CIT rules in favor of Customs' liquidation of certain roller chain. In Peer Chain Co. v. U.S., the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that Customs correctly assessed $167,111 in antidumping (AD) duties and interest on Peer Chain, an importer of roller chain from Japan, despite the fact that the interest portion of the assessment was caused by the Commerce Department being five years late in notifying Customs (and providing public notice) that a court-ordered suspension of liquidation of the entries had been lifted.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has posted to its Web site its final annual performance plan for fiscal year (FY) 2005, which contains details on the FMC's mission, strategic goals, and a number of related performance goals.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its weekly quota commodity report as of March 8, 2004. This report includes tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on various products such as beef, tuna, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa powder, tobacco, certain JFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TRQs, etc. This report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, CBTPA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA tariff preference levels (TPLs) for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics under HTS 9902.51.11 & 9902.51.12, etc. (CBP's weekly quota commodity report, dated 03/08/04, available at http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted a notice to its Web site stating that effective February 25, 2004, hand-loomed fabrics of the cottage industry, hand-made cottage industry products made of hand loomed fabrics and traditional handicraft textile products that are entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after February 25, 2004 are eligible for Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) duty-free treatment provided that proper requirements are met.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a news release announcing that state officials were asked to begin enforcement of the new hours-of-service rules starting March 4, 2004. Since January 4, 2004, FMCSA and state officials have led an aggressive educational enforcement program designed to teach commercial drivers about the new rules and ensure flagrant violations were rigorously enforced. (FMCSA news release 03-04, dated 03/04/04, available at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/contactus/press/2004/030404.htm)

(a) Companies other than the 14 listed above, will either be subject to an earlier final results of a CV duty review or the "all others" rate established in the original CV duty investigation. The ITA notes that the "all others" rate is expected to change in a future final results of a CV duty expedited reviews. (See ITT's Online Archives or 11/13/02, 05/14/03, 05/22/02 and 02/04/04 news, 02111345, 03051430, 02052217 and 04020435 for BP summaries of the final results of CV duty expedited and new shipper reviews for other companies, and the CV duty order for softwood lumber from Canada.)

On March 2, 2004, the U.S. reached agreement with Morocco on a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA). On March 8, 2004, President Bush notified Congress of his intent to sign an FTA with Morocco. (Under the provisions of the Trade Act of 2002's Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002, the President is required to notify Congress at least 90 days in advance of signing an FTA with Morocco.)

The Web site of the International Trade Administration's (ITA's) Trade Information Center (TIC, www.ita.doc.gov/tic) contains a publication entitled, Tariff and Tax Information which contains certain information, online resources, and contact information for U.S. exports, etc.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that it is postponing until May 13, 2004 (from March 23, 2004) its preliminary antidumping (AD) duty determination on certain aluminum plate from South Africa.