The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers, the two ports announced Dec. 13. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15 (see 2111030027) but have postponed it several times (see 2111290039 and 2112060041). Both ports said they've seen a combined decline of 47% in aging cargo on their docks since the fee was announced in October (see 2110280031). The latest extension delays the effective date to Dec. 20.
The World Trade Organization released a report recommending ways for landlocked developing countries to avoid trade bottlenecks and high trade costs resulting from their separation from the world's largest markets, the WTO said. "Easing Trade Bottlenecks in Landlocked Developing Countries" addresses the specific challenges these countries face, which include COVID-19 fallout, supply chain troubles and reliance on transit countries for imports and exports. LLDCs' trade costs are 1.4 times higher than those of developing countries with a coastline, the report said.
The European Union wrapped up its sixth round of negotiations with the five Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) countries on their interim Economic Partnership Agreement, the European Commission said Dec. 6. The parties discussed the following eight issues: technical barriers to trade, rules of origin, sanito-phytosanitary standards (SPSs), agriculture, intellectual property rights, public procurement, trade and sustainable development, and means of implementation. On SPSs, the parties have two outstanding issues, namely "capacity building and technical assistance" and an article titled "the Committee." The ESA and the EU agreed on provisions relating to equal import conditions, harmonization, animal welfare and emergency measures, the commission said. The ESA countries are Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe.
The U.S.’s new multilateral export control initiative includes a written “code of conduct” for licensing decisions for sensitive exports and new partnerships with allies to better control emerging technologies. The U.S. effort, previewed earlier this week ahead of the virtual democracy summit (see 2112090030), was officially announced Dec. 10 alongside Australia, Denmark and Norway, and includes support from other trading partners, including Canada, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
There has been “major improvement” in recent weeks to ease congestion across the Port of Los Angeles, “but there’s still so much work to do,” Executive Director Gene Seroka told a Washington Post webinar Dec. 9. The profound shortage of truckers and warehouse labor in Southern California remains a severe problem that won’t ease anytime soon, he said.
Belarus has announced retaliatory measures against countries that have recently sanctioned it, imposing a ban on the import of certain goods originating in the United Kingdom, the European Union, the U.S. and Canada, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said Dec. 6. The measures also include restrictions on U.K. and EU air carriers, travel bans for certain officials in each of the sanctioned states and "other non-public steps," the foreign ministry said. Another countermeasure will be to "strengthen economic integration with the Russian Federation, as well as build strong trade and economic ties with" Eurasian Economic Union states and others.
The European Union started a review of its antidumping and countervailing duty orders on biodiesel from Canada following a Canadian exporting producer's request for an exemption, the European Commission said in a Dec. 7 notice. The review will cover the AD/CVD orders on biodiesel consigned from Canada, "whether declared as originating in Canada or not, for the purposes of determining the possibility of granting an exemption from those measures to one Canadian exporting producer, repealing the anti-dumping duty with regard to imports from that exporting producer and making imports from that exporting producer subject to registration." The exporter, Verbio Diesel Canada Corporation, claims it didn't export the product under review to the EU during the investigation period.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill that could require more foreign investment reporting and oversight of foreign companies in the U.S. space sector. The Space Protection of American Command and Enterprise Act, introduced Dec. 2, would require companies to submit Schedule 13D/13G reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission for foreign investments in U.S. companies involved in critical technologies used for space exploration, Rubio said. It would also require the Defense, Commerce and Treasury departments to submit an annual report to Congress on foreign direct investment in U.S. space exploration and manufacturing, including the countries of origin for the FDIs. Rubio said the bill would help limit China’s efforts to “overtake” the U.S. in space industrialization. “The United States should not sit idly while the [Chinese Communist Party] infiltrates American companies, steals our intellectual property, and exploits our domestically produced technology,” he said. “Protecting our technological investments from the CCP’s corporate espionage is critical to our economic and national security.”
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers, the two ports announced Dec. 6. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15 (see 2111030027) but have postponed it several times (see 2111290039). The latest extension delays the effective date to Dec. 13. The fee, if implemented, will impose additional charges for containers moving by truck and dwelling for nine days or more, and for containers moving by rail and dwelling for six days or more (see 2110280031).
The newly formed Coalition for Economic Partnerships in the Americas does not explicitly say that the textile rules of origin in CAFTA-DR need reform, though it calls on the administration "to do what previous administrations ignored: to structure trade to support investment in the United States and our allies in Central America. In order for our economy to thrive, we must eliminate the bureaucratic red tape that hinders production and investment in the region."