The Foreign-Trade Zones Board approved a request from the Triangle J Council of Governments to expand the service area of FTZ 93 to include Sampson County, North Carolina (here). The FTZ already includes Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, Person, Vance, Wake and Warren Counties.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Jan. 23:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board on Jan. 23 announced its approval of the reorganization under the Alternative Site Framework of FTZ 238 in Southwest Virginia (here). The zone will now cover all of Alleghany, Amherst, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Campbell, Carroll, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Grayson, Henry, Montgomery, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Smyth, Tazewell and Wythe Counties, as well as the independent cities of Bedford, Buena Vista, Covington, Danville, Galax, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Radford, Roanoke and Salem. Under the Alternative Site Framework reorganization, companies will now be able to request subzone status through the relatively simple "minor boundary modification" process.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board has approved the creation of a new FTZ in the Lake County, Florida, it said in a Federal Register notice (here). The new zone, numbered FTZ 292, will function under the Alternative Site Framework (ASF), which means companies will be able to request subzone status through the relatively simple "minor boundary modification" process.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the "economic leg" of President Barack Obama's refocus on the Asia-Pacific, and that region's skyrocketing populations is poised to provide a big boon to U.S. businesses, said the Commerce Department's Undersecretary for International Trade Stefan Selig on Jan. 23. Selig is on a trade and investment tour in Hanoi. Vietnam is one of 12 TPP negotiating partners. “With an estimated 2.7 billion middle class consumers projected by 2030, the Asia-Pacific region also plays an essential role in our economic growth now and in the future," said Selig in a press release (here).
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board is approving the creation of a new FTZ in the Lake Charles, Lousiana area, it said in a Federal Register notice (here). The service area of FTZ 291 will include Wards 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It will function under the Alternative Site Framework (ASF), which means companies will be able to request subzone status through the relatively simple "minor boundary modification" process.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) renewed export privilege denials for Mahan Airways, Zarand Aviation, Gatewick, Pejman Mahmood Kosarayanifard, Mahmoud Amini, Kerman Aviation, Sirjanco Trading, Ali Eslamian, Mahan Air General Trading, Skyco (UK), Equipco (UK), and Mehdi Bahrami. The order is effective immediately and will remain in effect for 180 days (here). BIS last extended these export denials in July 2014 (see 14072822).
The Commerce Department amended the Export Administration Regulations to further implement a U.S.-India agreement with provisions on export controls (here). Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security will remove license requirements for crime control products and other exports to India, said the final rule, which takes effect on Jan. 23. The bilateral agreement was brokered in 2010 (here). “This rule removes India from Crime Controls (CC) columns 1 and 3, and Regional Stability (RS) column 2 on the Commerce Country Chart in Supplement No. 1 to Part 738 of the EAR because the Government of India has now taken appropriate steps to ensure that the specific U.S.-origin items controlled for CC and RS reasons are not reexported from India without a license,” said Commerce. “A license requirement remains for items controlled under export control classification numbers (ECCNs) 6A003.b.4.b and 9A515.e for RS column 2 reasons when destined to India.”
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board approved a request from the Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority to expand the service area of FTZ 40 to include Lake County, Ohio (here). The FTZ already includes Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Lorain Counties within its service area.
The Commerce Department is inviting exporters of renewable energy products to join in the pilot phase of an interactive directory of U.S. renewable energy companies (here). Participants would be added to a new app Commerce is developing that would serve as a mobile directory of U.S. companies in the renewable energy sector for foreign customers and U.S. embassy employees. To join the pilot, email reee@trade.gov by Feb. 20.