International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 3-7 in case they were missed.
The two excluded sectors from planned Europe trade talks -- agriculture and autos -- both want to be included, according to comments filed with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative ahead of the Dec. 14 public hearing on negotiation priorities. More than 150 organizations and individuals shared their views in the USTR docket ahead of the Dec. 10 deadline for comments.
Express Association of America, which represents DHL, FedEx and UPS, said Japan has not lived up to its postal privatization commitments, and asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to make sure that Japan Post is no longer advantaged compared to private shippers. Michael Mullen, executive director of EAA, testified on Dec. 10 in front of a trade panel that's seeking public views on how to shape negotiations for a U.S.-Japan free trade agreement.
The United Automobile Workers union would like to see vehicles left out of trade negotiations entirely when Japan and the U.S. sit down to craft a free-trade deal. Josh Nassar, UAW legislative director, told the International Trade Commission that Japan has no tariffs on imported cars, yet its imports are just 7 percent of sales. From all countries, Japan imported 11.1 billion in vehicles in 2017, according to World's Top Exports. In 2017, the Commerce Department said the U.S. imported $51 billion in Japanese-built vehicles. The ITC also heard from the milk lobby, the American Chemistry Council and the American Apparel and Footwear Association during its hearing Dec. 6.
CBP plans to make use of the new entry type meant for low-value shipments as part of the next blockchain "use case" involving intellectual property rights licensing, said Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s Business Transformation and Innovation Division. "We figured out a way to make it so we're tying in the data that we're getting off the licensing to the entry," he said of the test while speaking on a panel during the stakeholder's forum of the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council on Dec. 5. "And we're using that new type 86 that hasn't come out yet so a lot of the companies will get a chance to experiment." The new type 86 entry is planned as a way to handle de minimis shipments in the Automated Broker Interface, with a pilot program expected during calendar year 2019 (see 1810200002).
Complaints about weak enforceability of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement were found among both trade advocates and free-trade skeptics as they reacted to the signing of the pact Nov. 30 in Argentina. Customs and trade facilitation elements were praised by many interest groups, but the failure to get higher de minimis levels from Canadian and Mexican negotiators was a disappointment, several said. And the fact that steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico remain troubles many, with the Global Automakers saying "it is unfathomable that this important issue has not been resolved in the context of these negotiations."
Trade groups called for improvements to Japanese customs procedures as part of any U.S.-Japan Free Trade Agreement, including enhanced cooperation between CBP and Japan Customs to combat fraud, in comments submitted to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on negotiating objectives for the potential trade deal. Commenters generally supported an increase in the Japanese de minimis level, but as was the case in prior trade agreement negotiations, disagreed on rules of origin, particularly for textiles.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 19-23 in case they were missed.
The exemption from Section 301 tariffs for goods entered as Section 321 de minimis shipments amounts to a "loophole" that blunts the intended effects of the tariffs, said Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, in a Nov. 20 post on the conservative website LifeZette. "It’s a rather strange decision by CBP," Stumo said. "The administration had imposed a tariff on thousands of products that fall within the Section 301 list. But CBP then decided that, as long as an importer brings in less than $800 worth of an item on a particular day, no duties will be collected." Stumo alleged that there's no "statutory or regulatory foundation for the decision, and it contradicts the administration’s goal of changing China’s behavior."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 13-16 in case they were missed.