Tim Warren

New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:

A U.S. District judge upheld Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative policy prohibiting federally registered lobbyists from serving on Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs), which help provide trade policy advice to the President. The Sept. 26 opinion from Judge Amy Berman Jackson of U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia dismissing the complaint said the lobbyists were unable to adequately make the case of First and Fifth Amendment rights infringement, which the suit alleged. Email documents@brokerpower.com for a copy of the decision or the Sept. 2, 2011, compliant.

The U.S. government is extending and amending import restrictions for five years on archaeological and ethnological material from Guatemala, which are set to expire Sept. 29, said CBP in a Federal Register notice. The notice, effective Sept. 29, said the State Department has determined that conditions continue to warrant the imposition of import restrictions and CBP's regulations will be amended to reflect the extension. The list of designated articles will also be amended to include ecclesiastical ethnological material dating to the Conquest and Colonial Periods of Guatemala (c. A.D. 1524 to 1821), said CBP.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk should review the details of the financial package offered by the provincial government of Nova Scotia to a paper mill in Port Hawkesbury for possible trade agreement violations, said Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) in a Sept. 26 letter to the USTR. Michaud asked Kirk to obtain complete information about the province’s rescue package and to determine whether it is consistent with Canada’s NAFTA and WTO commitments.

CBP said the fourth quarter 2012 (Oct. 1-Dec. 31) Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties are: 2% for overpayments by corporations; 3% for overpayments by non-corporations; and 3% for underpayments. These rates are unchanged from the corresponding rates in effect for the third quarter of calendar year 2012. The CBP Federal Register notice is scheduled for Sept. 27.

CBP hopes a close relationship with trade through a trade intelligence industry liaison will allow the agency to stay current on business trends and improve processing at the Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEEs), said John Leonard, acting executive director for trade policy and programs at CBP. Leonard spoke as part of several recent forums on Trade Intelligence, said a CBP press release.

CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Sept. 24. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics etc.

CBP released its Sept. 26 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 40). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does list recent Court of International Trade decisions.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) user guide on e-Manifest: Trucks. It provides an introduction to this capability in ACE and information on how to store account information in the ACE, how to add drivers to an account, submitting an e-Manifest, in-bond shipment information, etc.

New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include: