The Foreign Agricultural Service has amended the availability of credit guarantees for sales of U.S. agricultural commodities under the Commodity Credit Corporation's Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) for fiscal year 2012, for Turkey (here)
Brian Feito
Brian Feito is Managing Editor of International Trade Today, Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. A licensed customs broker who spent time at the Department of Commerce calculating antidumping and countervailing duties, Brian covers a wide range of subjects including customs and trade-facing product regulation, the courts, antidumping and countervailing duties and Mexico and the European Union. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and George Mason University. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2012.
The International Trade Administration announced on March 5, 2012 that Matthew Murray has been named as the Market Access and Compliance business unit’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, and will join ITA on March 12, 2012. Murray, a Russian affairs expert, will be responsible for recommending, developing, and implementing policies and programs that promote U.S. economic and commercial relations with 52 European countries, and will lead the ITA’s trade policy and market access efforts in Europe and Eurasia.
The International Trade Administration has issued the preliminary results of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand (A-549-822) for two manufacturer/exporters, and has also preliminarily determined a margin for 147 companies that were not individually examined. These preliminary results are not in effect. They may be modified in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for these companies.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board has issued a final rule, effective April 30, 20121, to comprehensively revise and update the Foreign Trade Zone regulations in 15 CFR Part 400. Key revisions in the final rule pertain to activities in and procedures for zones in which an imported component is combined with one or more other components to create a different finished product, and expedited access to FTZ benefits for U.S. manufacturers.
The Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a final rule, effective March 2, 2012, amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to incorporate adjusted thresholds for application of the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements, as determined by the U.S. Trade Representative.
The Energy Department is extending the time period for submitting comments on its energy conservation standards notice of public meeting and availability of the preliminary technical support document for automatic commercial ice makers. The comment period is extended to April 20, 2012 (from March 9, 2012). Original DOE notice announcing public meeting and request comments (published 01/24/12) here. (FR Pub 03/05/12)
The Office of Science and Technology Policy has announced that the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), on behalf of the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee of the Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council, will hold the “2012 Regional, State, and Local (RSL) Initiatives in Nanotechnology Workshop” in Portland, Oregon on May 1 -- 2, 2012.
The International Trade Administration has issued the preliminary results of the antidumping duty administrative review of certain large diameter carbon and alloy seamless standard, line, and pressure pipe (over 4 1/2 inches) from Japan (A-588-850) for four mandatory respondents. The ITA preliminarily determines that these four did not have reviewable sales. If the final results also determine that there were no shipments, the AD cash deposit rate will not change for the four respondents.
On March 1, 2012 the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
The International Trade Administration has issued the preliminary results of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from China (A-570-893) for two exporters and the China-wide rate, which is unchanged since the last review. The ITA has also preliminarily determined to revoke the order with respect to Hilltop International. These preliminary results are not yet in effect, may change in the final results, and could affect the estimated AD cash deposit rates for these companies.