On December 28, 2017, the Defense Acquisition Regulations System, Department of Defense (DoD) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket DARS-2017—0017] amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate revised thresholds for application of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements, as determined by the United States Trade Representative. The thresholds are effective January 1, 2018. The thresholds are shown below:
On 3 October 2017, Bahrain notified the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards that the GCC’s competent authority initiated on 20 September 2017 a safeguard investigation on prepared additives for cements, mortars or concretes (chemical plasticizers).
| Navigating the uncertainty of doing business with Qatar |
| Broadcast timings on 19 July 2017 6 am San Francisco; 8 am Dallas; 9 am New York; 2 pm London; 3 pm Frankfurt; 5 pm Dubai |
On Monday, 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and moved to close off access to the Gulf country, with a boycott on air, sea or land traffic to and from Qatar, with other Arab and African countries following their lead. The political and economic boycott has had major implications for international trade.
On Monday 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and moved to close off access to the Gulf country, with an embargo on air, sea or land traffic to and from Qatar.
On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain followed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt Yemen, and one of Libya’s interim governments cut diplomatic relations with, and trade ties with Qatar. The UAE issued a statement which said it was “based on the insistence of the State of Qatar to continue to undermine the security and stability of the region.” In the statement the UAE said the following steps were taken:
On May 10, 2017, CBP issued CSMS #17-000270 FTA Origination Analysis and Certification when no Tariff Change Rule (TCR). We quote the CSMS below:
On 23 September 2016, the WTO announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain has become the 93rd member of the WTO to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Bahrain’s WTO ambassador submitted his country’s instrument of acceptance to WTO Director-General on 23 September 2016. The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has formally accepted the Agreement. Bahrain’s acceptance means 85 per cent of the ratifications needed for entry into force have…
On December 30, 2015, the Defense Acquisition Regulations System, Department of Defense (DoD) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket DARS–2015–0066] amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate increased thresholds for application of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements, as determined by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Every two years, the trade agreements thresholds are escalated according to a predetermined formula set forth in the…
On December 21, 2015, President Obama signed Presidential Proclamation — African Growth and Opportunity Act which: • terminated the designation of Burundi as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 506A of the 1974 Act, effective on January 1, 2016; • added additional tariff lines to Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) of the United States to reduce administrative burden and encourage electronic administration of the quota classifications of sugars, syrups, and molasses…
On December 15, 2015, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice of determination of procurement thresholds for calendar years 2016 and 2017. Executive Order 12260 requires the USTR to set the U.S. dollar thresholds for application of Title III of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2511 et seq.), which implements U.S. trade agreement obligations, including those under the WTO Agreement on Government…