On March 17, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a message from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stating that the technical problems with FDA's OASIS, which had recently prevented the processing of entry submissions from ABI, including the return of Prior Notice (PN) confirmation numbers, has been resolved.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on March 1, 2004, the Bush Administration submitted to Congress the 2004 Trade Policy Agenda and 2003 Annual Report on the Trade Agreements Program.

The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has issued its January 2004 Textile and Apparel Trade Balance Report (containing data through January 31, 2004). The Trade Balance Report shows imports and exports and calculates the trade balance for U.S. textile and apparel trade with the world and with major U.S. trading partners.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that at the request of the respondent, Qingdao Wenkem (F.T.Z.) Trading Company Limited (QWTC), it has postponed the final antidumping (AD) duty determination on tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol from China until no later than June 10, 2004.

At the March 3, 2004 Joint Industry Group Annual Meeting, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS') Border and Transportation (BTS) Director of Cargo and Trade Policy outlined its three goals for the next 12 months with regard to cargo security. Components of these goals include, among other things, identifying and filling in remaining gaps in security, possibly fully launching Smart Box, and developing a Threat and Vulnerability Process.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on March 15, 2004 the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), providing a forum for the two countries to examine ways to expand bilateral trade and investment. (Press Release 04-18, dated 03/15/04, available at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2004/03/04-18.pdf)

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.

¹ The China-wide rate applies to China exporters without separate rates (including

In the March 10, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 11), CBP issued notices (a) proposing to modify a classification ruling on an envelope-style clutch, and (b) proposing to revoke or modify two classification rulings regarding abdominal training systems. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.

On February 12, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued its first version of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on its final rule requiring the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (sea, air, rail, or truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S.