The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is moving forward with its review of the Generalized System of Preferences and is ready to consider petitions to modify both the list of GSP-eligible products and the beneficiary status of GSP countries, it said. USTR is also extending to a second day a previously announced hearing of the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee's (TPSC's) GSP Subcommittee on Bolivian compliance with GSP eligibility criteria related to child labor, to examine several other country practice petitions accepted in prior years (see 1707070021). The agency outlined the following deadlines in its GSP review (submissions are due at midnight on each deadline):
The International Trade Commission sent its final report on miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) petitions to Congress on Aug. 8, the ITC said. In the report sent to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, the ITC classified 1,825 petitions as meeting MTB statutory requirements with or without modification, 54 petitions as not containing information required by the statute or that weren’t filed by a likely beneficiary, and 645 petitions as not recommended for inclusion in an MTB. The largest product categories were chemicals, accounting for 1,464 petitions; machinery and equipment, accounting for 457 petitions; and textiles, apparel and footwear, accounting for 456 petitions, the ITC said.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Customs brokerage Thomas Ferramosca Associates recently sent a letter to House lawmakers calling for legislation to allow firms to claim drawback on duty-liable imported goods withdrawn from foreign-trade zones for direct export. In a July 18 letter to Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and to the congressman representing the Staten Island, New York, brokerage’s district, Rep. Dan Donovan (R), Tom Ferramosca Jr. said that allowing for direct export qualifications could be an “enticement” for companies to produce and export more from the U.S., in part because “the more that’s exported, the more that can be claimed against merchandise sold in the U.S. with potential duty liability.” If allowed drawback benefits, FTZ goods classified as “privileged foreign” or “non-privileged foreign” provide “the greatest opportunities” to boost U.S. manufacturing, expand exports and stimulate job growth, the letter says.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 17-23:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 10-16:
In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted (here):
Agricultural trade could have a greater chance than other sectors in North America of being reshaped through NAFTA renegotiations, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) lobbyist Jon Kent said July 11 during a webinar. “That’s, I think, where we’re most concerned about maintaining the status quo, and there’s a reasonable amount of contention between all three countries” party to the agreement, Kent said. Promoting free data flows will be another major issue of renegotiation, and the high-tech industry is likely to weigh in “very affirmatively” on the topic, but the U.S. will seek to adjust several parts of the agreement merely “around the edges,” he said.
The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee’s Generalized System of Preferences Subcommittee will convene a public hearing Sept. 26 to examine Bolivia’s compliance with GSP eligibility criteria related to child labor, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). Public reporting by the Labor and State departments indicates that the government of Bolivia in 2014 adopted a Code for Children and Adolescents, which lowered the working age for children to 10 years old for self-employed workers and 12 years old for those in an employment relationship, under certain situations, USTR said. U.S. government reporting also notes concerns about Bolivia’s efforts to enforce national labor laws and create effective protections for working children as provided in its labor laws, the agency said. USTR will accept requests to testify at the public hearing until Sept. 5.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 26-30 in case they were missed.