Jacob Kopnick

American Shipper reports that three Washington-based trade groups, which represent the policy and regulatory interests of U.S. exporters, have asked the Bureau of Industry and Security for a 30-day extension to provide comments for the agency's Commerce Control List review, for which the current deadline is September 17, 2007. (See ITT's Online Archives or 07/18/07 news, 07071830, for BP summary of BIS' request for comments on the CCL.)(American Shipper, dated 08/27/07, www.americanshipper.com)

Senators Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley have issued press releases praising the decision of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to classify the U.S. as a "controlled risk" country with regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). In light of the findings, the Senators urged Korea, Japan and China to remove their restrictions on U.S. beef. (Press releases, 05/22/07, available at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2007press/prb052207a.pdf and http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2007/prg052207a.pdf )

On July 29, 2006, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4, the Pension Protection Act of 2006. According to a Textile Development Memo (TDM) from the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA), H.R. 4 contains Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) fixes, a continuation of the Wool Trust program, a "new shipper" provision, etc. See future issues of ITT for additional details on H.R. 4. (House Ways and Means Committee press release, dated 07/29/06, available at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news.asp?formmode=release&id=419; USA-ITA TDM, dated 07/31/06, www.usita.com.)

According to the Washington File, the USTR has released its 2006 report of unfair trade barriers in foreign countries, called the National Trade Estimate on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), where China is listed as having the most barriers, followed by the European Union, Japan, and South Korea. The article notes that most of the problems listed in the 2006 report are the same ones that have appeared in earlier reports. (Washington File (dated 03/31/06), available at http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive/2006/Apr/02-251571.html )

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on February 14, 2006, the USTR unveiled the results of a top-to-bottom review of U.S.-China trade policy at a news conference.

The Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release stating that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body has found in favor of the U.S. in a challenge of Mexico's antidumping (AD) duties on U.S. long grain white rice and several provisions of Mexico's trade laws. (USTR release, dated 11/29/05, available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2005/November/United_States_Wins_WTO_Challenge_Against_Mexican_Rice_Duties_Trade_Laws.html )

According the American Shipper, PierPass has said that members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) will hold a routine stop-work meeting from 5 p.m. Thursday through 3:00 a.m. Friday. As a result, there won't be PierPass truck gates at any terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during those hours. (ShippersNewsWire@americanshipper.com )

Washington Trade Daily reports that South Korea's Finance Minister states that South Korea is likely to pick up the pace of resolving a number of persistent trade irritants with the U.S. in advance of formal free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations next year. (WTD, dated 09/26/05, www.washingtontradedaily.com )

The Journal of Commerce reports that PierPASS has shown early success in shifting Southern California port traffic to off-peak hours. According to the article, if cargo volumes continue to increase at less than 5% over 2004 and shippers patronize the off-peak gates, Los Angeles and Long Beach may enjoy a congestion-free peak season in 2005. (JoC, dated 08/08/05, www.joc.com.)

On April 28, 2005 the Senate confirmed Robert J. Portman as U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). According to a USTR press release, Portman states that Congressional approval of the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, China trade issues, the enforcement of existing agreements, keeping on pace the Doha talks to lower trade barriers, and ongoing regional and bilateral trade negotiations are all front and center issues for him. (See ITT's Online Archives or 04/26/05 news, 05042615, for BP summary of Robert Portman's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee.)(USTR press release, dated 04/29/05, available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2005/April/Statement_of_Robert_J._Portman,_United_States_Trade_Representative.html.)