The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that it is extending the deadline for the submission of petitions for the 2004 Annual Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Product and Country Eligibility Practices Review to 5 p.m. on December 13, 2004.
The U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) has issued a Textile Development Memo stating that on November 8, 2004, the U.S. industry filed another China textile safeguard petition, this time for synthetic filament fabrics (Cat 620). (TDM, dated 11/08/04, www.usaita.com)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing the initiation of a review to consider the designation of Azerbaijan as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has instituted an investigation, at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), on the probable effect of a proposed modification to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules of origin for certain sanitary towels or tampons (sanitary articles) from Canada and Mexico, as U.S. negotiators have recently reached agreement in principle with these countries on such a modification.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a news release announcing that Taiwan has agreed in principle to resume imports of U.S. beef and beef products. The news release states that Taiwan officials indicated that the required assessments and evaluations for trade to resume were nearing completion. (USDA news release no. 0468.04, dated 10/26/04, available at http://www.usda.gov/documents/NewsReleases/2004/10/0468.doc.)
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice requesting public comments by November 10, 2004 regarding two "commercial availability" petitions1 it received under the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) on behalf of Jaclyn, Inc. of New York, NY:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued an update on the potential increase in general duty rates for certain goods from all "Column 1" countries in the event that 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 May 2004 EU enlargement and EU changes to its rice import regime.
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)
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site its instructions for the global tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for specialty sugar.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice requesting public comments by November 4, 2004 regarding a "commercial availability" petition it received under the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) on behalf of Bernette Textile Co., LLC of New York, NY: