On December 20, 2004, President Bush issued Proclamation 7857 in order to implement the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (UAFTA). (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/23/04 news, 04122305, for BP summary announcing the issuance of Proclamation 7857.)
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notice and CBP sources, the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) filing of entries for goods eligible for U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (UAFTA) duty benefits is not available at this time due to ongoing system programming for the UAFTA.
In the December 15, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 51), CBP issued notices: (a) proposing to revoke a classification ruling on a reticulated foam filter ring, (b) proposing to modify a classification ruling on fruits and an herb preserved in acetic acid, and (c) modifying a classification ruling on a feather "duster" tickler. CBP states that it is also revoking, or proposing to revoke, any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.
CBP has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that its most recent Harmonized System (HS) update (No. 0408) contains:
Effective November 17, 2004, the International Trade Administration (ITA) is revoking the antidumping (AD) duty orders on solid urea from Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as the domestic interested parties have waived their right to participate in these sunset reviews and the ITA finds that no domestic interested party is participating in these sunset reviews.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the changed circumstances review of the AD duty order on bulk aspirin from China. In these final results, the ITA has determined to revoke the AD duty order on bulk aspirin from China, effective July 1, 2003, the earliest date for which entries of bulk aspirin have not been subject to an administrative review.
1The ITA states that Tianjin Hanchem International Trading Co. (Hachem) was inadvertently identified separately as an exporter in the final determination with an AD rate of 217.94%. Instead, Hachem should have been included in the China entity and assigned the China-wide rate of 217.94%.
On December 28, 2004, the International Trade Administration (ITA) announced that it is amending the final affirmative antidumping (AD) duty determination on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890).
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice containing its determination that certain woven 100% cotton, napped fabrics, of certain specifications1, classified in HTS 5209.31.6050, cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner under the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice that designates three areas in Egypt as qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) under Section 9 of the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act (IFTA).