The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has posted to its Web site numerous documents announcing that the U.S. has requested World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement consultations with China regarding its provision of subsidies that appear to be prohibited by WTO rules.
The House Ways and Means Committee (the Committee) has issued an advisory requesting comments by February 7, 2007 on what action, if any, the Committee should take with respect to the International Trade Administration's (ITA's) end of "zeroing" when using the average-to-average comparison methodology (the modification) in antidumping (AD) investigations.
On January 9, 2007, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body issued a report to WTO Members stating that U.S. use of "zeroing" procedures in calculating dumping margins in certain antidumping (AD) proceedings is inconsistent with the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the Antidumping Agreement).
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a notice of filing of complaint and assignment with regard to APM Terminals North America, Inc.'s (APMT's) contention that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey failed to adhere to its lease agreement with APMT by failing to turn over certain premises by the specified delivery date. According to FMC, this complaint has been assigned to the Office of Administrative Law Judges and an initial decision shall be issued by January 8, 2008. The final decision of the FMC shall be issued by May 7, 2008. (FMC D/N 07-01, FR Pub 01/17/07, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-496.pdf)
The U.S. Association of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) has reported that the Chinese government and two Chinese producers of coated free sheet paper filed suit in the Court of International Trade (CIT) on January 9, 2007 challenging the Department of Commerce (DOC) initiation of a countervailing (CV) duty investigation against these Chinese imports. USA-ITA states that the complaint charges that DOC does not have legal authority to initiate a CV case against China because it is currently considered a non-market economy. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/19/06 news, 06121925, for BP summary of the ITA's request for comments on applying CV duties to imports from China.) (USA-ITA TDM, dated 01/10/07, www.usaita.com.)
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice announcing that it is again delaying the effective date for which it will no longer make average-to-average comparisons in investigations without providing offsets for non-dumped comparisons ("zeroing") in its calculation of the weighted-average dumping margin in antidumping (AD) investigations to February 22, 2007 (from January 23, 2007).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice stating that the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting written comments no later than March 15, 2007 on considerations relating to the decision adopted at the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2005 on duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) market access for the least developed countries (LDCs).
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice providing new details on, and an additional opportunity for the public to comment on, the development and implementation of its antidumping (AD) monitoring program for imports of textiles and apparel from Vietnam which began January 11, 2007 and will cease at the end of the Bush Administration (January 19, 2009).
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice announcing that it is delaying the effective date for which it will no longer make average-to-average comparisons in investigations without providing offsets for non-dumped comparisons ("zeroing") in its calculation of the weighted-average dumping margin in antidumping (AD) investigations to January 23, 2007 (from January 16, 2007).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that Mexico has requested the establishment of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel (DSP) concerning certain U.S. antidumping (AD) orders against stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Mexico.