A group of 65 House freshman members said the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) will be an important vehicle to prevent the tax hike that would result if the expiration of duty suspensions and reductions provisions that were approved by the last congress. The legislators wrote Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) a letter April 20, 2012, explaining their support of the MTB process.
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren is Executive Managing Editor of Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
Pablo Benes, legal officer in the Appellate Body Secretariat of the World Trade Organization, joined Steptoe & Johnson as a director in the firm's International Trade and International Regulatory Compliance Practice groups in Washington.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress for April 18, 2012:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will update its list of airports approved to accept aircraft traveling to or from Cuba, according to a notice to be published in the Federal Register April 20, 2012. Part 122, subpart O, of the CBP regulations sets forth special procedures that apply to all aircraft (except public aircraft) entering or departing the U.S. to or from Cuba. On January 28, 2011, CBP published a final rule in the Federal Register (76 FR 5058) that amended the CBP regulations to establish such procedures and airport eligibility criteria.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its April 18 Customs Bulletin. While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does list recent information collection notices and recent Court of International Trade decisions.
On April 18, 2012, the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress for April 18, 2012:
The Commerce Department will expand the SelectUSA program in an effort to increase support of advanced manufacturing and aid exporters, said Commerce Secretary John Bryson during a April 19, 2012, House Subcommittee on Commerce Manufacturing and Trade hearing on American Manufacturing. SelectUSA, which was created through executive order last year, coordinates existing resources and functions across all Federal agencies that have operations relevant to business investment decisions, said Bryson. As a central point of contact within the U.S. government, SelectUSA serves as an advocate and ombudsman for the investor community, he said.
Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist gave his support for the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) process. The MTB is essential to providing relief to America’s beleaguered producers and consumers, said Norquist in a letter to Congress. By reducing or eliminating duties on imports, the MTB lowers input costs for domestic manufactures, which increases the competitiveness of American goods and puts additional savings in the pockets of consumers, the letter said.