The AFL-CIO flatly rejected the Trans-Pacific Partnership in a memo to reporters on Sept. 22. “No amount of negotiations make TPP a good deal for working people,” said the title of the memo, which the network of unions issued only hours after U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman publicly touted progress in the negotiations (see 1509220015). The AFL-CIO faulted U.S. negotiators for failing to prioritize enforceable currency language in TPP negotiations and falling short on ensuring protections for U.S. auto manufacturing. The memo also criticized the pact’s investor-state dispute settlement language. “So far, the TPP appears to be little more than a set of rules that promote outsourcing and benefit outsourcers,” said the memo.
More than half of recently-polled retailers claimed they’ve experienced cargo theft during transport from a manufacturer to a distribution center over the past year, said the National Retail Federation in its release of a recent survey (here). The poll didn’t distinguish between imported and domestically-manufactured goods. Twelve of 23 retailers claimed goods were stolen during that leg of transport. Supermarkets and grocery stores made up the biggest group of retailers polled at 20.9 percent, followed by specialty men’s and women’s apparel at 17.9 percent. Meanwhile, nearly 80 percent of retailers think Congress should enact nationwide legislation to combat organized retail crime, the NRF said. That poll found 97 percent of respondents have been the victims of retail crime in the past year. Thirty states have already enacted organized retail crime laws since 2008, said the NRF.
A group of nearly 100 American CEOs called on President Barack Obama and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to make progress in Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations during Jinping’s upcoming Washington summit, in a Sept. 14 letter to the leaders. A “high-standard” BIT should include minimal exceptions “with clear provisions providing equal treatment to each other’s investors,” said the letter (here). Both sides previously said they planned to float proposals on those exceptions, referred to as the “negative list,” in early 2015. But U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in April said no progress had been made, and since then the U.S. has not issued public declarations on any headway (see 1504280015). The letter, which was promoted by the U.S.-China Business Council, includes Tim Cook, Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg and other high-profile business leaders as signatories. The summit is scheduled to take place later in September.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued its annually-updated list of vehicles that are eligible for importation despite not being originally manufactured to conform to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (here). The agency revised its list, published as an appendix to 49 CFR 593, to add vehicles that it determined to be eligible for importation since Oct. 1, 2014, and to remove vehicles that are now more than 25 years old and no longer need to comply. The new list takes immediate effect.
The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has inspected more than 75 percent of factories used by members over the past two years since U.S. companies formed the alliance, alongside other efforts to “create a safer environment for garment workers,” said the National Retail Federation, an alliance member, in an Sept. 8 statement (here). The alliance plans to deliver two “major” inspections to all 662 factories, NRF said. Member companies released a detailed progress report on Sept. 8 (here). Only six factories have passed final inspection, but factories have “completed between 20 and 80 percent of repairs,” said NRF. The Obama administration removed Bangladesh from the Generalized System of Preferences in September 2013 after a string of factory disasters in the country (see 13070202). The administration, at the outset of 2015, said Bangladesh continues to fall short of the progress needed for restoration of its GSP status (see 1501160042). Lawmakers enacted GSP renewal in June, and the legislation contained specific language to bar retroactivity for Bangladesh and Russia (see 1504200052).
Expanded Australian access to the U.S. sugar market through the Trans-Pacific Partnership would violate the U.S. sugar program, the antidumping and countervailing duty suspension agreement between the U.S. and Mexico and the “legitimate rights” of tariff rate quota holders under global trade rules, said the International Sugar Trade Coalition, which represents developing country TRQ holders, in a Sept. 7 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. The Australian government and industry, as well as U.S. sugar importers, have lobbied hard over recent weeks to broaden access for Australian sugar (see 1509020022). “Australia’s latest sugar proposal is not just a bad idea, it is contrary to U.S. law, the obligations of the United States under both NAFTA and the AD/CVD suspension agreements, and the GATT obligations of the United States to the TRQ quota holders,” said the International Sugar Trade Coalition letter. “It should be rejected out of hand.”
An industry-based certification program recently warned that Chinese honey is potentially coming through Thailand and Taiwan in an illegal transshipment scheme to avoid antidumping duties. In an alert issued Sept. 2 (here), True Source Honey said suspiciously large increases in imports of honey from Thailand and Taiwan mirror the pattern seen “repeatedly” in recent years as Chinese exporters have been caught shipping honey through Latvia, Malaysia and Indonesia. Honey imports from Thailand jumped 300% over the past two years, and imports from Taiwan have doubled, said the alert. TrueSource is a fee-based certification program by honey producers and importers that relies on third-party audits and recordkeeping to verify the source of honey. According to the alert, only one Thai exporter is currently certified, and no Taiwanese exporters are certified.
The International Trade Commission on Aug. 31 released the public version of its report to the U.S. Trade Representative on potential changes to the Generalized System of Preferences program for 2014, it said in a press release (here). The report (here) includes data related to potential competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers for two products from Thailand under subheadings 2008.19.15 (coconuts, otherwise prepared or preserved, nesoi) and 7408.29.10 (copper alloys (o/than brass, cupro-nickel or nickel-silver), wire, coated or plated with metal), as well as on certain articles of cotton under headings 5201 and 5202 that may gain GSP eligibility. The report will inform USTR’s 2014 GSP Review (see 1507060025). The advice contained in the report is confidential.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Sept. 2 issued new regulations that allow for the filing of required import documentation in electronic format (here). The agency’s interim final rule, which takes immediate effect, adds an electronic filing option to language in the NHTSA regulations that require a “written statement” or imply the submission of a paper document, including the phrases “in duplicate,” “a copy of,” a “document,” and “accompanied by a statement.” NHTSA began its pilot test of electronic filing in the Automated Commercial Environment on Aug. 19 (see 1508070015). Comments on the interim final rule are due Oct. 2.
Australia continues to push hard to carve out a larger chunk of sugar access into the U.S. market through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Australian producers and the Sweetener User Association in a recent conference call. Those on the call insisted Australian expanded access, under the right conditions, won’t undermine the complex supply and price management mechanisms in the U.S. sugar program.