Several Federal Maritime Commission systems are unavailable for use during required maintenance, including its e-monitoring, electronic reading room and certain forms, the FMC said June 13. The commission specifically said its Common Carrier Tariff and MTO Schedule Registration Automated Form FMC-1 is unavailable, as is its Application for License as an Ocean Transportation Intermediary Automated Form FMC-18. The FMC said the systems will be “electronically inaccessible to the public” until the maintenance is complete, but the FMC may be able to provide certain information via email. For e-monitoring lreports purposes, the FMC said industry should send monitoring reports, meeting minutes or other documents to tradeanalysis@fmc.gov and “cc (copy) the economist who is assigned to the agreement. Once the system is back online, we will ask you to submit the materials directly in the system.”
The U.K.'s Department of International Trade released guidance on how to comply with the myriad of trade restrictions and sanctions that apply to British businesses that trade with Russia. The guidance covers sectoral sanctions, export and import bans and licensing, tariffs on Russian and Belarusian goods, financial sanctions and transport sanctions.
A top official in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that opposition to extending a moratorium on tariffs on sales of intangible goods has surfaced before, but that the e-commerce moratorium has been renewed at every World Trade Organization ministerial conference since 1998. "There are a few countries, despite benefiting from e-commerce and digital trade, who continue to resist an extension of the moratorium," she said, but most countries, including in the developing world, see the tariff-free status as important.
Israel recently removed tariffs on a range of imported industrial, food and consumer goods, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported June 9. The country removed the tariffs as part of a government-led import reform that began June 1, which also eliminated certain local compliance standards for the goods, HKTDC said. Israel also will eliminate inspections on the imported goods if the importer declares the products meet “international standards,” the report said. The reduced tariffs apply to oils, salts, nitrates, phosphates, medicines, minerals, paper products, rubber, plastics, paints, construction products, textiles, kitchenware and more.
U.S. sanctions and export controls are having a “severe” impact on Russia even though Moscow has continued its war in Ukraine, said Erik Woodhouse, a senior sanctions official with the State Department. Woodhouse said the U.S. is hoping the restrictions eventually force Russia to reverse course and expects the impacts to grow over time.
The World Trade Organization must renew the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions (see 2205190049) at the ministerial conference in Geneva next week, said John Neuffer, CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association. In a June 9 SIA blog post, Neuffer said the moratorium is at “serious risk” from some WTO members who are in favor of the increased tax revenue the duties could bring.
The Federal Maritime Commission this week approved a $2 million settlement agreement with Hapag-Lloyd for alleged shipping violations involving the company’s detention and demurrage practices. Hapag-Lloyd also agreed to take several steps to improve its billing practices, including posting an updated tariff policy to its website, conducting a “training session” on the FMC’s detention and demurrage rule for all employees involved in billing, and publishing on its website a “complete list of locations that it has authorized to accept empty Hapag-Lloyd containers.”
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said, after it was announced that the administration nominated Doug McKalip to be chief agricultural negotiator in her office, "USTR’s Chief Agricultural Negotiator will play a pivotal role in maintaining and building on these successes on behalf of America’s workers, farmers, ranchers, and producers. Doug McKalip is a highly qualified nominee with decades of experience in public service. His institutional knowledge of USDA spans multiple administrations, from leading different offices to serving as trusted advisor to Secretary [Tom] Vilsack, and will help us continue the close collaboration between our agencies that has enabled so much success."
A week before U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai heads to Geneva for the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference, she said she's excited for what the meeting could bring, though she avoided predicting that either an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines would be approved, or that the 20-year fisheries negotiations would be closed.
The U.S. has brought another rapid response request, this time over an alleged violation of worker rights at the Teksid Hierro de Mexico plant in Frontera, Mexico. According to the parent company's website, the plant makes iron castings used in heavy trucks made by Volvo, Cummins, Mack Trucks and others. The owner of the company is Stellantis, the conglomerate that owns the Chrysler brand.