On March 23, 2004, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge addressed the issue of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) port security efforts at the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) Spring Conference. In addition, DHS has also issued a fact sheet regarding the Coast Guard's efforts to protect U.S. ports.

The Wall Street Journal states that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is declaring a temporary hiring freeze at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to a potential $1.2 billion budget shortfall. According to the article, the exact cause of the budget shortfall is unclear and may simply be a computer glitch. (WSJ, 03/26/04, www.wsj.com )

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated an antidumping (AD) duty investigation of magnesium metal from Russia.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated an antidumping (AD) duty investigation of magnesium metal from China.

According to a State Department Washington File article, on March 24, 2004, the Senate failed to invoke cloture (i.e., end debate) on a bill to repeal the Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income Act (ETI) tax regime. The article notes that after failing to block further amendments to the bill, the Senate Republican leadership announced that they would work on a new strategy for pushing for passage of the bill. (Washington File article dated 03/24/04, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=March&x=20040324140811ebyessedo0.7140619&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html.)

On March 22, 2004, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced additional security initiatives aimed at further reducing vulnerabilities to transit and rail systems. New initiatives to be undertaken will target three specific areas: threat response support capability, public awareness and participation, and future technological innovations.

The Department of the Interior (Interior) has announced that on March 24, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted an emergency administrative stay of the U.S. District Court injunction that disconnected most of Interior's computer systems, including that of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), from the Internet beginning on March 15, 2004.

The ITA states that it has collapsed SIBRA, CPFL and Urucum into one entity for purposes of this AD duty administrative review.

¹ The ITA states that it has preliminary determined to treat LMC and LIMAC as a single entity for purposes of this AD duty administrative review.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) has issued an amending supplement (No. 4, dated August 2003) to the Harmonized System Explanatory Notes (ENs). (Although not binding on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the ENs are followed by CBP whenever possible.) (This is Part III of a multi-part series of summaries on this amending supplement. See future issues of ITT for additional summaries.)