The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued an update on the potential withdrawal of certain tariff concessions by increasing general duty rates in the event the U.S. cannot reach agreement with the European Union (EU) for adequate compensation owed under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules as a result of the EU's enlargement in 2004.
On June 16, 2005, the Senate Appropriations Committee favorably reported its version of H.R. 2360, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), etc.
The Washington File reports that the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations has agreed to convene a meeting of experts in autumn to develop a plan for improving national anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting capabilities, noting that the theft of intellectual property rights (IPR) can be linked to organized crime. The leaders of the G8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, U.S., and Russia) met on July 6-8, 2005 in Scotland. (Washington File Pub 07/08/05, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=July&x=20050708152328AKllennoCcM0.9995691&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html)
The Associated Press (AP) reports that an aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said that the Senate will restore $50 million in funding which was recently cut by the Senate Appropriations Committee from the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (AP article dated 07/08/05, available at http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/08/congress.transitsecurity.ap/.)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing the disposition of the product petitions accepted for review in the 2004 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Annual Product Review (including self-initiated product reviews) and the results of the 2004 De Minimis Waiver and Redesignation Review.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice stating that, effective July 18, 2005, certain textile and apparel goods from Ethiopia are eligible for duty-free treatment under the "handloomed, handmade, or folklore articles" provision of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
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The International Trade Commission (ITC) has posted to its Web site an updated version of the 2005 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) dated July 1, 2005 (Supplement 1).
According to the American Shipper, on June 6, 2005, the office of the United States attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). AS articles state that the lawsuit asks a federal judge to allow the government to take over the ILA and several of its benefit plans. AS also reports that the ILA and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, Ltd. (USMX) have stated that their Master Contract (through September 30, 2010), which has a no-strike provision, is unaffected by the pending civil RICO action. (AS, dated 07/01/05 and 07/08/05, ShippersNewsWire@americanshipper.com )
According to U.S. government sources, the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is currently expected to be implemented on January 1, 2006.