In light of an "agreement in principle" recently reached with the European Union in the long-standing EU - beef hormones dispute, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that it will delay certain sanction modifications that were due to take effect May 9, 20091, in order to allow time for the provisional agreement to be finalized.
On April 22, 2009, Senator Sherrod Brown1 addressed the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) to discuss U.S. trade policy. Highlights of his written remarks include the following:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has published in the Federal Register its notice of initiation of a Section 301 investigation and determinations therein, which imposes an additional 10% duty on imports of certain softwood lumber products of Canada, whose Region of Origin is Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, or Saskatchewan, in response to Canada's failure to cure its breach of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement between the U.S. and Canada (SLA 2006) or provide the monetary compensation determined by a SLA arbitral tribunal. The additional duty is effective for products that are entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after April 15, 2009. (See ITT's Online Archives or 04/08/09 news, 09040805, for previous BP summary.) (D/N USTR-2009-0011, FR Pub 04/10/09, available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-8232.pdf)
U.S. Trade Representative Kirk has announced that the U.S. will impose an additional 10% duty on imports of certain softwood lumber products of Canada, whose Region of Origin is Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, or Saskatchewan, in response to Canada's failure to cure its breach of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement between the U.S. and Canada (SLA 2006) or provide the monetary compensation determined by a SLA arbitral tribunal.
On February 2, 2009, Senator Snowe1 (R) introduced the Trade Complaint and Litigation Accountability Improvement Measures Act of 2009 (the Trade CLAIM Act, S. 363), a bill aimed at strengthening and improving the enforcement of U.S. trade rights.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice requesting comments to assist it in identifying countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that it is modifying the list of European Union products and countries subject to 100% duties in connection with the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement rulings in the EU beef hormone dispute. It is also raising the duty rate of one product to 300%.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that the interagency Section 301 Committee is soliciting public comments on the possible modification of the list of European products subject to increased tariffs in connection with World Trade Organization dispute settlement rulings in the U.S.-European Communities beef hormones dispute.
On July 31, 2008, the Senate passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (H.R. 4040) conference report, clearing it for the President. (See ITT's Online Archives or 07/31/08 news, 08073110, for BP summary of the H.R. 4040 conference report.) (Congressional Record, dated 07/31/08 news, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r110:@FIELD(FLD003d)@FIELD(DDATE20080731))
The House and Senate have both passed the conference version of H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill), by greater than two-thirds majorities.