U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum which contains instructions on the retroactive application of the preferential tariff provisions1 of the U.S. - Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) to qualifying textile or apparel goods of eligible DR-CAFTA countries that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after January 1, 2004 and before March 1, 2006, the DR-CAFTA's effective date for El Salvador, which is currently the only country to which such benefits apply.
Customs duty
A customs duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs duty rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight. U.S. customs duties are listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum providing instructions for the filing and acceptance of claims for preferential tariff treatment of goods made under the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an interim rule on the time period and other requirements for requesting refunds of any excess customs duties paid on entries of a country's textile or apparel goods that are entitled to the retroactive application of preferential tariff treatment under the Dominican Republic - Central America - U.S. Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).
In June 2005, the Court of International Trade ruled in International Custom Products (ICP), Inc. v. U.S., that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Notice of Action (Rate Advance) reclassifying certain "white sauce" is null and void as CBP failed to observe 19 USC 1625(c) which requires, among other things, advance notice and comment when such an action would revoke or modify a binding ruling.
On February 28, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 7987 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S. - Dominican Republic -Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for El Salvador.
The Washington File reports that the Bush administration is sending trade negotiators to China to discuss that country's progress on improving enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). A meeting is scheduled to take place on March 1, 2006 and is intended to gather information on the Chinese government's efforts to combat piracy of U.S. copyrighted material. (Washington File Pub 02/24/06, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=February&x=20060224163828tjkcollub0.347027&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html )
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that the U.S. and Colombia have concluded their work on a free trade agreement (FTA).
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a notice announcing that, following a request from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), it has instituted an investigation in order to provide advice concerning the probable economic effect of providing duty-free treatment for imports under a free trade agreement (FTA) with Korea, and will seek input through a public hearing on April 20, 2006.
President Bush has issued Proclamation 7981 in order to reinstate Liberia's duty-free benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. In addition, the President has determined that Liberia should be designated as a least-developed beneficiary developing country (LDBDC).
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has released its report entitled The U.S. Oman Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economywide and Selected Sectoral Effects.