The U.S. should "work with the new Canadian government to improve cross border trade opportunities," EBay Senior Vice President-North America Hal Lawton said in a letter to Bruce Heyman, U.S. ambassador to Canada, eBay said in a news release Tuesday. In the letter, Lawton urged Heyman to work with the Canadian government to increase Canada's "de minimis threshold" of $20 on the value of imported goods allowed before customs duties are applied and paperwork must be processed. "The inequity between the U.S. and Canadian de minimis is a major source of friction for eBay customers in these two countries -- an inequity that eBay is committed to improving," the release said. It said the U.S. figure is $200, and legislators are considering upping it to $800.

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is wrongheaded in his campaign vow to force Apple to shift its manufacturing from China to the U.S., CTA President Gary Shapiro said Wednesday in a blog post at Medium.com. Trump “gets a pass from some people for saying foolish things,” said Shapiro, who has endorsed Marco Rubio for the presidency (see 1512230039). But “I fear for our nation that a candidate for president would lead in the polls after making so many idiotic statements.” If “we did what Trump wants,” Apple “would then face huge additional costs making iPhones and iPads and would have to raise its prices to the American consumers several-fold,” he said. “We would destroy the two-way nature of international trade and leave our biggest and best exporters, such as Boeing, GM, Ford and IBM vulnerable to Chinese retaliation.” There's no doubt Americans “should be manufacturers, especially in highly skilled manufacturing,” Shapiro said. “But I have been in scores of Chinese factories, and the assembly work consists of redundant, simple, repetitive tasks that many with an education would be unsatisfied doing.” Brazil has “tried what Trump advocates,” he said. Duties there “vary according to the value of a given product, but can reach as high as 55 percent,” he said. “The result is high domestic prices for consumer electronics, often making them inaccessible to average citizens. The result is that upscale Brazilians visit the U.S. with empty suitcases and leave with luggage full of electronics.” Said Shapiro: “So, no, Mr. Trump. The last time the U.S. tried anything as dumb as your China proposal, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff law of 1930 raised U.S. tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods to record levels. That led to the Great Depression. Your ideas may smartly play to a certain type of voter, but they’re economic suicide for America, its people and our world-leading companies.”

Amazon China reportedly registered with the Federal Maritime Commission to be a freight forwarder as Beijing Century Joyo Courier Service Co. (see 1601150033), which shows the company isn't giving up on investments in China, said a report from Credit Suisse research analysts. The report said analysts' conversations with Amazon officials suggested the company "will look to iterate its effort to offer Chinese consumers guaranteed authentic products." The report also suggested the fees Amazon will collect as a freight forwarder could result in savings from lower prices for consumers.

Amazon may be moving toward offering non-vessel operating common-carrier (NVOCC) services, said Flexport, a logistics company, in a post on its blog. "Flexport has obtained information that Amazon China has received a license to operate as an ocean freight forwarder" in the U.S, said Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen. Petersen pointed to the Federal Maritime Commission's directory of Ocean Transportation Intermediaries, which has a listing for "Beijing Century JOYO Courier Service Co. Ltd," with the trade name Amazon China on the license, said Petersen. Amazon bought JOYO in 2004, he said. "By offering ocean freight services, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) will make it easier for its customers to move goods into the company’s logistics network." An Amazon spokeswoman confirmed to us the accuracy of the FMC filing, declining to comment further.

The combined debate over whether to keep a permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) in the conference Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act (HR-644) and a proposal to attach the controversial Marketplace Fairness Act to HR-644 has been “the big hold-up” delaying Senate consideration of HR-644, said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President-Government Affairs Bruce Josten after a news conference Thursday on the industry group's business priorities for 2016. Supporters of keeping the permanent ITFA extension in HR-644 are seeking support for overriding an expected point of order from Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that would challenge the provision as being outside HR-644's intended scope (see 1601130071). Although it would be “pretty easy” for everyone to support a permanent extension of ITFA, Durbin's quest to pair MFA with the ITFA extension has “complicated” the process, Josten told reporters. MFA passed the Senate last Congress but it's “never been considered” in the House, even via the House Judiciary Committee, Josten said. MFA “needs to be socialized” in the House and “dealt with through regular order, and it hasn't been,” he said.

