The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has posted to its Web site the reports of 32 Trade Advisory Committees on the proposed U.S.-Dominican Republic agreement which integrates the Dominican Republic into the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice requesting comments by May 17, 2004 concerning the issues raised by the U.S.' March 18, 2004 request for World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations with China regarding its value-added tax (VAT) on integrated circuits (ICs).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued two notices on behalf of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) which announce that the USTR and the Department of Labor (DOL) are initiating a review of the impacts of the proposed U.S.-Thailand and U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on U.S. employment, including labor markets.
Washington Trade Daily reports that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recently decided to cancel the next round of technical level talks on steel subsidies and to delay a meeting of senior officials that had been scheduled for early May 2004. According to the article, a U.S. trade official stated that the multilateral talks on curbing government subsidies to the steel sectors and global overcapacity have hit a stalemate, and may need to be moved to another forum to find an agreement. (WTD dated 04/21/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Commerce Department have both issued notices announcing the results of the April 21, 2004 meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) meeting. Highlights of these results include (partial list):
Washington Trade Daily reports that Senate leaders have admitted that they had not made much progress over the Easter break to reduce the list of 80 amendments to the Extraterritorial Income Tax (ETI) repeal bill, which is needed in order to end escalating trade sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) in March 2004 after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the tax break amounts to a prohibited export subsidy. (WTD dated 04/21/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
On March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 1047, the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a press release announcing a contract with Northrop Grumman to design, implement and operate the Homeland Secure Data Network (HSDN). The HSDN will provide DHS officials with a modern IT infrastructure for securely communicating classified information. According to DHS, when completed, the HSDN will be a private, certified, and accredited network that will fully support the DHS' mission goals. (DHS press release dated 04/12/04, available at http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=3444)
According to The Journal of Commerce, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a report that sharply criticized the 10 largest U.S. seaports for their environmental records, indicating that lawsuits would follow if the ports don't clean up their act. (JoC March 29-April 4, 2002, www.joc.com )
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has posted to its Web site the draft text of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the Dominican Republic.