The World Trade Organization is “not equipped” to mitigate the economic effects spawned by the large, mercantilist Chinese economy, which poses unprecedented challenges for international commerce, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said during an address Sept. 18 at the Center for International and Strategic Studies. “I believe that there is one challenge on the current scene that is substantially more difficult than those faced in the past, and that is China,” Lighthizer said. “The sheer scale of their coordinated efforts to develop their economy, to subsidize, to create national champions, to force technology transfer, and to distort markets in China and throughout the world is a threat to the world trading system that is unprecedented.”
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 4-10:
The House Homeland Security on Sept. 7 advanced legislation that would reauthorize the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. The full committee adopted an amendment introduced by Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., which fully replaces the text of H.R. 3551, introduced on July 28, but only makes minor changes. As amended, H.R. 3551 would add exporters as eligible participants for C-TPAT, as well as new requirements for CBP to consult with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) in certain decisions regarding the C-TPAT program. The bill also would formally direct CBP to consider extending C-TPAT benefits to importers of noncontainerized cargo and “non-asset-based” third-party logistics providers.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 28 - Sept. 3:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 28 - Sept. 1 in case they were missed.
The following new requests for antidumping and countervailing duty scope rulings were filed with the Commerce Department since International Trade Today's last update:
No new lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 21-27, nor were any appeals of Court of International Trade decisions filed that week at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, according to the CIT and CAFC Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) filing databases.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 21-25 in case they were missed.
CBP’s Office of Field Operations (OFO) plans to roll out an interim standardized format for foreign-trade zone compliance reviews by Oct. 31, the Department of Homeland Security said in response to a Government Accountability Office report. The GAO report, released Aug. 28, found that CBP doesn't "centrally compile FTZ compliance and internal risks" to help analyze risks across the FTZ program. FTZs accounted for 11 percent of imports in 2015, and incorrect risk level determinations could impact FTZ program effectiveness and revenue collection, the GAO said.
The heads of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers in an Aug. 23 letter urged several senior members of the Trump administration to work to preserve investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in a renegotiated NAFTA, adding that business support for an updated deal could falter if talks serve to weaken or nix the dispute mechanism. Sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, the letter says ISDS doesn’t infringe U.S. sovereignty, and ensures that other countries don’t seize U.S. investors’ property without compensation and don’t impose forced localization requirements compelling jobs to be “shipped overseas.” The letter follows another letter from more than 100 trade groups sent to the administration earlier this month urging continuance of ISDS in NAFTA (see 1708090014).