International Trade Law News

On July 25, 2006, Mexico's Unit of International Trade Practices (UPCI) announced in the Diario Oficial that it had reached an negative determination in the anticircumvention investigation on iron and steel valves from China. Mexico initiated the investigation in July 2005 after Mexico's Valve Manufacturing Association alleged that the antidumping order on valves from China were being circumvented by companies in the U.S. that were unassembled valves from China, assembling them in the U.S. and shipping the finished valves to Mexico with NAFTA certificates of origin. The UPCI failed to find sufficient evidence of the allegations. Iron and steel valves from China are currently subject to antidumping duties of 126.96%.

Labels: Antidumping

Mark your calendars. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced today that the 19th annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy will be held in Washington, DC on October 16-17, 2006. BIS will issue registration information and other details about Update 2006 in the near future.

Labels: BIS, Export Controls

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) today updated its website to remind exporters that despite Libya's removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, Libya remains a proscribed destination. Thus, until a Federal Register notice is issued, the U.S. will continue to deny all export applications for defense articles and services to Libya.

In addition, DDTC has posted some Frequently Asked Questions on the recently published commodity jurisdiction on airframe parts and components common to the C-130 and L-100 aircraft. Exporters should be reminded that any airframe parts and components common to the C-130 and L-100 aircraft that have no current use on any other commercial aircraft will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of State as of August 21, 2006 and will require a DDTC license to be exported. August 21st is also the deadline for exporters to submit reports to DDTC that previously used Department of Commerce procedures to export airframe parts and components common to the C-130 and L-–100 aircraft.

As part of DDTC's continuing transition to electronic licensing via D-Trade, DDTC is holding the second in its series of D-Trade Seminars on August 3, 2006, at the New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott in East Elmhurst, New York. The registration deadline for the program is July 26, 2006. For more information, see the following link. DDTC will conducadditionalal D-Trade training and usage seminars in California (August 16), Florida (August 30) and Illinois (September 12).

Labels: DDTC, Export Controls

Scotland's The Herald newspaper reports that a Scottish trained maxillo-facial surgeon based in the U.S. has been advised by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that he violated the terms of his humanitarian travel license during his last trip to Cuba. The article states that the surgeon and colleagues from the University of Minnesota had taken medicine to pass on to the Jewish community in Havana. However, upon his return to the U.S. OFAC advised the surgeon and his colleagues that they violated the terms of the OFAC travel license by engaging in unlicensed activities, such as meeting students and academics at Havana University and giving lectures.

While not indicated in the article, it appears that the surgeon was traveling under a "humanitarian projects" license issued by OFAC under 31 CFR 515.575 of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations. Such licenses permits license holders to engage in humanitarian projects in or related to Cuba designed to directly benefit the Cuban people. Persons traveling to Cuba under an OFAC license are not permitted to engage in activities that were not specified in their license applications.

Labels: OFAC

Antidumping/Countervailing Duties

A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade (Chief Judge Restani and Judges Barzilay and Eaton) issued an opinion on Friday that will certainly complicate the softwood lumber settlement agreement negotiated between the U.S. and Canada. In Tembec, Inc., et al. v. United States, Chief Judge Restani and Judges Barzilay and Eaton held that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) improperly continued to enforce antidumping and countervailing duty orders on softwood lumber from Canada following the implementation of an affirmative injury determination issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) pursuant to section 129 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act ("URAA").

On June 18, 2006, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determined that terminating the antidumping suspension agreement that limits imports of Russian uranium products would materially injure the U.S. uranium industry. By a 4-1 vote, the ITC's Commissioners found that lifting the 1992 Russian suspension agreement would likely cause material injury to the U.S. industry, which include, among others, USEC Inc., the only U.S. producer of enriched uranium fuel for nuclear power plants; ConverDyn, the sole U.S. uranium converter; and Power Resources and Crow Butte Resources, the two largest uranium mining companies in the U.S.

Cuba

The recently released second report of the U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba can be found here. The report includes the following recommendations for assistance and programs the U.S. can offer to advance freedom and democracy in Cuba, including $80 million over two years to increase support for Cuban civil society, expand international awareness, break the regime's information blockade and continue developing assistance initiatives to help Cuba realize a democratic transition. The House International Relations Commmittee's Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere will hold a hearing on the Cuba Commission report on July 27, 2006.

Customs

The Customs Electronic Bulletin Board (CEBB) has officially been retired. A complete description of where the items on the CEBB can now be found on CBP's website is located at: www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/import/communications_to_trade/cebb_linklist.xml.

The minutes of the May 20, 2006 Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) have been posted on the CBP website. Among other things, the minutes state that 32% of C-TPAT members have been validated and 154 C-TPAT members are included in Tier 3.

On July 25, 2006, the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing on budget authorizations for fiscal years 2007 and 2008 for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of DHS, and on other Customs issues. The hearing will also address other Customs issues, including: the creation of CBP and ICE and the integration of the former U.S. Customs Service into DHS, the C-TPAT program, Customs automation and modernization efforts and the mechanisms needed to fund them, as well as general Customs oversight issues.

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) recently introduced the Customs and Trade Facilitation Reauthorization Act of 2006 (S. 3658). Among other things, the Customs and Trade Facilitation Reauthorization Act provides for the following:

• Requires, within one year, an assessment of nonintrusive container scanning in foreign ports;
• Adds CBP personnel at all U.S. ports of entry;
• Requires enhanced cargo targeting and analysis to facilitate trade and restart the movement of cargo following a transportation disruption;
• Requires the Commissioner of Customs to develop a trade resumption plan, which must be routinely exercised with federal, state, local officials and private stakeholders;
• Authorizes the negotiation of bilateral customs partherships (such as the Container Security Initiative) with foreign governments to facilitate safer U.S.-bound trade;
• Authorizes a Customs Industry Partnership Program (including the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) to facilitate safer trade; the program shall offer benefits to qualifying customs users who use secure business systems and meet appropriate physical security requirements;
• Requires a one-portal government-wide system to collect mandatory import and export clearance documentation;
• Adds personnel for Treasury Department oversight of delegated customs functions carried out by the Bureau of U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
• Adds resources for trade facilitation and enforcement, such as increasing the number of CBP import specialists, adding personnel for FTA implementation and enforcement; and restoring and adding personnel to conduct customs violations investigations at ICE;
• Creates a New CBP Intellectual Property Rights Division, director and staff, including co-location of an ICE investigative liaison;
  
• Streamlines and automates claim and collection of customs duty drawback

By a vote of 23-13, House Ways and Means Committee last week approved draft legislation to implement the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA). The PTPA would immediately remove the duties on 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Peru and more than two-thirds of current U.S. farm exports to Peru. Bilateral trade between the U.S. and Peru was $7.4 billion during 2005, with $2.3 billion of this coming from U.S. exports.

OFAC

OFAC has named two additional Iranian companies, Sanam Industrial Group and Ya Mahdi Industries Group, to the List of Iranian Weapons Proliferators under Executive Order 13382. These entities are owned or controlled by, or act or purport to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), a subsidiary of the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. AIO manages and coordinates Iran's missile program and oversees all of Iran's missile industries. These entities have been added to OFAC's List of Specially Designated Nationals with the program designation "NPWMD".