On December 10, 2004, President Bush issued Presidential Proclamation 7853 in order to designate Burkina Faso as an African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beneficiary country.
On December 3, 2004, President Bush signed into law the conference version of H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (Public Law (P.L.) 108-429).
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have signed an agreement to create the world's biggest free-trade area, which aims to remove all tariffs by 2010 and is a critical step in their vision of creating an ASEAN Community trade bloc by 2020. (WSJ Pub 11/30/04, www.wsj.com)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice stating that the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting written public comments by January 31, 2005 for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) negotiations.
The Washington File reports that in recent remarks, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Zoellick predicted that Congress will allow a two-year extension of President Bush's trade promotion authority (TPA), also known as 'fast track', in order to give more time to conclude World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations as well as bilateral and regional negotiations. (Washington File Pub 12/08/04, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=December&x=20041208165515ebyessedo0.9826624&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html; USTR's remarks, dated 12/07/04, available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Transcripts/2004/December/European_Leadership_Forum_Interview_with_U.S._Trade_Representative_Robert_B._Zoellick.html)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a request for comments concerning the U.S.' intention to initiate free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release stating that it will extend through March 31, 2005, its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Country Practices Review of a petition to remove GSP duty-free benefits from Brazil due to inadequate protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).
According to U.S. government sources, the 2005 printed, paper edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) is expected to be printed later than usual this year.
There have been two recent developments regarding certain proceedings relative to the antidumping (AD) duty and countervailing (CV) duty investigations/orders on certain softwood lumber products (softwood lumber products) from Canada, as follows.
The Wall Street Journal reports that President Bush has pledged his commitment to a strong dollar but has kept pressure on China to revalue the yuan, a step that would continue to nudge the dollar downward. According to the article, the Administration is sending a mixed signal by continuing to acquiesce to a declining dollar, which boosts U.S. exports by making them cheaper abroad, while at the same time supporting a revaluation of the yuan, which would make Chinese exports more expensive. (WSJ, dated 11/22/04, www.wsj.com)