The Journal of Commerce Online reports that during the week which began on August 16, 2004, the World Shipping Council asked the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to allow replies in response to supplemental comments asking the FMC to expeditiously provide a conditional tariff publication and enforcement exemption for non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs). (JoC Online, dated 08/18/04, www.joc.com )
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a preliminary negative countervailing (CV) duty determination on live swine from Canada finding that countervailable subsidies are not being provided to producers or exporters of live swine from Canada.
Consular Information Sheets are available for every country of the world and include a variety of information. The following have been issued since BP's most recent update:
(a) For previously reviewed or investigated companies not listed above, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent period.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) and the Department of the Interior (Interior) have issued a final rule, effective August 20, 2004, which amends their regulations governing watch duty-exemption allocations and the watch and jewelry duty-refund benefits for producers in the U.S. insular possessions (the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued an interim final rule which again delays the date by which states must comply with certain Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations for commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) with a hazardous materials (hazmat) endorsement.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) is announcing that it has instituted a "Section 129" Consistency Proceeding in order to issue a determination that would render its actions in connection with the antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) investigations on softwood lumber from Canada "not inconsistent" with the findings of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel.
According to U.S. government sources, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has "completed" its document exams of certain entries of knit-to-shape garments in HTS 6110 which claim a country of origin other than China (i.e., the entry claims that the garment's panels are knit-to-shape in a country other than China and then sent to China to be linked and looped).
The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has issued its June 2004 Textiles and Apparel Import Report, which includes statistics on general imports (both quota and non-quota) of cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend, and non-cotton vegetable fiber textiles and apparel.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has initiated four reviews to provide advice to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) concerning four petitions filed on behalf of Fishman & Tobin under the "commercial availability" provision of the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) on apparel of certain woven fabrics. Written comments are due by August 27, 2004. (See ITT's Online Archives or 08/11/04 news, 04081135, for BP summary of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreement's (CITA's) related notice.) (Four ITC notices, dated 08/11/04, available at http://www.usitc.gov/332s/shortsup/shortsupstat.htm)