The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated an antidumping (AD) duty investigation of certain orange juice from Brazil.
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued an order denying the petitions filed by the International Shippers' Association (ISA) and the American Institute for Shippers' Associations (AISA) that sought reconsideration of the FMC's final rule on non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) Service Arrangements (NSAs), and asked the FMC to stay the effectiveness of the final rule.
The Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a Federal Register notice announcing that on September 18, 2003, the United States and Laos signed a trade agreement obligating reciprocal normal trade relations (NTR) treatment between Laos and the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an administrative message stating that the Automated Commercial System (ACS) has been modified to accept U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (UAFTA) claims through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) system, effective February 9, 2005.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice regarding certain amendments made by the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (MTA) to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), the Trade Act of 2002, and the AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004 (AGOA III) which allow eligible entries to receive retroactive AGOA or CBTPA duty-free1 benefits if requests for liquidation or reliquidation are made at the port of entry by close of business on March 3, 2005.
In the February 2, 2005 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 39, No. 6), CBP issued notices: (a) modifying a classification ruling on a "Safe Start IV Start Pak," and (b) modifying a classification ruling on certain boys' athletic-type footwear. CBP states that it is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice containing its determination that certain woven, 100% cotton, double-napped, flannel fabric, of certain specifications, classified in HTS 5209.31.6050, cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner under the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA).
(a) subject merchandise produced and exported by ZG continues to have a de minimis AD margin of 0.07%; as a result, liquidation continues to not be suspended, no AD cash deposit is required, and ZG as producer and exporter is excluded from the order.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a press release announcing that on January 31, 2005 it reinstated testing of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and its commercial truck processing capabilities at the port of Blaine, WA. CBP states that preparations for ACE transitions at additional ports are progressing, and schedules and the port locations will be announced at a later date. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/31/05 news, 05013100, for BP summary of CBP's plan to resume this pilot.) (CBP press release, dated 01/31/05, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/press_releases/02012005_2.xml)
On January 28, 2005, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a press release announcing that it has notified the WTO of its intent to increase certain tariffs on certain products from all "column 1" countries because it has not reached agreement with the European Union (EU) over access to the European rice market.