The White House has issued a press release stating that on December 30, 2003, President Bush approved the designation of the following 37 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries as eligible for tariff preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA):

(a) Timken has an AD cash deposit rate of zero (from 18.75%); no cash deposits will be required although suspension of liquidation will continue

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a final rule which amends the Customs Regulations effective January 5, 2004 regarding 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. (See final rule for compliance dates for each transportation mode.)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued an interim final rule and a notice, both effective January 5, 2004, which announce the establishment of the U.S.-Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program (US-VISIT) and detail the requirements for the first phase of this program.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice amending its antidumping (AD) duty order on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from Netherlands in order to terminate suspension of liquidation and AD duty liability for subject merchandise with a time of entry on or after October 30, 2001 (180 days from the date of publication of the preliminary determination) through November 28, 2001 (the day before the AD duty order was published).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice requesting comments by noon on February 13, 2004 regarding whether any foreign countries should be identified under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 USC 2242), which is commonly referred to as the "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued separate notices on the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement's (UCFTA) 2004 Tariff Preference Levels (TPLs) for imports from Chile of certain cotton and man-made fiber (MMF) apparel goods and certain cotton/MMF fabric goods, as described below.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to its Web site certain new Trade Support Network (TSN) committee Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) user requirement recommendations and ACE Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) message drafts.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a final rule which amends the Customs Regulations effective January 5, 2004 regarding 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. (See final rule for compliance dates for each transportation mode.)

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice announcing the opportunity to request administrative reviews of the following antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders: