The Energy Department is proposing to expand the scope of energy efficiency standards to “miscellaneous refrigeration products,” including coolers and combination cooler refrigeration products (here). Comments on the proposal are due April 4.
The addition of several industry-suggested travel items to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences Program would help U.S. companies diversify sourcing and reduce about $75 million in duty costs, without hurting domestic production, American Apparel & Footwear Association Executive Vice President Stephen Lamar wrote in a Feb. 29 letter to the International Trade Commission (here). AAFA representation testified on Feb. 24 before the ITC, urging the body to consider according GSP benefits to all eligible travel goods from all GSP beneficiary countries. A U.S. government decision is expected in June, and if approved the products "should" be able to enter duty-free treatment on July 1, AAFA said in an email. Items suggested for GSP beneficiary treatment include luggage, backpacks, purses, and wallets, according to AAFA's letter. AAFA argued that goods from China, Vietnam, Italy, and France compose 86 percent of all U.S.-imported travel items by value, and added that travel goods "are not considered import-sensitive," as the U.S. has a 98-percent import penetration of these goods, meaning "very few" of them are made in the U.S. Another letter (here) written to ITC from a coalition of 23 industry organizations, including AAFA, reiterated this point. "There is virtually no production of these items in the United States and, as such, there will be no domestic industry that will be negatively affected by the proposed designation," the coalition letter states. "On the other hand, U.S. brands, private label designers, made-to-order producers, as well as the U.S. workers they employ and the consumers they serve, stand to benefit greatly from lower duty costs under the GSP."
The Federal Maritime Commission wants public input on possible amendments to the agency's rules on service contracts and non-vessel operating common carrier service arrangements, it said in an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (here). Among the issues the agency is seeking comment on are its definition of "affiliate" within the regulations, an extension to the time a service contract correction request can be filed and possible "metadata" requirements for service contracts, it said. The FMC is also considering regulatory changes to allow "a service contract amendment to be filed individually and sequentially within 30 days of its effectiveness" or "any number of service contract amendments to be consolidated into a single document, but filed within 30 days of the effective date of the earliest of all amendments contained in the document." The FMC began work on the regulatory review in September of 2013 and "informally solicited views from various stakeholders in order to gather a broad range of perspectives," it said. Among those that provided comments were the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, beneficial cargo owners, NVOCCs and shippers associations, it said. Comments are due March 30.
The Transportation Department is soliciting applications for national infrastructure investment grants, which port infrastructure investments could be eligible for, DOT said (here). The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 gave $500 million to DOT for these grants, and the allocation is similar to the program funded and initiated pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER discretionary grants) program. Port authorities, including those inland, are eligible to apply. Applications must be submitted by 8 p.m. on April 29. Port planning guidelines are available at StrongPorts.gov.
U.S. exports and GDP will underperform, and developing economies will grow only marginally when the Trans-Pacific Partnership enters into force, claims a policy brief publicly distributed on Feb. 25 by Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute (here). The brief highlights the contrast between a joint study published last month by Tufts economics faculty and Malaysian economist Jomo Sundaram, and another January analysis performed by the Peterson Institute, which projected overall global economic growth from TPP. The Tufts/Sundaram model employs the United Nations “Global Policy Model,” designed to investigate regional and global policies and trends related to issues, including trade, through application of historical data and, in this case, economic trajectories. The Peterson study wrongly incorporates unexplained surges in foreign direct investment, a fixed trade balance, and growth and income gains due to non-trade measures, Sundaram wrote in the brief.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is reclassifying the Santa Cruz cypress, Hesperocyparis abramsiana, from an endangered species to threatened, in a final rule (here). The reclassification takes effect March 21.
The Department of Energy will extend the comments deadline to Feb. 29 on a proposal that would require importers of products covered under “an applicable energy conservation standard” to file a “certification of admissibility” for each shipment of such products before their arrival at a U.S. port of entry, it said (here). The proposed rule would require the filing in the Automated Commercial Environment at time of entry (see 1512290020). DOE also granted a request to hold a public meeting to explain the proposal before comments are due, said a prepublication Federal Register notice released by the agency. That meeting will be Feb. 19, 9:30 a.m., at DOE headquarters, 10 days before comments are due, the notice said. The meeting also will be webcast, it said. Trade groups, including the Consumer Technology Association and Plumbing Manufacturers International recently said in a joint filing (here) that they're genuinely "confused" with the proposal because it “does little to explain the specific issue the Department is attempting to resolve with the proposed import data collection.” The groups had asked DOE to extend the comments deadline until 30 days after the meeting date.
The Federal Trade Commission is amending its energy labeling regulations to update comparability ranges for EnergyGuide labels on clothes washers, in a final rule (here). Manufacturers have until May 11 to begin using the updated ranges on their labels, said the FTC.
Congressional involvement is needed to figure out how onerous Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) container weight verification rules were approved by the International Maritime Organization without U.S. input, said the Agriculture Transportation Coalition in a position paper (here). "We believe this situation, and the need to avoid similar circumstances in the future, warrants a Congressional inquiry," the group said. Specifically, Congress should look into the IMO process and "the means by which the United States can be bound, and how this rule was adopted without U.S. exporter or importer notice or input, or consideration of impact on US economy," it said. Concerns for the requirements, which the IMO approved in 2014 (see 14051911) and are to take effect July 1, have increased in recent months (see 1512090029). The group also called on the Coast Guard, which is expected to enforce the requirement, to seek comment and delay any enforcement before it's clear U.S. commerce won't be slowed as a result. The U.S. also should only implement new weight verification requirements if the top 15 trading partners have also implemented such rules, the group said. Peter Friedmann, a lobbyist that is working on the issue and helped develop the position paper, said in a separate email that Federal Maritime Commission and Coast Guard officials are set to meet with carriers on Feb. 18 to discuss the issue. The FMC didn't return a request for comment.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is amending side marker requirements under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for lamps on vehicles 80 inches or more in width and less than 30 feet long, in a final rule (here). The new standard, which will take effect Aug. 8 with optional early compliance, restores provisions that were accidentally modified in 2007, said NHTSA.