On April 29, 2016, the Diario Oficial de la Federacion (the Official Gazette) published the Presidential Decree promulgating the Additional Protocol to the Framework Agreement of the Pacific Alliance, signed in Cartagena de Indias, DT and C., Republic of Colombia, on 10 February 2014 and the Ministry of Economy Acuerdo announcing the applicable rate of the general import tax for goods originating in the countries that form the region of the Pacific Alliance. The Additional…
On March 15, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a final rule [CBP Dec. 16-05] that amends the CBP regulations to reflect the extension of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological materials from the Republic of Colombia (“Colombia”). The restrictions, which were originally imposed by CBP Decision (Dec.) 06-09 and extended by CBP Dec. 11-06, are due to expire on March 15, 2016. The Assistant Secretary for…
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…
On December 11, 2015, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice of its determination of the trade surplus in certain sugar and syrup goods and sugar containing products of Chile, Morocco, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, and Panama. As described in the notice, the level of a country’s trade surplus in these goods relates to the quantity of sugar and syrup goods…
On November 27, 2014, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy, Trade and Industry jointly announced that the sixth round of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be held in India, from December 1 to 5, 2014. In this round of negotiations, the meetings of the Trade Negotiating Committee, in which senior officials will participate, and of working groups on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Economic and Technical Cooperation,…
On 27 September 2014, the Official Journal published Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1015/2014 of 22 July 2014 amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1016/2014 of 22 July 2014 amending Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of…