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:
At the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC“) Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, the 11 remaining countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP11“) took a significant step forward to finalize a new agreement now referred to as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP“). Media reports were mixed as some outlets reported that there was an agreement in principle while others reported that Canada was not ready to sign on. However, the end result is an impressive draft agreement in principle on most of the existing terms with some key exceptions and a few remaining issues from Canada’s perspective. To its credit, Japan has been leading the effort to move forward with the CPTPP in hopes of the United States rejoining the agreement at some point in the future.
On 11 November 2017, In the margins of the APEC meetings in Da Nang, Vietnam, the TPP ministers of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, agreed to the following statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership:
On 27 September 2017, the UK Department for International Trade announced that the UK Government was launching a new ‘trade dialogue’ with emerging markets in South America to strengthen bilateral trade and investment relationships and to seek continuity in UK trade relationships post Brexit. According to the announcement, the dialogue will focus on the UK’s strong trade links with 3 Andean countries: Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In addition, the government’s export credit agency, UK Export…
In the August 12, 2017 Canada Gazette, Global Affairs Canada announced that the Government is seeking the views of the Canadian public and interested Canadian stakeholders on the scope of potential negotiations regarding a possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Pacific Alliance (whose members are Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru).
On July 14, 2017, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice providing country-by-country allocations of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 (October 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018) in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quotas for imported raw cane sugar, certain sugars, syrups and molasses (also known as refined sugar), specialty sugar, and sugar-containing products.
On June 7, 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a final rule [CBP Dec. 17-03] that amends the CBP regulations to reflect the extension of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological materials from Peru.
In Hanoi, Vietnam, Trade Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum issued an actions statement reflecting the outcomes of their 23rd Meeting. Listed below are the subjects covered.
Ministers and Vice Ministers from the Trans-Pacific Partnership signatory countries issued the following Statement:
21 May 2017. Ha Noi, Viet Nam – Ministers and Vice Ministers from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Viet Nam met today to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade.
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: