The Labor Department’s Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA) accepted for review a petition filed by the AFL-CIO and five Colombian labor organizations alleging that the Colombian government hasn’t complied with labor obligations of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, OTLA said (here). The groups alleged, among other things, that Bogota didn’t adopt rights in the International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and hasn’t ensured transparent administrative, judicial=, or labor proceedings (see 1605170036). OTLA is expected to issue a public report to the Secretary of Labor within 180 days, unless circumstances dictate an extension, OTLA said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration will test import and export data submission through the the agency's ACE partner government agency (PGA) message set and the Document Image System (DIS), it said in a notice (here). The pilot can begin as early as Aug. 1, DEA said. The agency will allow for electronic submission of data from eight forms required in importing or exporting:
The Energy Department on July 14 issued a final rule setting new enforcement procedures for regional energy efficiency standards for central air conditioners (here). The final rule sets new recordkeeping requirements for manufacturers and private labelers of air conditioners, as well as enforcement procedures for violations, including continued sales to repeated violators of regional standards. The new regulations take effect Sept. 12.
The Democratic National Committee on July 9 added an amendment to its party platform that says trade negotiations must be transparent and inclusive, and that U.S. free trade agreements must not subvert democracy through special interests such as “private courts for corporations,” apparently referring to investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms. The Democratic Platform Committee met over the weekend in Orlando, Florida, where it voted 117-64 to adopt the amendment, introduced by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders, which also said Democrats would work, through FTAs, to hold countries accountable on currency manipulation, and which struck language identifying “a diversity of views” surrounding the Trans-Pacific Partnership within the party. The adopted amendment ostensibly puts more pressure on Congress to pass TPP by the end of this year, as both parties are looking to include tough trade stances in their finalized platforms.
The Federal Communications Commission published a guidance on the July 1 suspension of Form 740 filing requirements (here). The agency temporarily waived the Form 740 requirements until the end of the year for imported radio frequency devices due to the transition to ACE (see 1510200035). "This suspension only eliminates the filing requirements; all other requirements related to importation and to compliance with equipment authorization rules for radio frequency equipment continue to apply," the FCC said.
A U.S. District Court judge in Newark, N.J., sentenced Alexander Brazhnikov of Mountainside, N.J., to 70 months in prison for obtaining and smuggling more than $65 million worth of electronics from the U.S. to Russia in violation of U.S. export laws, the Justice Department said (here). Brazhnikov pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to smuggle electronics from the U.S., and one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership picked up an endorsement from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that issued a report (here) June 30 concluding the overall impact of the agreement would be “net liberalizing” for trade. Cato found 15 chapters of the agreement to be overall liberalizing, five chapters to be more protectionist than liberalizing, and two chapters to be neutral. The textiles and apparel, trade remedies, and labor chapters tied for the lowest scores on Cato’s liberalization gradient, which found customs, market access and dispute settlement chapters to be the most liberalizing. While TPP doesn’t represent free trade, the perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of the good, and full-blown free trade isn’t politically attainable, the report concludes. “If the TPP will deliver more trade liberalization than restriction, and realistic alternatives to more comprehensive liberalization are unavailable, why not support the TPP?” the report says.
Past free trade agreements have boosted U.S. exports, increased bilateral trade flows and improved the U.S. trade balance, according to an International Trade Commission report on U.S. trade pacts previously agreed to (here). The U.S. trade balance in 2015 was $87.5 billion more positive than it would’ve been without FTAs like NAFTA, the Uruguay Round Agreements and several bilateral agreements, the report says. ITC took into account the impacts of FTAs on the U.S. economy over the past 30 years. The report also found that the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement bolstered yearly IT exports covered by the agreement by 56.7 percent in 2010, and that Uruguay Round and NAFTA tariff reductions contributed to a 14.7 increase in U.S. steel imports in 2000.
The Energy Department is adopting an energy efficiency test procedure for integrated light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, it said. The agency’s final rule (here) will “support the implementation of labeling provisions by the Federal Trade Commission, as well as the ongoing general service lamps rulemaking, which includes LED lamps,” DOE said. Compliance with the new test procedures will be required for any representations made on or after Dec. 28.
The Federal Trade Commission is increasing maximum civil penalties assessed for violations of laws and regulations enforced by the agency, it said (here). The one-time “catch up,” which more than doubles some penalty amounts, was required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, signed into law in November, and will be followed by annual adjustments for inflation. The increase more than doubles penalties for unfair trade practices, failure to maintain records on wool and fur products and energy efficiency labeling violations. The higher penalties take effect Aug. 1.