On January 13, 2020, the US Department of the Treasury announced that it had delivered to Congress the semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States. In this Report, Treasury reviewed and assessed the policies of 20 major US trading partners. Treasury also assessed developments over the last several months with China and its currency practices. The announcement said: The Report concluded that while the currency practices…
On September 19, 2019, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it intends to seek environment consultations with Korea under the Environment Chapter of the United States – Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). The announcement said: Today’s announcement follows the release of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) biennial report to Congress identifying nations for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, pursuant to the Moratorium Protection Act (MPA). In its report,…
On September 18, 2019, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a general notice that steel products from the Republic of Korea (S. Korea) that are covered by the quantitative limitations applicable to subheadings 9903.80.05 through 9903.80.58, HTSUS, that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 18, 2019 must be presented with certificates of exportation issued by the Korea Iron and Steel Association. Clause 7 of…
On 21 February, 2019, the Department for International Trade (DIT) issued guidance entitled, Existing trade agreements if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, which sets out the status of those agreements (free trade agreements, economic partnership agreements, association agreements and customs union) that may not be in place by exit day. It also links to trade agreements that have been signed and mutual recognition agreements that have been signed.
On December 21, 2018, the President signed the Presidential Proclamation to Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and for Other Purposes (not yet published in the Federal Register). The Proclamation:
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published the following documents related to WTO disputes in the Federal Register: F.R. Date Matter Comments Due 10-23-18 WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding United States – Safeguard Measure on Imports of Large Residential Washers [Docket Number USTR-2018-0014; Dispute Number WT/DS546] (N/RFC) 11-15-18
US – CITA seeks comments on KORUS commercial availability request
On October 16, 2018, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) published in the Federal Register a request for public comments concerning a request for modification of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) rules of origin for certain textile and apparel products.
The US International Trade Commission has issued Revision 11 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of he United States. Revision 11 includes: Changes needed to implement the recent exemptions from absolute quotas on steel from Argentina, Brazil and South Korea and aluminum from Argentina (Effective Aug. 30, 2018); Changes to the US Bahrain FTA rules of origin (Effective Sept. 1, 2018); and Modified subheading 9705.00.0085 (Effective July 1, 2018)
As the trade conflict between the United States and China continues, three free trade agreements are pressing ahead, including– the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), soon to enter into force, the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (JEEPA), recently signed and which represents 30% of global economic output, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an agreement that includes both India and China and comprises the largest trading block in the region.
The WTO announced that Members expressed their concerns over possible measures by the United States regarding extra duties on the import of automobiles, including cars, SUVs, vans, light trucks and automotive parts, at the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) held on 3 and 4 of July. Over 40 members — including the 28 European Union members — took the floor to warn of the “serious disruption” to world markets and the multilateral trading system that may arise as a result of these potential measures, particularly in light of the large proportion of global trade accounted for by these products. The announcement said: