The World Trade Organization General Council voted on Nov. 27 to adopt a deal to resolve Indian concerns and allow the Trade Facilitation Agreement to proceed. The agreement will now go to WTO member countries for ratification, and will come into force after adoption by two thirds of WTO members. Adoption of TFA by the General Council also allows the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility to come online and provide support for developing countries to implement TFA (see 14072202). As part of the deal, agreed by the U.S. and India on Nov. 13 (see 1411130027), the General Council also agreed to exempt “food security” programs from WTO challenge until a permanent deal on hoarding can be reached.
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 following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 17-23:
Ocean carriers should not be adding port congestion surcharges “under any circumstance,” said Federal Maritime Commissioner William Doyle in a statement issued Nov. 19 (here). Carriers have a “substantial hand” in creating the congestion that now exists, by completing larger ships before ports had the chance to build new capacity and by introducing cost-cutting measures related to the provision of chassis, said Doyle. Carriers need to “do their part” in finding ways to help resolve congestion issues, and adding surcharges for west coast cargo is “not helpful,” he said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 10-16:
The Commerce Department issued its final affirmative countervailing duty determination on carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod from China (C-570-013) (here). Although this final determination takes effect Nov. 19, suspension of liquidation has been lifted since Nov. 5, and Commerce will only require CV duty cash deposits on future entries if it issues a CV duty order.
Several major steamship lines recently announced port congestion surcharges will take effect Nov. 17 for West Coast ports, amid a continuing slowdown by the International Warehouse and Longshore Union and the resumption of a strike by drayage truckers at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach. In an alert posted to its website, Evergreen Line told its customers that they are being “forced to trigger congestion charge collection” due to costs associated with disruptions with “no foreseeable relief in sight” (here). Several other steamship lines joined Evergreen with similar announcements, including Mediterranean Shipping Company (here) and Hanjin (here). Evergreen (here) and Hyundai (here) also announced congestion surcharges on outbound cargo. An ILWU-run news website called the move a “money grab” that “has nothing to do with labor negotiations.”
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 3-9:
The Consumer Product Safety Commission will run a pilot to test electronic filing of certificates of compliance at entry before finalizing changes to its Part 1110 regulations, CPSC Commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle said. The agency is currently working with CBP to find volunteers to participate in the pilot, as well as to develop related software, according to a memo from her office. CPSC wants to have the pilot up and running by July 2015, but the timeline is dependent on CBP’s ability to accommodate the pilot, according to the memo.
NEW YORK – CBP will expand the first three Centers of Excellence and Expertise to cover their entire industries “over the next twelve months,” said CBP New York Director of Field Operations Robert Perez on Nov. 5 at the U.S. Fashion Industry Association’s Trade and Transportation Conference. CBP will then use its experience expanding the first three CEEs – electronics in Los Angeles, pharmaceuticals in New York, and petroleum and minerals in Houston – to put itself in position to subsequently open the other seven CEEs to their entire industries. Former Acting Commissioner Thomas Winkowski first announced the expansion in March (see 14030613), but CBP officials had not yet provided a firm timeline (see 14061723 and 14091609).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 27 - Nov. 2: