CBP issued a notice in the Aug. 7 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 52, No. 27) regarding the dates and draft agenda for the 64th Session of the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System Committee (HSC), which will meet in Brussels Sept. 18-27. Among other things, the HSC issues classification decisions on the interpretation of the Harmonized System (HS) in the form of published tariff classification opinions or amendments to the Explanatory Notes. It also considers amendments to the legal text of the HS.

Canada appears unlikely to ratify the updated NAFTA before the fall, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on July 29, according to a CTV report. Canadian officials have said that country aims to move ratification in tandem with the other NAFTA countries (see 1906140047) and the U.S. House of Representatives recently recessed. That will make it tougher for Canada to move forward ahead of its Oct. 21 election. "We of course benefit right now from the existing NAFTA that ensures that Canadians are well-served with good and reliable access to the North American market," Trudeau said. "But we also look forward to ratification of the new NAFTA, but we will do that in line with the American process when it picks up again this fall."

The European Union asked again that the U.S. stop making payments to U.S. firms that petitioned in antidumping and countervailing duties orders, "arguing that every such disbursement was a clear act of non-compliance with the rulings on this matter," a Geneva trade official said, describing a Dispute Body Settlement meeting at the World Trade Organization on July 22. The payments stem from the long-repealed Byrd Amendment, also known as the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000. Even though the amendment was repealed in 2005, and only entries filed before Oct. 1, 2007, are eligible for payments, the distributions continue (see 1905300013 and 1711300025). The U.S. said it is complying with the WTO ruling, and said that the EU's annual retaliation is just $3,356. The U.S. official said that the EU spent more preparing for the presentation than its damages under CDSO.

China believes that trade “frictions” with the U.S. “should be resolved through dialogue and consultation,” a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said on July 17. He was asked about President Donald Trump’s July 16 Cabinet meeting remarks that the U.S. has a “long way to go” before reaching a trade deal with China and can still impose the threatened List 4 Section 301 tariffs on $325 billion worth of Chinese goods “if we want.” If the U.S. “thinks there is still a long way to go before a deal is concluded, well, as the Chinese saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” the spokesperson said. “No matter how long the way is, as long as you step forward, you will eventually reach the destination.” In the face of the U.S. threat to impose the List 4 duties, “China will firmly defend its own interests,” the spokesperson said. “If the U.S. does impose new tariffs, that will indeed set new obstacles for the trade talks. There will be an even longer way to go before reaching a deal.”

The U.S. lost its appeal of a 2018 World Trade Organization decision that it had not properly calculated countervailing duties for Chinese pipes, tubular goods, solar panels, aluminum extrusions and other items. China had originally challenged the cases in 2016 -- the cases were brought between 2007 and 2012 (see 1805010071). The earlier ruling held that the U.S. was right to say that Chinese state-owned enterprises count as "public bodies" and therefore their actions can be market distorting. The appeal upheld that element of the case, but also upheld the victories for China. The WTO said that Commerce did not prove specificity in the subsidies for the products, and it also could not show how the SOE inputs distorted market prices. It was not allowed to use other countries' prices as reference points to prove market distortions, the WTO said, unless it had specific evidence that government interference in the market warranted that. The appeal said that countries' ability to use other countries' prices in CVD cases is "very limited."

Russia is challenging a series of U.S. antidumping decisions on hot-rolled and flat-rolled carbon-quality steel that began in 1999 and have continued through 2019. The two countries also reached a suspension agreement on the carbon steel for part of the last decade, but antidumping duties have been levied on Russian carbon steel products since 2014. Russia is asking for consultations with the U.S through the World Trade Organization, because it says that the U.S. did not determine individual producers' dumping margins, and that it did not calculate the costs of production of the articles before setting the duty rates.

Peter Beyer, Germany's trans-Atlantic coordinator, told a Reuters reporter that he expects tariffs on imported cars from Europe to be imposed by President Donald Trump in November. Beyer, who met with members of Congress, White House staff and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative officials on July 9, said the U.S. is dissatisfied with the European Union's refusal to negotiate about agriculture in trade talks. “When it comes to the car tariffs, I unfortunately think they are more likely than not to be imposed in mid-November. There is quite a lot of impatience on the U.S. side. But that also requires us on the European side to be strong and unified.”

The U.S. circulated a request for consultations with India at the World Trade Organization on July 4, over India's decision to raise tariffs on American almonds, apples, motorcycles, lentils, chickpeas and other products. The tariffs were raised on those products in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Indian steel and aluminum. The combined product list is supposed to bring in $241 million in additional duties. The tariffs went up June 16, shortly after India was removed from the Generalized System of Preferences program.

Canada issued multiple new regulations related to Canada’s accession to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty in the Canada Gazette, Part II. Among those is the new permit for the export of Arms Trade Treaty items to the U.S. meant to "provide a streamlined permitting process for the export of most ATT items." The regulations also include a brokering control list, brokering permit regulations, and regulations specifying activities that do not constitute brokering. The regulations will take effect on Sept. 1, according to another notice. The regulations were proposed in March (see 1904150033).

There remains a portion of the sugar-containing products export quota to the U.S. available "for utilization by Canadian residents on a first-come, first-served basis until the available quantity is fully used or September 30, 2019, whichever occurs first," the Canadian government said in a June 21 notice. Companies must request a shipment-specific import permit from Global Affairs Canada to make use of the available export quota, it said. "To claim the in-quota rate of duty, the eight-digit export permit number issued by the Department on behalf of the Government of Canada must be indicated on the appropriate US Customs entry document. Canadian exporters should provide their US Customs broker with a copy of the export permit prior to the time of export and should retain the original document."