The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has issued a press release announcing that a delegation from the U.S. and Chinese governments has concluded two days of negotiations to establish a protocol for the resumption of U.S. beef sales to China. According to the press release, USDA officials are now traveling to Japan to continue discussions on the resumption of U.S beef sales to Japan. (FAS, PR 0057-06, dated 05/15/06, available at http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/PressRelease/pressrel_dout.asp?Entry=valid&PrNum=0057-06)
CBP CROSS Rulings
CBP issues binding advance rulings in connection with the importation of merchandise into the United States. They issue the rulings to give the trade community transparency of how CBP will treat a prospective import or carrier transaction. Common rulings include the tariff classification, country of origin, or free trade agreement applicability of merchandise, among other things. These rulings are available in CBP's Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) database.
In Motorola, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with the Court of International Trade and ruled that Customs correctly classified eight models of circuits used in battery packs for cell phones under HTS 8536.30.80 (3.2%) as other apparatus for protecting electrical circuits.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period. The ITA also issues other notices which Broker Power considers to be "minor."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a new informed compliance publication (ICP) entitled, What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About: Stranded Wire, Rope and Cable, of Iron or Steel.
The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has issued a proposed rule to revise and update its regulations in 50 CFR Parts 10, 13, 17, and 23 that implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
On May 4, 2006, the House of Representatives amended and passed H.R. 4954, the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently posted guidance in the form of a 154 page presentation on understanding tariff shift rules under U.S. free trade agreements. The March 2006 presentation is part of CBP in-house training material for field Import Specialists.
On April 26, 2006, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on "Authorization of Customs and Trade Functions" in order to review the operation of customs and trade functions in the federal government. This review will assist the Finance Committee in preparing legislation to reauthorize those functions.
Shippers NewsWire reports that during the week of May 8, 2006, the California Legislature agreed to place on the November ballot a $19.9 billion bond to fund repairs, reduce congestion, and improve port security. According to the article, the bond measure includes $4.5 billion to increase capacity and reduce congestion on key corridors and $3.1 billion to relieve traffic congestion along major trade corridors, improving freight facilities, and enhance the movement of goods from port to marketplace. (SNW dated 05/09/06, www.americanshipper.com.)
On March 20, 2006, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) responded to a request on behalf of Sara Lee Branded Apparel for a staff opinion letter on whether certain hosiery products (specifically, sheer nylon foot bands, toe covers, and foot covers) are subject to the special marking requirement for socks that went into effect on March 3, 20061.