The International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued two notices announcing that, following receipt of requests from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), it has instituted investigations under 19 USC 3804(f) regarding the potential economy wide and selected sectoral effects of the proposed Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) including the Dominican Republic, and the proposed U.S.-Morocco FTA.
On March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 1047, the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003."
On March 18, 2004, in DaimlerChrysler Corporation v. U.S., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) reversed the Court of International Trade's (CIT) denial of 9802.00.80 duty benefits for the top-coat painting of certain trucks assembled in Mexico.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) has announced the launch of the DDTC Response Team.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site various documents related to its development and expansion of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). The following are highlights of these documents:
The Journal of Commerce (JoC) reports that ocean carriers are strongly opposed to a security fee of $1 per foot of vessel length proposed by the South Carolina State Ports Authority. According to JoC, the charge will take effect in July and is expected to bring in $1 million to cover increased security costs. (JoC Pub 03/15 - 21/04, www.joc.com)
The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period.
Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. The following have been issued since BP's most recent update:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a press release on March 18, 2004 announcing that the U.S. has filed a World Trade Organization (WTO) case against China regarding its discriminatory tax rebate policy for integrated circuits.
The Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) has issued a notice announcing that it is seeking comments as to whether regulations in 49 CFR 172-178 that are applicable to 1) the transportation of explosives and 2) the transportation of hazardous materials (hazmats) in cylinders have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.