The Senate Finance Committee has issued a press release stating that S. 2529, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004, was introduced in the Senate on June 16, 2004. According to the press release S. 2529 is a companion measure to, and identical to, H.R. 4103 which was passed by the House on June 14, 2004. (This legislation is often referred to as AGOA III. Senate Finance Committee release, dated 06/16/04), available at http://www.senate.gov/finance/press/Gpress/2004/prg061604a.pdf )
Washington Trade Daily reports that U.S. Trade Representative Zoellick has accused Senate Democrats of holding up quick action on legislation (S. 2529) to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference program. The article states that the bill is identical to H.R. 4103 (known as AGOA III) that was recently passed by the House. (WTD dated 06/18/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com )
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on June 15, 2004, the U.S. and Morocco signed the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
On June 14, 2004, the House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 4520, the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which would, among other things, repeal the Foreign Sales Corporation//Extraterritorial Income Tax (FSC/ETI) regime. According to the Committee, the full House is expected to consider H.R. 4520 during the week of June 14, 2004. The Senate passed its own FSC/ETI repeal legislation (S. 1637), on May 11, 2004. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/13/04 news, 04051399 1, for previous BP summary on S. 1637.) (Committee press release, dated 06/14/04, available at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=release&ID=227.)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that the signing of the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which was previously scheduled for June 11, 2004, has been postponed until June 15, 2004. (See ITT's Online Archives or 04/06/04 news, 04040615, for previous BP summary on the release of the draft text of the U.S.-Morocco FTA. (USTR press release 2004-51, dated 06/07/04, available at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2004/06/04-51.pdf.)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has submitted to Congress the Administration's fourth of eight annual reports entitled " 2004 Comprehensive Report on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa and Implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)." Highlights of the 2004 report include:
The State Department's Washington File reports that on June 7, 2004, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned a lower court ruling that required the Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct an environmental study on the impact that Mexican trucks would have on air quality if permitted to operate in the U.S. In response, DOT Secretary Mineta stated that the Supreme Court decision opens the way for DOT to continue working with Mexican authorities to move forward with long-haul bus and truck operations. (Washington File article dated 06/07/04, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=June&x=20040607153418ASrelliM0.1072199&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html.)
According to a Journal of Commerce editorial, the debate over container security has shifted and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS') newly formed Container Working Group, not U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is the driving force.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on May 28, 2004, the U.S., Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua signed the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release and fact sheet stating that the U.S. and Bahrain have completed a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA). Under the U.S.-Bahrain FTA, the U.S. and Bahrain will provide immediate duty-free access on virtually all products in their tariff schedules and will phase out tariffs on the remaining handful of products within 10 years.