There's been momentum in the NAFTA negotiations, but "we still think it is likely the president could withdraw," said Brian Kingston, a vice president with the Business Council of Canada. President Donald Trump has threatened to leave the deal (see 1708310011). The Canadian government has made a lot of diplomatic outreach in the U.S. Congress recently, and Kingston is hopeful that lawmakers would just sit on the request and not take action, he said during an event at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies on March 15. That would result in a "zombie NAFTA," he said. "Not an ideal outcome." An announcement to withdraw is really a six months' notice of withdrawal, and some believe the U.S. cannot end NAFTA tariff rates without a congressional vote to set replacement rates (see 1711150031).

Industry representatives on March 4 made their case to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to add all 29 HTS subheadings covering travel goods under review for addition to the list of eligible products under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences. During USTR’s public hearing for the U.S. GSP Program 2015/2016 Annual Review of Products and Competitive Need Limitation Waivers, Allison Baron, a lawyer representing Michael Kors, claimed that, if added, the higher volume of “certain handbags and travel goods products” flowing to the U.S. would benefit U.S. consumers by allowing importers to offer “desirable goods” at competitive prices, defraying higher labor costs. USTR has published a list of subheadings for travel goods it accepted for GSP review during this cycle (here).

The addition of several industry-suggested travel items to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences Program would help U.S. companies diversify sourcing and reduce about $75 million in duty costs, without hurting domestic production, American Apparel & Footwear Association Executive Vice President Stephen Lamar wrote in a Feb. 29 letter to the International Trade Commission (here). AAFA representation testified on Feb. 24 before the ITC, urging the body to consider according GSP benefits to all eligible travel goods from all GSP beneficiary countries. A U.S. government decision is expected in June, and if approved the products "should" be able to enter duty-free treatment on July 1, AAFA said in an email. Items suggested for GSP beneficiary treatment include luggage, backpacks, purses, and wallets, according to AAFA's letter. AAFA argued that goods from China, Vietnam, Italy, and France compose 86 percent of all U.S.-imported travel items by value, and added that travel goods "are not considered import-sensitive," as the U.S. has a 98-percent import penetration of these goods, meaning "very few" of them are made in the U.S. Another letter (here) written to ITC from a coalition of 23 industry organizations, including AAFA, reiterated this point. "There is virtually no production of these items in the United States and, as such, there will be no domestic industry that will be negatively affected by the proposed designation," the coalition letter states. "On the other hand, U.S. brands, private label designers, made-to-order producers, as well as the U.S. workers they employ and the consumers they serve, stand to benefit greatly from lower duty costs under the GSP."

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices for March 9 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Latin American and Caribbean nations are struggling to break into global value chains and attract foreign investment due in large part to downward economic trends, export decreases and poor transportation and logistics infrastructure, said a number of trade scholars and analysts at a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars event on Oct. 27 (here). The region’s geographic isolation increases the already-critical need for transportation and logistical improvements, the panelists said. “When you are thinking about the logistics infrastructure area, it is not only about the big public works like, you know, ports and airports,” said Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) trade economist Juan Blyde. “It’s also about the ‘soft’ policies like, for example, improving the efficiency of a customs office.” The Pacific Alliance, a 2011 trade pact comprised of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, is a relative paradigm for how harmonized rules of origin can help facilitate regional supply chains, arguably more important than globally supply chains, said some of the speakers.

The Minnesota U.S. District Court on July 9 let an importer’s lawsuit against a sourcing agent to proceed, dismissing its breach of contract claim because it was filed too late but allowing claims related to fraudulent misrepresentation. Liberty Diversified International imported and sold hand trucks from China under its Safco trade name. When the hand trucks became subject to antidumping duties of over 300 percent, it asked its Hong Kong-based sourcing agent, Denson International, to shift production to a factory with a lower rate. But Liberty says it later found out Denson lied about where it was getting the hand trucks, costing it nearly $2 million in duties and customs penalties.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) were listed as the top policy issues expected to have a positive impact on the clothing business, said respondents in a U.S. Fashion Industry Association survey. TPP, GSP and TPA, which would give Congressional pre-approval to the executive branch for trade agreement negotiations, were the only issues to garner a majority of responses saying that passage or renewal would positively impact business. Other areas of trade policy, including the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and customs reauthorization legislation were largely viewed as "Hard to say/Neutral" in the survey.

On Dec. 4 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:

The World Trade Organization (WTO) posted the following notices from Dec. 8-10 (may have to click twice on source documents for proper viewing):

The Government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for January 17-19, 2012 (note that some may also be given separate headlines)