Former Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiator Wendy Cutler told an audience for an Atlantic Council webinar that the U.S. cannot rejoin even a renegotiated TPP in the next two years, and maybe not during the next four. Cutler, a vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that the administration should try to ink mini-deals with TPP countries on digital trade, like it did with Japan, and said that maybe there can be coordination on supply chains or climate and trade. Cutler was also chief negotiator on the Korea free trade agreement.
After the European Union announced May 17 that it will not double retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports on June 1, exporters expressed relief. More significantly, the joint statement between the EU and Office of the U.S Trade Representative said the two sides are aiming for a united approach to global overcapacity distortions that would allow the 25% and 10% tariffs under Section 232 to be removed at the end of the year. Domestic metal producers welcomed that news, but the union that represents steelworkers reacted with some alarm.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued more than $100,000 in combined penalties against two companies for illegally exporting thousands of dollars worth of goods to Iran, Russia and Ukraine. BIS imposed a $60,000 fine and temporarily denied the export privileges for Kleiss & Co., a Netherlands-based company that BIS said illegally shipped “extruded butyl sealants” from the U.S. to Iran. The agency also fined Texas-based TeleDynamics $55,000 for illegally exporting rifle scopes from the U.S. to Russia and Ukraine.
The U.S. issued guidance last week to address industry uncertainty and a rising number of questions about export licensing jurisdiction for goods sent under its Foreign Military Sales Program. The guidance -- which includes frequently asked questions developed by Homeland Security, CBP and the Commerce, State and Defense departments -- was issued because the agencies “continue to receive questions” about exports that were moved from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List but are exported under FMS authority. They said exporters are “having difficulty” understanding how Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations, the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the FMS Program “relate to each other” for goods that have recently transitioned from the ITAR to the EAR.
The Senate likely will vote on the Endless Frontier Act next week and should pass the bill before the end of the moth, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said May 13. The bill, which would provide more federal funding and incentives for semiconductor research, has “strong” bipartisan support, Schumer said, and will help maintain U.S. technological leadership over trade competitors, including China. “The Endless Frontier Act would right the ship by making one of the largest investments in American innovation in generations,” Schumer told the Senate.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai generally avoided being pinned down on timing as she was asked about rekindling trade negotiations with the United Kingdom and Kenya, the pause on tariffs on European imports, and a solution for steel overcapacity that could make way for the lifting of Section 232 tariffs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service has noticed higher security on a range of items traded between the U.S. and Panama, USDA reported May 7. The agency said traders should be aware of “increased rules of origin scrutiny” on coffee products, certain rice products, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, beef, pork, potatoes and other food products. USDA warned U.S. exporters to comply with Panamanian customs authorities, which enforce the rules of origin requirements in the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement and issue fines and back duty assessments for noncompliance.
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru recently extended measures to promote and facilitate trade in cosmetics, cleaning products and certain hygiene products, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 10. Through Dec. 31, the Andean Community countries may accept a “commitment letter in lieu of a certificate of free sale or a similar authorisation” of the country of origin when traders are looking to renew sanitary certifications, HKTDC said. In the letter, the trading party must “commit” to provide the certificate within six months after the sanitary notification is issued, renewed or modified. The countries may also extend a deadline by up to 12 months that will allow importers to “exhaust existing stocks” of their cosmetics, cleaning and hygiene products when their sanitary certificate has expired.
Following the Department of Justice's first resolution of action under a new export control tool, greater efforts should be made to conduct export-related due diligence and act on those recommendations, according to a May 6 analysis from Sidley Austin. Merely conducting audits of exports and sanctions is not good enough anymore, Sidley said. Implementing audit recommendations and putting in place a robust process to receive, investigate and elevate whistleblower complaints should be a priority following the DOJ's settlement with German software company SAP SE.
Peru recently revised its labeling requirements for certain manufactured imports to include the country of origin, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said May 6. The country previously required only the “country of manufacture” and certain other information, but traders now must disclose the country of origin for any “packaged or primary processed agricultural food product,” HKTDC said. The country of origin information must be in Spanish, HKTDC said, and the country of manufacture and, for perishable products, expiration date, must be “indelibly marked” on the product or packaging.