A variety of export subsidies, which allowed certain industries to avoid paying sales taxes, customs duties, or reduce income tax liability have been ruled illegal by a World Trade Organization panel. The ruling was released Oct. 31. India, unless it appeals the ruling, has 90, 120 or 180 days to stop the programs at issue.
President Donald Trump announced Oct. 31 that Cameroon will no longer qualify for the African Growth and Opportunity Act tariff preference program at the beginning of next year, because of extra-judicial killings, unlawful detention and torture by its military. Cameroon only exported $3.58 million in goods to the U.S. last year; it's unknown how much of that volume entered under AGOA, but about 48 percent of all sub-Saharan African imports are covered by AGOA. Overall, AGOA non-oil imports were $4.3 billion in 2017.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., sounded a little less optimistic about the Democrat working group reaching a conclusion on the new NAFTA than he has recently, even as he told reporters “we made some advances today" in a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer Oct 30. "The differences continue to narrow." He also said both sides are exhausted.
The Inspector General at the Commerce Department criticized some actions at the Bureau of Industry and Security in granting or denying Section 232 exclusions from steel tariffs and quotas and from aluminum tariffs. The memo, published Oct. 28, said that department officials and interested parties had conversations that were not part of the official record of requests or objections, and "following some of these off-record communications, Department officials took subsequent action consistent with such communications, giving the appearance that the Section 232 exclusion request review process is not transparent and that decisions are not rendered based on evidence contained in the record."
A bill that would allow harbor maintenance spending to go forward outside the appropriations process, as long as there is money in the Harbor Maintenance Fund, passed the House of Representatives the evening of Oct. 28, 296-109, but faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross responded to Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., complaining that her latest letter is wrong to say that his department has not provided "a substantive and comprehensive response" to her earlier questions and complaints about the Section 232 exclusion process.
The idea that the U.S. might lower de minimis for Canadian and Mexican shipments, because those countries did not raise their thresholds as much as the U.S. wanted, is not going to be part of the NAFTA rewrite, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Oct. 29.
The National Council of Textile Organizations, concerned that de minimis imports of apparel are undercutting apparel imports from the Western Hemisphere, is asking CBP to undertake a detailed analysis of de minimis shipments, and release the results publicly. The trade group cares if Mexican, Haitian and Central American apparel makers are losing ground because those countries' factories import U.S.-made fiber, yarn and fabrics. "Textile and apparel products are uniquely positioned to enter as de minimis shipments as apparel and other sewn products routinely sell for under $800 and represent over 40 percent of CBP's duty collections," NCTO said.
In a sign that tariff negotiations with China will continue into 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will publish a notice in the Federal Register this week asking for comments on whether the first set of tariff exclusions on Chinese imports on List 1, set to expire Dec. 28, should last another year. The Docket Number is USTR-2019-0019.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, as part of a broader announcement on changes to the Generalized System of Preferences, announced late Oct. 25 that about a third of Thailand's GSP-covered trade will exit the preferences program April 25, 2020, because it does not allow its workers to participate in collective bargaining and other labor rights, despite six years of engagement. The USTR said all seafood products are being removed from the program because of abuses of workers in that industry and in shipping; other products were chosen because Thai imports are a small share of the U.S. imports, but the U.S. is relatively important for Thai exporters. In all, GSP imports from Thailand were $4.4 billion last year, USTR said; after India's exclusion from the program earlier this year, Thailand accounted for the highest volume of exports qualifying for GSP. Even with the reduction, it will still be the largest beneficiary. The Associated Press reported Oct. 28 that Thai officials will seek to talk about averting the eligibility changes.