The Washington Trade Daily (WTD) reports that the free trade negotiations that began with Bahrain in January 2004 are nearly half completed, with an negotiations possibly being completed as early as June. The WTD states that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) believes Kuwait, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could possibly dock into this agreement. (WTD Pub 03/04/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated an antidumping (AD) duty changed circumstances review of polychloroprene rubber from Japan to determine whether Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) is the successor-in-interest to Showa DDE Manufacturing K.K. (SDEM) and DDE Japan Kabushiki Kaisha (DDE Japan) (collectively SDEM/DDE Japan) for purposes of AD duty liability.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice announcing that, effective March 5, 2004, it is implementing a new unilateral quota on glass fiber fabrics in sublimit (622N) that are produced or manufactured in Belarus and exported during the January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004 period.
(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.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site the Winter 2003 issue of its "ACE Modernization Monitor" newsletter.
In a February 11, 2004 speech, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert Bonner announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering a new "Immigration Security Initiative." According to the speech, as it is under consideration, ISI teams of CBP officers would work with the National Targeting Center, the foreign authorities, the air carriers, and other U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies to: (1) utilize advance manifest information to identify potentially high-risk passengers; (2) work with the airlines and the host-nation authorities to question the high-risk passengers and examine their travel documents; and (3) make a determination whether the high-risk passengers are admissible into the U.S. prior to boarding. Commissioner Bonner stated that he would propose that ISI be piloted at 5 to 10 foreign hub airports and that ISI be evaluated and then expanded. (CBP Commissioner's speech, dated 02/11/04, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/commissioner/speeches_statements/mar032004.xml.)
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that at the request of Shunde Yongjian Housewares Co., Ltd. (Yongjian), a mandatory respondent in this investigation, it has postponed its final antidumping (AD) duty determination on floor-standing, metal-top ironing tables and certain parts thereof from China until no later than June 13, 2004.
The Bureau of Census (Census) has announced that the Government of Costa Rica is requesting a copy of the Shipper's Export Declaration (SED) or Automated Export System (AES) record for exports from the U.S. to Costa Rica. However, Census is warning exporters not to comply with this request as doing so is a violation of the Foreign Trade Statistics Regulations (FTSR).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice requesting written comments by April 16, 2004 concerning the European Communities' (EC's) request for the establishment of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel (DSP) regarding offsets to calculated dumping margins for instances of non-dumping.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final rule, effective April 2, 2004, that decreases the amount of the assessment due on imported pork and pork products under the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Order (Pork Order).