beach in July 2008, as well as a tile and carpet extractor shipped from the Virgin Islands to his town house on Manhattan in March 2019. The shredder or the tile and carpet extractor could have been used to destroy evidence connected to his alleged sexual abuse of underage girls, which investigators had difficulty obtaining.[9]
In March 2020, trade data from ImportGenius contributed to a report by the Associated Press that shed light on electronic components such as touch screens, cameras, and fingerprint scanners manufactured for giant technology brands were made by Muslim ethnic Uighurs who are coerced to work in a factory within a walled compound that is heavily surveilled by CCTV cameras and security guards. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called concerns over forced labor groundless, and said that the labor program provides livelihood to Uighurs and other minorities.[10]
In October 2020, Evan Gershkovich from The Moscow Times reported, using ImportGenius data, the shipment of a Stradivarius violin worth $27.5 million from Germany to Sergei Roldugin, an oligarch described as Vladimir Putin's "secret caretaker." In the report, Gershkovich questions how Roldugin could afford such an expensive purchase and whether it was related to his involvement in the Panama Papers scandal, which revealed that he had offshore companies that received billions of dollars from Russian state-owned entities. Roldugin denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the money "was partly from philanthropists, sponsors, and the government."[11][12]
In March 2023, ImportGenius data was cited by Politico in their report about China North Industries sending 1,000 CQ-A rifles to Russia between June and December 2022; and DJI sending 12 shipments of drone parts to Russia, routing the shipments through the United Arab Emirates.[13] The trade research team at ImportGenius also Identified a number of Chinese companies exporting key components for body armor, such as high-density polyethylene, and aramid to NPP "KLASS", a supplier of body armor for the Russian Armed Forces.[14]
In May 2023, Michael Kanko, CEO & co-founder of ImportGenius testified before a United States House Committee on Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Hearing.[15] Kanko's testimony emphasized the importance of transparency and public access to trade data, citing Bloomberg News use of ImportGenius's data to track and trace shipments of tainted in January of that same year.[16][17]
References[edit]
- ↑ Constine, Josh. "How freight master Flexport's Ryan Petersen learned to CEO". TechCrunch. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ↑ "ImportGenius Frequently Asked Questions". ImportGenius. Retrieved 2023-06-23. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Dubner, Stephen. "Amazing New Trade Data". freakonomics.com. Freakonomics. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ↑ "Mysterious Apple Product Arrives in North America. Could it be the iPhone?". ImportGenius. 2008-05-22. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
- ↑ "ImportGenius: The Disruptive Shipping Database". TechCrunch. 28 May 2008. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-07-03. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Evan Ratcliff. "Wired-o-Nomics: Transparency as a Stimulus". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2022-07-03. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Case Detail". The FOIA Project. Retrieved 2023-06-23. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Panjiva, Inc. v. United States Customs and Border Protection (Docket No. 19-118)
- ↑ Grim, Ryan. "JEFFREY EPSTEIN SHIPPED HIMSELF A 53-POUND SHREDDER AND A CARPET AND TILE EXTRACTOR, MARITIME RECORDS SHOW". theintercept.com. The Intercept. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ↑ Kang, Dake; Wang, Yanan (2021-04-20). "Gadgets for tech giants made with coerced Uighur labor". AP News. Retrieved 2023-06-23. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Gershkovich, Evan. "In Russia, 'There's Nothing to Hide': A Phone Call With One of Putin's Closest Friends". https://www.themoscowtimes. The Moscow Times. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ↑ Harding, Luke. "Sergei Roldugin, the cellist who holds the key to tracing Putin's hidden fortune". www.theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ↑ Banco, Erin. "'Hunting rifles' — really? China ships assault weapons and body armor to Russia". politico.com. Politico. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ↑ Banco, Erin. "China-linked Russian body armor is landing on the battlefield in Ukraine". politico.com. Politico. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ↑ "Trade Subcommittee Hearing on Modernizing Customs Policies to Protect American Workers and Secure Supply Chains". United States House Committee on Ways & Means. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ↑ Kanko, Michael. "WRITTEN TESTIMONY BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS TRADE SUBCOMMITTEE" (PDF). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ↑ Mider, Zachary; Kay, Chris. "Cough Syrup Linked to 20 Kids' Deaths Was Circulating for Months". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
External links[edit]
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