Cisco "specially built surveillance, censorship, and other repressive products for the Chinese government that targeted disfavored groups," including the religious Falun Gong and democracy activists, according to a joint amicus brief filed in a case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Article 19, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International, in support of the Falun Gong plaintiffs, called for the 9th Circuit to reverse a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruling that granted a Cisco motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' second amended complaint. The Falun Gong victims and their families sued Cisco under a law called the Alien Tort Statute, which permits non-U.S. citizens to bring claims in federal courts for human rights violations. In a Tuesday news release, EFF said the amicus brief argues "that the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that Cisco understood that the 'Golden Shield' system (also known as The Great Firewall) it custom-built for China was an essential component of the government’s program of persecution against the Falun Gong -- persecution that included online spying and tracking, detention, and torture." In dismissing the second amended complaint, the district court judge said the plaintiffs didn't offer enough support, EFF said, saying the judge misapplied the law. Cisco has "always maintained that there is no basis for the allegations," emailed a spokesman. "And there is no merit to the case. We do not customize our products in any way that would facilitate censorship or repression. The case was correctly dismissed by the District Court.”

The Trans-Pacific Partnership supports U.S. technology leadership globally and will be a driver for economic growth and job creation, TechNet said in a news release Monday. TechNet urged Congress to approve TPP, identifying "key provisions" that are important to the technology sector, including "rules and regulations to increase fair competition and consumer protection in the tech sector," guarantees of "nearly unrestricted" cross-border data flows, prohibitions against "forced localization" of data and the elimination of tariffs and duties on digital products. "Our nation's ability to continue to lead in this [technology] sector is dependent on access to the fastest growing markets in the world and the uninhibited flow of data across borders," said TechNet CEO Linda Moore.

The Obama administration hopes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (see 1512150039) will be implemented by the end of January 2018, though several hurdles remain, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Friday at a CES workshop webcast from Las Vegas. TPP legislation must first pass Congress, where an anti-TPP coalition recently formed, as well as be approved by several other countries’ governments, where signing the agreement into law requires more “gambles” than for this country, Froman said. One workshop attendee, Audio Control CEO Alex Camara, voiced concern that China compulsory certification regulations are unnecessarily complex and difficult, but also expressed excitement about the prospect for more uniform regulations under TPP. Froman said Camara’s was a “very common complaint,” and TPP “won’t necessarily harmonize standards,” but will prevent countries from forcing industry to adopt local standards not in line with international benchmarks. The TPP “builds upon obligations these companies already have to the World Trade Organization,” Froman said. “It goes further and makes sure we can enforce their openness as far as how standards are set, the application of international standards and making sure these are best practices.”

Import data for goods regulated by the FCC can be filed through Customs and Border Protection's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) until July 1, when a waiver of FCC Form 740 requirements takes effect, the commission said Wednesday. The FCC issued the notice as a clarification of its plans to waive the requirements when the Automated Commercial System (ACS) is shut down and the use of ACE is required for electronic filing (see 1510190056), it said. "The Commission’s characterization in the Order of CBP’s ACS as the current system used for filing Form 740 information has been misinterpreted by some affected parties." Despite those misconceptions, the FCC "did not establish any prohibitions regarding the use of the ACE," it said. The form will be required until July 1, after which "any obligation to file the Form would be suspended and the requirement waived until December 31, 2016," the FCC said. Intel had said the form's requirements were unclear for this year's second half (see 1512140011).

The International Chamber of Commerce is urging World Trade Organization members meeting this week at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi to conclude an information technology tariff elimination agreement, which ICC said in a news release Tuesday could inject up to $190 billion into the global economy. The tariff elimination deal would be the first completed in nearly 20 years. ICC wants expanded product coverage under the WTO Information Technology Agreement 2, and continued absence of customs duties on e-commerce. "Despite standstills in negotiations technology and high-tech, products have continued to develop at a rapid pace, along with the business and organizational models that rely on them to thrive,” said ICC Secretary General John Danilovich. “The WTO ministerial is a real opportunity to make progress on this element of the global trade agenda that would reap the benefits of the digital economy and create significant boosts to international trade."