The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued two notices requesting public comments by February 17, 2004 regarding "commercial availability" requests it received, variously, under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), and the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) from Levi Strauss and Co.:

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that it is postponing until no later than April 19, 2004 (from February 14, 2004) the preliminary countervailing (CV) duty determination on carbazole violet pigment 23.

On January 23, 2004, President Bush signed into law (Public Law (P.L.) 108-199) the conference version of the fiscal year (FY) 2004 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673), entitled the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004." P.L. 108-199 includes eight separate appropriations measures, including the 2004 Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Act), which provides, among other things, FY 2004 appropriations for the Commerce Department.

In U.S. v. Inn Foods, Inc., the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that litigation filed by the U.S. on December 14, 2001 to collect Customs duties and fees from Inn Foods for violations of 19 USC 1592 regarding produce imported from Mexico was untimely by one day.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has preliminarily determined to revoke the countervailing (CV) duty orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products and cut-to-length carbon steel plate products from Germany for entries of subject merchandise that have a time of entry on or after April 1, 2004.

The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has issued its November 2003 Textile and Apparel Trade Balance Report (containing data through November 30, 2003). 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.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) makes available on its Web site a number of documents related to its Customs Automated Forms Entry System (CAFES).

On December 5, 2003, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule which amended the Customs Regulations to provide that CBP receive, by way of a CBP-approved electronic data interchange system, information pertaining to cargo before the cargo is either brought into or sent from the U.S. by any mode of commercial transportation (sea, air, rail, or truck).

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of foundry coke from China for the review period of March 8, 2001 through August 31, 2002.

On October 27, 2003, the State Department published a final rule which amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to indicate that exporters that are required to report shippers export information of U.S. Munitions List (USML) articles must use the Automated Export System (AES).