On May 20, 2003, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a proposed rule to require imported solid wood packing material (SWPM) to be either heat treated or fumigated with methyl bromide, as well as marked, prior to importation, in accordance with the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15 entitled "Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade." ISPM 15 was approved by the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) on March 15, 2002.
The Washington Trade Daily (WTD) reports that the free trade negotiations that began with Bahrain in January 2004 are nearly half completed, with an negotiations possibly being completed as early as June. The WTD states that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) believes Kuwait, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could possibly dock into this agreement. (WTD Pub 03/04/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
(a) Chandan and Isibars have an AD rate of zero; no cash deposits will be required although suspension of liquidation will continue
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a March 1, 2004 version of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and responses regarding 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.
The Washington Trade Daily (WTD) has reported that the Senate began debate on March 3, 2004 to repeal the current Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income Tax Exclusion (FSC/ETI) regime. According to Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Sen. Grassley, the FSC/ETI could be replaced with the Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act (JOBS Act) which would use all of the money from the repeal to provide a 3 point tax rate cut on income from U.S.-based manufacturing. (WTD Pub 03/04/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com, Sen. Grassley's press release dated 03/02/04, available at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2004/prg030204.pdf)
According to a press release issued by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, on March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its second version (dated March 1, 2004) of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and responses regarding 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.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has posted to its Web site the draft text of the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), which is dated March 1, 2004.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final rule, effective April 2, 2004, that decreases the amount of the assessment due on imported pork and pork products under the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Order (Pork Order).
The Bureau of Census (Census) has announced that the Government of Costa Rica is requesting a copy of the Shipper's Export Declaration (SED) or Automated Export System (AES) record for exports from the U.S. to Costa Rica. However, Census is warning exporters not to comply with this request as doing so is a violation of the Foreign Trade Statistics Regulations (FTSR).