The World Customs Organization has posted a press release announcing that on October 22, 2008, Ecuador deposited with the WCO Secretary General its instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System). This makes Ecuador the 135th Contracting Party to the Harmonized System Convention. (WCO, dated 11/07/08, available at http://www.wcoomd.org/press/default.aspx?lid=1&id=168)
The International Trade Administration frequently issues notices on antidumping and countervailing duty orders, investigations, etc. which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued, neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period, etc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has issued a release regarding its hosting of more than 1,000 leading suppliers, Chinese officials, and NGOs in Beijing, China. The company outlined a series of aggressive goals and expectations to build a more environmentally and socially responsible global supply chain. (Wal-Mart press release, dated 10/22/08, available at http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/8696.aspx.)
CBP has posted a memorandum announcing that the first opening of the recently increased global refined sugar tariff rate quota that is being reallocated from Mexico oversubscribed at opening. The pro rata percentage is 82.24822% or 0.8224822.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that the interagency Section 301 Committee is soliciting public comments on the possible modification of the list of European products subject to increased tariffs in connection with World Trade Organization dispute settlement rulings in the U.S.-European Communities beef hormones dispute.
The International Trade Commission has issued a notice announcing that it has approved the initiation of a voluntary pilot mediation program for investigations under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
The International Trade Administration and the International Trade Commission have each issued notices initiating automatic five-year Sunset Reviews on the above-listed antidumping duty orders.
On October 29, 2008, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on "Investing in Infrastructure: The Road to Recovery." Testimony was heard from government, transportation, and public witnesses. (Congressional Record dated 10/30/08, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r110:@FIELD(FLD003d)@FIELD(DDATE20081030).)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit threw up its hands and issued an implicit challenge to the Supreme Court, in a ruling limiting the grounds for getting patents on business methods, including those for software and Internet processes. Critics of such patents seemed elated by the In re Bilski ruling. Supporters of a broad understanding of patent subject-matter eligibility were either muted or satisfied with the court’s reasoning. Experts we asked disagreed over the threat to software and Internet patents, such as Amazon.com’s one-click checkout patent.
The International Trade Administration has initiated administrative reviews of the following antidumping and countervailing duty orders for certain specified companies listed in the initiation notice.