The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a two-page progress report for the first 100 days since the Administration change, highlighting their successes in this time period as follows:
US Trade Representative (USTR)
A U.S. Cabinet level position which serves as the President's primary representative, negotiator, and spokesperson regarding U.S. trade policy. The USTR heads the Office of the United States Trade Representative which develops and coordinates U.S. policy for international trade, commodities, and direct investments, as well as overseeing trade negotiations with other countries.
The Long Beach Harbor Commissioners are meeting on March 23, 2009 to consider revisions to the Clean Trucks Program. Changes proposed would expand exemptions to the Clean Truck Fee, recognizing the goods movement industry's demand for private financing of new clean trucks and encouraging use of liquefied natural gas-fueled (LNG) vehicles. (News release available at http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=532&TargetID=24)
The White House has posted remarks by the Vice President at the swearing-in of former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as U.S. Trade Representative on March 20, 2009. In his remarks, the Vice President emphasized that the USTR's mission is to blaze a trail beyond our borders and come up with innovative ways for our trade policies to inspire a new environment of basic fairness. (Vice President's remarks, dated 03/20/09, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-Vice-President-Biden-at-the-Swearing-in-of-United-States-Representative-Ron-Kirk/.
On February 25, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1105, the fiscal year 20091 omnibus appropriations bill, which is intended to "wrap up work" on the remaining FY 2009 appropriations bills2.
On February 26, 2009, President Obama issued his fiscal year 2010 budget overview. (Budget materials, including links to the President's budget message, individual agency budget fact sheets, etc. available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.)
In ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni S.P.A. et. al. v. U.S. et al., the Court of International Trade denied the U.S.' motion to dismiss two counts of a four-count complaint involving the International Trade Administration's (ITA) Section 129 determination on the 1999 Antidumping Order applicable to ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel sheet and strips (SSSS) from Italy.
The World Customs Organization, in conjunction with HM Revenue and Customs, will stage the Global Dialogue on Capacity Building conference in London on October 2, 2008. The theme of the conference is sustainable customs reform and development strategies. (Conference information available at http://www.wcoomd.org/cbglobal_dialogue_2008.htm)
The Senate Finance Committee has issued a press release announcing that Chairman Baucus reiterated to U.S. Trade Representative Schwab in a hearing that successful passage of Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation will take precedence in the Finance Committee over all pending free trade agreements. (Committee press release, dated 03/06/08, available at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2008press/prb030608b.pdf)
CNN Money reports that Toys "R" Us and Wal-Mart have recently announced new safety standards for their toy suppliers following a wave of recalls in 2007. Manufacturers for the large retailers will have to meet similar standards including significant reductions in lead content found in toy coatings, third-party testing of toys imported into the U.S., and prohibitions on infant products containing phthalates. (CNN Money, dated 02/15/08, available at http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/15/news/companies/toysafety_update/index.htm)
On December 14, 2007, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 2419, the Farm Bill Extension Act. The House passed its version of H.R. 2419 on July 27, 2007. According to the Library of Congress' Thomas Web site, the Senate has requested a conference with the House to resolve differences between the two versions. (See ITT's Online Archives or 07/31/07 news, 07073199 2, for BP summary on the House passage of H.R. 2419.) (Congressional Record, dated 12/14/07, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r110:@FIELD(FLD003d)@FIELD(DDATE20071214).)