GHY Tradelines

An updated list of recently published government memorandums, notices, regulations and decisions for the week ending Febuary 10, 2011 is now available on our website here.
 

(Bridges Trade Weekly)

The United States, on 6 February, signed roadmap agreements with the European Union and Japan on ending its controversial “zeroing” method to calculate anti-dumping duties. The deal was announced only days before WTO arbitrators were scheduled to examine the EU’s and Japan’s request on retaliating against Washington for its failure to comply with WTO rulings that had deemed the use of zeroing illegal. Though the U.S.’ agreements are formally limited to the two trading giants, the changes are also set to affect other countries.

With the bilateral understandings, the U.S. commits itself to forego the use of zeroing in future administrative reviews of anti-dumping investigations. The U.S. Department of Commerce will begin applying the new methodology later this month.

In addition, the agreements foresee a recalculation of certain anti-dumping duties currently being applied against European and Japanese producers. “In certain individual anti-dumping cases involving the EU and Japan, the United States will be conducting proceedings to recalculate anti-dumping duty cash deposits without zeroing,” a United States Trade Representative (USTR) official explained to Bridges. “These case-specific proceedings will be completed in four months.” Read more here.
 

(CBP)

CBP rule change will lead to more efficient posting of seizure notices

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) [Wednesday] published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the regulation allowing for the publication of notices of seizure and intent to forfeit on a government forfeiture web site, instead of solely by traditional paper-based publication methods. The idea was submitted by CBP Paralegal Specialist Paul Behe and selected as one of four finalists out of more than 18,000 ideas submitted for the President’s 2010 Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award.

CBP maintains the authority to seize property violating certain laws enforced or administered by CBP or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and statute requires that CBP publish notice of these seizures and intent to forfeit for any prohibited importations, conveyance used to transport or store a controlled substance or narcotic, monetary instrument, conveyance, merchandise or baggage not to exceed $500,000 as directed by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Currently CBP is required to publish these notices in different ways based on appraised value. For property appraised at more than $5,000, CBP must publish administrative seizure and forfeiture notices for at least three weeks in a newspaper circulated at the port and in the judicial district where the property was seized. For property appraised at $5,000 or less, CBP must post a notice for three weeks at the customhouse nearest the seizure location.

The proposed changes will revise the publishing of these notices by utilizing the Department of Justice forfeiture website www.forfeiture.gov, which will remove the geographical constraints of the previous system. Notices will be posted online for 30 days for all property regardless of value, although for property appraised at $5,000 or less, notices will continue to be physically posted at the customs location nearest the place of seizure.
 

(CFIA)

In an effort to modernize operations at the National Import Service Centre (NISC) and the NISC Satellite Office (NSO), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has implemented new technology to support the process of transmitting import documentation. As a result, the current numbers used to transmit faxes to the NISC and NSO, (905) 795-7834 and (514) 493-0468, will be replaced by one centralized number (613) 773-9999, effective February 15, 2012.

If you require additional information, please contact the NISC or NSO:

NISC: 1-800-835-4486 | NSO: 1-877-493-0468
 

(Journal of Commerce Online – William B. Cassidy)

Freight volumes passed January 2005 record, grew 6.4% in 2011, BTS says

U.S. freight shipments hit an all-time high in December, rising 3.9% from the previous month, the largest monthly increase in domestic freight shipping in 17 years, the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics said Wednesday.

It was the strongest month-to-month increase of the year for the BTS Freight Transportation Services Index, which climbed only 0.1% in November from October. December’s growth rate topped a 2.5% increase in June. Read more here.
 

(Embassy – Carl Meyer)

U.S. intel-sharing plans will hit Toews’ desk; Harper government to table cross-border policing bill

New information has emerged on the perimeter security plan between Canada and the United States, with hundreds of government and industry representatives meeting in Washington last week, and the Harper government signalling it will soon table a bill to entrench cross-border policing over water.

On Jan. 30 and 31, representatives from both governments as well as industry officials held talks in Washington on the Regulatory Co-operation Council, one of the two planks of the Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness Action Plan.

A notice for both talks was quietly posted on the government’s border plan website sometime last month. It included an agenda for the second day that struck a whole host of technical sessions bringing bureaucrats and industry together to hammer out draft work plans. Read more here.
 

(Reuters – David Ljunggren)

China and Canada on Wednesday signed a series of deals to boost modest levels of bilateral trade and finished negotiations on a foreign investment protection pact after 18 years of talks.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, keen to boost oil exports to China and thereby reduce reliance on the U.S. market, said the investment agreement would help increase trade. “This is an historic step forward … it will provide greater predictability and protection for Canadians seeking to do business in China,” he told a news conference after talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Both nations will need to conduct a legal review of the deal and then sign and ratify it before it can take effect.

The relatively small amount of bilateral trade – which amounted to less than C$60 billion ($59.4 billion) in 2010 – shows how much potential there is for growth.

Harper said Canadian investment in China rose by 39% in 2010 from 2009 to hit nearly C$5 billion. Chinese investment in Canada the same year totaled $14 billion, an increase of 9% from 2009. Read more here.