The Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released its 2005 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), which is an annual report documenting foreign trade and investment barriers and U.S. efforts to reduce and eliminate those barriers.
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced that a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruled that the European Union (EU) regulation for protecting "geographical indications" for food and beer is WTO-inconsistent as it discriminates against non-EU products and producers. In a second aspect of the case, the WTO panel clarified that the EU could protect only GI names as registered and not foreign translations or linguistic variations of the registered name.
On March 17, 2005 President Bush nominated Congressman Rob Portman to be U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Congressman Portman is currently a member of the Ways and Means Committee and its subcommittee on Trade, and serves as the Chairman of the House Republican Leadership. (White House personnel announcement (dated 03/17/05) available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050317-1.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)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a statement that the U.S. is willing to continue talks with the EU based on the table set forth in a January 11, 2005 agreement on the terms of negotiation to end large commercial aircraft subsidies; however, the USTR states that the EU keeps digressing from that table. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/13/05 news, 05011399 2, for BP summary of the January 11 agreement.) (USTR statement, dated 03/19/05, available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Spokesperson_Statements/Statement_from_USTR_Spokesman_Richard_Mills_on_the_Status_of_U.S.-EU_Large_Civil_Aircraft_Subsidy-Litigation_Talks.html)
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has instituted an investigation, at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), on the probable effect of proposed modifications to the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SFTA) rules of origin for certain yarns and fabrics, as U.S. negotiators have recently reached agreement in principle with Singapore on such modifications.
The Washington File reports that the chief U.S. negotiator in the free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman says the first round of bargaining with each country has gone smoothly and she expects that agreements with both countries will be concluded and signed by the end of 2005. (Washington File Pub 03/14/05, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=March&x=20050314185740cpataruk0.1947443&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html)
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued three notices announcing that two "commercial availability" petitions it received under the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) on behalf of B*W*A of New York, NY regarding certain cotton flannel fabrics have been withdrawn, and they have been replaced with two new petitions.
The Senate Finance Committee has issued a press release announcing that it plans to hold a full committee hearing on the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) on April 6, 2005.