On March 3, 2004, President Bush determined to not provide import relief to the U.S. pipe fittings industry with respect to certain ductile iron waterworks fittings even though the International Trade Commission (ITC), in its product-specific Section 421 market disruption investigation of such products imported from China, had proposed remedies in which additional duties would be implemented for a three-year period.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are developing a new security initiative aimed at identifying and catching possible terrorists before they board a U.S. bound plane. CBP Commissioner Bonner states that such a program could help avoid the kind of flight cancellations that happened in December over terrorist fears. Bonner added that the program would be voluntary and that they were considering seven specific sites. (WSJ, dated 03/01/04, www.wsj.com )

The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has issued its Major Shippers Textiles and Apparel Report, which contains selected general import statistics by date of import from the Census Bureau through December 31, 2003 by country and category (including merged and part category).

The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period.

Broker Power is making available by email its lists of 2004 general (column 1) duty rates for knit and crocheted (knit) and woven apparel in Chapters 61 and 62 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), and their associated categories.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice that describes the three types of certificates of origin the Government of Singapore (Singapore) issues.

In the March 2, 2004 Federal Register, the International Trade Administration (ITA) issued a notice terminating the antidumping (AD) duty investigations of electrolytic manganese dioxide from Australia, Greece, Ireland, Japan, and South Africa.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its first version (dated February 12, 2004) of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on its final rule requiring 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.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published in the Federal Register its revised compliance schedule for the required advance electronic submission of information for cargo brought into the U.S. by air.