Washington Trade Daily reports that South Korea's Finance Minister states that South Korea is likely to pick up the pace of resolving a number of persistent trade irritants with the U.S. in advance of formal free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations next year. (WTD, dated 09/26/05, www.washingtontradedaily.com )
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
The U.S. cabinet level position that oversees trade negotiations with other countries. USTR is part of the Executive Office of the President. It also administers Section 301 tariffs.
The Journal of Commerce reports that PierPASS has shown early success in shifting Southern California port traffic to off-peak hours. According to the article, if cargo volumes continue to increase at less than 5% over 2004 and shippers patronize the off-peak gates, Los Angeles and Long Beach may enjoy a congestion-free peak season in 2005. (JoC, dated 08/08/05, www.joc.com.)
On April 28, 2005 the Senate confirmed Robert J. Portman as U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). According to a USTR press release, Portman states that Congressional approval of the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, China trade issues, the enforcement of existing agreements, keeping on pace the Doha talks to lower trade barriers, and ongoing regional and bilateral trade negotiations are all front and center issues for him. (See ITT's Online Archives or 04/26/05 news, 05042615, for BP summary of Robert Portman's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee.)(USTR press release, dated 04/29/05, available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2005/April/Statement_of_Robert_J._Portman,_United_States_Trade_Representative.html.)
The Justice Department, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit asking that the court overturn the decision issued by the U.S. District Court in Montana that granted a preliminary injunction to delay the implementation of USDA's minimal-risk regions final rule, which would, among other things, re-establish trade with Canada for beef products and live cattle under 30 months of age. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/04/05 news, 05030410, for BP summary of the Montana court's injunction.) (USDA Release No. 0096.05, dated 03/17/05, available at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2005/03/0096.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.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release stating that it has asserted its World Trade Organization (WTO) rights and notified the WTO of its intent to increase certain tariffs because it has not reached agreement with the European Union (EU) over access to the European rice market.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the duties China will levy on certain categories of apparel exports (coats, skirts, knit shirts, nonknit shirts, pajamas and underwear) seem unlikely to satisfy the governments in the U.S. or Europe intent on protecting their industries from an expected flood of Chinese-made garments. The article states that almost all categories will have duties of just 20 fen per item, with several persons quoted as stating that the tax (which Chinese companies can absorb and/or pass on to customers) is just a political or token measure, and will do little to slow exports. (WJS, dated 12/28/04, www.wsj.com )
In a recent speech before the Propeller Club of Washington, D.C., Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Steven Blust commented on a number of maritime issues, including the recent Supreme Court decision, Norfolk Southern v. Kirby, which reaffirmed the statutory distinction between forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs).
The President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) offered ideas in a press conference to "break the jam and get the cargo moving" in the seriously congested ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, including the Pacific Maritime Association's (PMA) hiring of more casual workers, the use of container gangs, moving to 24-hour gates to expedite the flow of containers, etc., adding that union workers were not going to pay the price of increased accidents by working two shifts back-to-back. (ShippersNewsWire@americanshipper.com, dated 10/22/04)
The Washington File reports that after the European Union (EU) member states were urged to renounce their bilateral open skies agreements with the U.S., the U.S. Mission to the EU stated that it values those agreements, and their termination would call into question the legal basis for the airline alliances and would be contrary to the interests of consumers, airlines, and communities. (Washington File Pub 07/22/04, available at http://164.109.48.86/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=July&x=200407221519551CJsamohT0.5732996&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html)