Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report

The primary obstacle to Senate passage of the bill appears to be the addition of a permanent ban on states and local governments imposing taxes on Internet access.

The investigation covers fishing lures, gaming machines, PVC, and products of the chemical or allied industries.

The two sides plan to pursue cooperative dialogues wherein the private sector will produce concrete recommendations on breaking down trade barriers related to standards, regulatory and conformity assessment practices.

A House-Senate conference committee reached agreement Dec. 9 on a lengthy customs reauthorization bill focused on improving trade facilitation and enforcement. The bill could be approved by both chambers as early as Dec. 11 and signed into law by the president before the end of the month.

CBP anticipates that AQUA will allow carriers to achieve quicker vessel turnaround times in port, which will also benefit importers through faster container movements.

A House-Senate conference committee tasked with hammering out a customs reauthorization bill held an initial meeting Dec. 7 where conferees laid out their priorities for a final measure. Supporters are hoping to conclude the conference by the end of this week and see the legislation enacted into law by the end of the year.

The sanctions, which are about a third what complainants Canada and Mexico had sought but significantly higher than what the U.S. had argued for, are expected to take the form of higher import tariffs on U.S. goods and could be imposed within a matter of months.

An electronic export application and certification system and imports of genetically modified organisms are among the topics of proposed and final regulations set forth in the Department of Agriculture’s most recent semiannual regulatory agenda.

Importers have until Dec. 28 to request refunds of duties paid on Generalized System of Preferences-eligible goods that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption during the GSP lapse period of Aug. 1, 2013, through July 28, 2015. This deadline specifically applies to entry summaries on which the special program indicator “A” was not transmitted.

The World Trade Organization Appellate Body has upheld a dispute settlement panel ruling that revised U.S. regulations on dolphin-safe tuna labeling are still unfairly discriminating against Mexico.

The departments of Homeland Security and the Treasury recently issued their semiannual regulatory agendas, which list the following regulations affecting international trade that could be issued within the next year as well as rulemaking proceedings that have been in process for some time and are not as likely to see further progress in the near term.

The U.S. and Peru recently signed an agreement establishing a trade transparency unit that will enhance their ability to detect illicit trade schemes used by transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups and to prevent and investigate customs offenses.