SAN ANTONIO -- Non-vessel operators (NVOs) should be working with their customers to minimize any surprises coming from the implementation of revised International Maritime Organization sulfur emissions standards in 2020, said transportation industry experts during a panel discussion at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on April 16.
The U.S.-Egypt Trade and Investment Council discussed the need for Egyptian labor reforms, and the U.S.'s desire that Egypt improve intellectual property protection, implement the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement and that Egypt strengthen its border enforcement. The readout of the meeting, provided by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative late April 12, said the two countries are looking to promote greater reciprocal market access for agricultural and industrial goods. "In this vein, the United States and Egypt are collaborating on the development of scientific, risk-based food safety practices consistent with international guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius Commission," USTR said. The U.S. praised Egypt for relaxing domestic ownership requirements for express shipping companies and Egypt's decision to accept U.S. motor vehicle safety standards. Between the Generalized System of Preferences and Qualifying Industrial Zones programs, about $1 billion of Egyptian exports to the U.S. enter duty free, USTR said.
The European Union is imposing new antidumping duties on imports of urea and ammonium nitrate from the U.S., Russia, and Trinidad and Tobago, it said in a notice of its preliminary determination in the April 11 EU Official Journal. A provisional antidumping duty rate of 22.6% is now required on imports of the product by CF Industries Holdings, the sole U.S. exporter being investigated, as well as on urea and ammonium sulfate exported from the U.S. by all other companies. The new cash deposit rate takes effect April 11, though the EU may apply it retroactively as of March 22 (see 1903210046). That decision will be made at the final stage of the investigation.
In the April 11 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted (see 1904120033 for notices from April 12):
The European Commission created a list of about $20 billion in U.S. imports that it could raise duties on, according to an April 12 report from Reuters. The potential tariffs stem from a World Trade Organization dispute between the U.S. and the European Union over aircraft subsidies given Boeing. The U.S. had previously identified $11 billion in European imports that could be targets of retaliatory tariffs if the World Trade Organization authorizes that level of compensation in a similar WTO dispute over subsidies for Airbus (see 1904090057).
The European Council approved a negotiating mandate for trade talks with the U.S., but says it will not finish a free-trade agreement until the steel and aluminum tariffs on its member countries are lifted. The mandate, which was approved April 15, excludes agricultural trade from the talks.
Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 15 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Canada is moving closer to new regulations that would create some new restrictions on transactions involving controlled goods moving to other countries, law firm McCarthy Tetrault said in a blog post. The proposed regulations "create a new control regime for Canadians engaged in 'brokering' related to transactions involving the movement of certain controlled goods, services or technology from one foreign country to another," the firm said. "This is the first time Canada has imposed such controls and companies that may be potentially involved in such transactions."
New digital Mercado Comun del Sur (MERCOSUR) certificates of origin will take effect May 1 in Argentina, according to an alert from Expeditors. Use of digital certificates had been set to take effect in November 2018, but was subsequently delayed twice, until March 1, then until May 1. The Argentine Ministry of Economy said the digital certificates “will have the same legal validity and identical value as those issued on paper,” and must be electronically signed according to parameters established by the Latin American Integration Association. The Ministry also said that “entities authorized to the exporter must” keep records of all certificates of origin, the certification number, the applicant and the date of issue. The notice said paper certificates may still be used for “certain occasions in which digital certification is not possible in order not to delay or hinder foreign trade operations.”