The Office of U.S. Trade Representative announced the results of the 2011 Annual Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Review, in a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication July 12. It also scheduled public comments and a public hearing for new country practice petitions for Fiji, Indonesia, Iraq, and Ukraine, and announced the closure of the country practices review of Sri Lanka's worker rights practices, and the designation of Afghanistan as a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for purposes of the GSP. Some specific results of the review:
The International Trade Administration issued the final results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from India (A-533-840), which sets an AD cash deposit rate for 173 manufacturer/exporters1. The rates, which are effective July 11, are expected to be implemented by CBP soon.
CBP posted a document to its website that provides side-by-side comparisons of the following 18 U.S. free trade agreements and preferential trade programs: NAFTA; Chile (CFTA); Singapore (SFTA); Australia (AFTA); Israel (ILFTA); Jordan (JFTA); Bahrain (BFTA); Morocco (MFTA); Oman (OFTA); Central America-Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR); Peru (PTPA); Korea (UKFTA); Colombia (CTPA); Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA); Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA); Generalized System of Preferences (GSP); African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA); and Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA).
The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on polyester staple fiber from China (A-570-943) for two companies. One of the companies, Far Eastern1, did not cooperate with the ITA's requests for participation, and was therefore assigned the China-wide rate, the ITA said. Furthermore, due to Far Eastern's lack of cooperation, the ITA assigned the China-wide rate on the basis of Adverse Facts Available, it said. These preliminary results are not in effect. The ITA may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for these companies.
President Barack Obama said seven cotton fiber products should be added to the list of those eligible for duty-free treatment under the program when imported from least developed country beneficiaries, in the Administration’s 2011 Annual Review under the Generalized System of Preferences program. Adding the products implements one element of the LDC trade initiatives that the Office of U.S. Trade Representative announced at the December 2011 World Trade Organization Ministerial, said USTR Ron Kirk.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule that revises the Export Administration Regulations, effective July 2, to, among other things, implement the changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement's List of Dual Use Goods and Technologies maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement at the December 2011 Plenary Meeting, and add Mexico as the 41st Participating State in the list of Wassenaar Arrangement members in the EAR.
The Bureau of Industry and Security and the State Department issued their proposed transition plans for items transitioning from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List, pursuant to the Obama Administration’s Export Control Reform (ECR) initiative. In addition, the BIS proposed rule would (1) extend the validity of BIS licenses from two to four years; (2) broaden license exceptions to conform to State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations exemptions; (3) amend license exceptions for government uses and temporary exports (4) propose a revised de minimis rule for 600-series USML-CCL transfers; and (5) make additional changes that BIS deems necessary to implement ECR, such as changes to reporting thresholds for the Automated Export System.
The Bureau of Industry and Security and the State Department issued their proposed transition plans for items transitioning from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List, pursuant to the Obama Administration’s Export Control Reform (ECR) initiative. In addition, the BIS proposed rule would (1) extend the validity of BIS licenses from two to four years; (2) broaden license exceptions to conform to State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations exemptions; (3) amend license exceptions for government uses and temporary exports (4) proposed a revised de minimis rule for 600-series USML-CCL transfers; and (5) make additional changes that BIS deems necessary to implement ECR, such as changes to reporting thresholds for the Automated Export System.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin retroactive billing for merchandise entered between October 1 and November 4, 2011, with the increased merchandise processing fee, said CBP in a June 15 CSMS message. The billing will be done by the CBP Office of International Trade, said CBP. CBP said it began the scripting of liquidate entries last week and expects to liquidate approximately 20,000 entries per week but doesn't have an estimated completion date.
The International Trade Administration made a preliminary affirmative determination that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of large residential washers from Korea (C-580-869). The ITA found preliminary CV rates of de minimis to 70.58%, which are effective June 5, 2012. U.S. Customs is expected to implement these CV cash deposit requirements soon. Pursuant to the ITA's October 2011 final rule, no bond will be accepted in lieu of a cash deposit.