On June 30, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8034 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for Guatemala.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced the opportunity to submit petitions for the 2006 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Product and Country Eligibility Practices Review (2006 Annual GSP Review).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum on applying its earlier instructions on the filing and acceptance of claims for preferential tariff treatment of goods made under the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) to Guatemala.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has posted to its Web site an updated version of the 2006 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) dated July 1, 2006 (Supplement 1).
On June 30, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8033 to "modify duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences".
On June 30, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8034 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for Guatemala.
In the June 7, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 40, No. 24), CBP issued a notice proposing to modify a rate of duty and NAFTA eligibility ruling on a sugar and gelatin blended in a foreign trade zone (FTZ). CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has submitted to Congress the Administration's sixth of eight annual reports, entitled "2006 Comprehensive Report on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa and Implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)."
According to Washington Trade Daily, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Grassley has stated that he will not move legislation to reauthorize the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program - slated to expire on December 31, 2006 - because some beneficiary countries, particularly India and Brazil, are holding up the Doha Round of World Trade Organization talks. The article also states that Ways and Means Chairman Thomas last month suggested that GSP and all other U.S. trade preference programs be allowed to expire. (WTD, dated 05/17/06, www.washingtontradedaily.com )
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing the closure of review for cases 012-CP-05, protection of worker Rights in Swaziland, and 015-CP-05, protection of intellectual property in Kazakhstan. According to USTR, the Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) decided to close these cases following its 2005 Annual Review of petitions concerning the practices of certain beneficiary developing countries of the General System of Preferences (GSP) program. (FR Pub 05/01/06, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-6536.pdf)