The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule, effective April 29, 2004, which revises certain entries on the Commerce Control List (CCL) controlled for national security reasons in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Part I (telecommunications), 5 Part II (information security), 6, and 7 to conform with changes in the List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies maintained and agreed to by the governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies that were agreed to at the December 2003 meeting.
Washington Trade Daily reports that during the week of May 3, 2004, the House Ways and Means Committee is expected to approve H.R. 4103, the "African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act" (AGOA III). (See ITT's Online Archives or 04/06/04 news, 04040605, for previous BP summary of H.R. 4103.)
Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. The following has been issued since BP's most recent update:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has posted to its Web site the section of the draft U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on Dominican Republic-specific textile provisions. In addition, the USTR has issued a side letter concerning the Dominican Republic's potential loss of certain U.S-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) benefits as a result of CAFTA.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the following vessel operating common carriers (VOCCs) have become Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS) operational:
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated administrative reviews of the following antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders for the specified companies listed in the ITA notice:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued two administrative messages (one in April 2004 and one in November 2002) regarding antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty cases where the AD/CV deposit rate is either: (1) an ad valorem rate, (2) a specific rate, or (3) an ad valorem rate or a specific rate for the same time period, as follows:
The Journal of Commerce reports that the U.S. may have to drop 27% duties on Canadian lumber shipments after a NAFTA binational panel ruled that the U.S. International Trade Commission's finding that tariffs are needed because Canadian imports push down prices "is not supported by substantial evidence." According to the article, the U.S. has 21 days to redo its figures or end the duties. (JoC dated 04/30/04, www.joc.com.)
On March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 1047, the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003."
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a proposed rule which would institute new requirements for persons who use sampling services and private laboratories in connection with imported food subject to an FDA enforcement action, such as refusal of imports, product seizure, or issuance of an injunction.