U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided Colombia Free Trade Act system requirements in a CSMS message April 30, 2012.
The European Union issued the following trade-related releases on April 18-19, 2012 (notices of most significance will be given separate headlines):
American Task Force Argentina (ATFA) commended the Obama administration for suspending Argentina's benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. "For years, Argentina has enjoyed the benefits of GSP status while ignoring its responsibilities as a GSP beneficiary," but for too long it has refused to fulfill its obligations under the program, said ATFA Executive Director Robert Raben.
The U.S. and Sri Lanka agreed to establish a number of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Committees to continue work on bilateral trade and investment issues, said U.S. Trade Representative office officials following a meeting March 29 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The new TIFA Committees cover intellectual property, customs cooperation, and labor affairs. The countries also agreed to continue discussions on establishing a committee on the empowerment of women entrepreneurs.
Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) both came out in favor of the President's decision to suspend Argentina’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The Administration’s action is a result of Argentina’s refusal to pay a $300 million award ordered by an arbitration panel to U.S. companies that invested in Argentina.
Proclamation 8788 which suspends Argentina as a Generalized System of Preferences beneficiary country and designates the Republic of South Sudan as a least developed GSP beneficiary country will be published in the March 29, 2012 Federal Register. As a result, Argentina is slated to be suspended from the GSP program on May 28, 2012 . The Proclamation also adds South Sudan to GSP as a LDBDC on April 15, and makes certain changes to the HTS for DR-CAFTA apparel, etc. According to the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. will consider reinstating GSP for Argentina if it pays two long standing arbitral awards.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 19 - March 23, 2012 in case they were missed last week.
On March 26, President Obama signed Proclamation 8788 to suspend Argentina's designation as a Generalized System of Preferences beneficiary country and to designate the Republic of South Sudan as a GSP beneficiary country, as well as a least developed beneficiary. The Proclamation also makes other changes regarding other preference programs and free trade agreements, and technical changes.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 12 - March 16, 2012 in case they were missed last week.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments by April 6, 2012 on the country/tariff number pairs that could lose their Generalized System of Preferences duty-free treatment in the 2011 Annual Review if they exceed certain statutory thresholds or one or both Competitive Needs Limits (CNLs). Comments are also sought on the possible re-designation of articles currently ineligible for GSP. While 2011 full calendar data is available for all GSP-eligible tariff numbers, USTR has issued four lists that indicate the GSP changes for 156 tariff numbers that may take effect on July 1, 2012.