Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report

Lawmakers have reached a compromise agreement on the first significant overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act since its enactment 40 years ago. The conference report was approved May 24 by the House of Representatives and could be passed by the Senate later this week. The White House has said it strongly supports the measure.

New rules on transitioning to the International Trade Data System, export controls and boycott reporting are among the items listed on the Department of Commerce’s most recent semiannual regulatory agenda.

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.

As of that date electronic entry and entry summary filings for specified entry types (in addition to those already required in ACE as of that date; click here for more information) must be formatted for submission in ACE and will no longer be accepted in ACS.

The International Trade Commission released May 18 a report stating that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement would likely have small but generally positive effects on the U.S. economy. However, critics objected to the ITC’s review methodology and said its estimates for previous agreements have been erroneous.

The AFL-CIO and five Colombian labor organizations have filed a petition with the Department of Labor alleging that Colombia has failed to comply with labor obligations in its free trade agreement with the U.S. The petition comes a month after the U.S. issued a report praising Colombia for its progress on labor rights but noting that more still needs to be done.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced May 17 regulatory and other amendments intended to support trade with Burma, facilitate the movement of goods within Burma, allow certain transactions related to U.S. individuals residing in Burma, and allow most transactions involving designated financial institutions.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of two pieces of exercise equipment that may be offered to the U.S. government under an undesignated government procurement contract.

The next step in the transition from the Automated Commercial System to the Automated Commercial Environment will take place May 28 with the mandatory filing of additional entries and entry summaries in ACE. CBP has also announced that most electronic entries and entry summaries for goods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration must be filed in ACE as of June 15.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske told the Senate Finance Committee May 11 that CBP expects to issue more detention orders on imported goods suspected of being made with forced labor. Kerlikowske also provided an update on the agency’s implementation of the recently enacted Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act.

The Senate voted May 10 to approve legislation (H.R. 4923) reforming the process of developing and enacting miscellaneous trade bills, which suspend duties on imported inputs and products for which there is no or insufficient domestic production and availability.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced May 10 a challenge at the World Trade Organization against the Chinese government’s failure to bring its antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. chicken broiler products into compliance with WTO rules. Also at the WTO the U.S. is continuing its efforts to avoid nearly half a billion dollars in trade retaliation by Mexico in a long-running dispute over “dolphin-safe” tuna labeling.

Effective July 1, DDTC will return without action any applications submitted using an expired DSP-83.