U.S. Steel Import License Application Under Review

(World Trade Interactive)

The International Trade Administration is accepting public comments through Sept. 6 on form ITA-4141P, the application for steel import license.

The president’s proclamation on steel safeguards mandated that the departments of Commerce and the Treasury institute an import licensing system to facilitate the monitoring of certain steel imports. Regulations were established that implemented the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis system and expanded on the licensing system for steel that was part of those safeguards. The import license information is necessary to assess trends in imports of steel products.

Mexico to Suspend 50% of Truck Dispute Tariffs as of July 8

(World Trade Interactive)

Mexico is expected to suspend 50% of its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports as of July 8 after the U.S. and Mexico signed July 6 a memorandum of understanding resolving their longstanding dispute over Mexican trucks. U.S. officials cast the MOU as an agreement that will ensure roadway safety, create jobs in the U.S. and support economic development in both countries.

Mexico currently imposes tariffs of 5-25% on $2.4 billion worth of goods imported from the U.S. in retaliation for Washington’s failure to allow Mexican long-haul trucks to operate beyond U.S. border zones, as required under NAFTA. In April the Department of Transportation announced details of a new phased-in pilot program that will allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the U.S. for up to three years and grant U.S.-domiciled motor carriers reciprocal rights to operate in Mexico for the same period. Read more here.

Bridge Fight Rages, But There’s No Doubt a New Span is Needed

(Detroit Free Press)

When the Ambassador Bridge opened in 1929, it carried five lanes of traffic instead of today’s four.

As vehicles became wider over the decades, the Ambassador’s lanes were reduced to accommodate them. Yet even four lanes are considered too few given today’s traffic volumes, in part because the Ambassador lacks dedicated lanes for prescreened cars and trucks.

The resulting delays are more than just hassles for people traveling between the two countries; they add to the price of cars and hurt the economies of both Canada and the U.S, according to one study.

For these reasons and more, just about everyone involved in Michigan’s great bridge debate supports building some new bridge to replace or supplement the Ambassador. Read more here.

Beyond the Canada/U.S. Border: Open Doors, Baby Steps

(John Ibbitson — Globe & Mail)

Because Vic Toews and Janet Napolitano like each other, Canada and the United States are about to begin building a better border.

Before the leaves start to fall, the two countries will release more than two dozen proposals aimed at easing border congestion and improving security. Beyond the Border, as it’s called, will disappoint those who seek a closer economic union between Canada and the United States. And it will frighten those who suspect the Harper government of sacrificing sovereignty and privacy rights to placate the Americans.

But the deal is really nothing more or less than a set of proposals aimed at getting both countries to trust each other more. If that trust builds, baby steps will be followed by bigger steps. No Big Bang, no grand schemes. Instead, something that can actually get done. Read more here.

Free Trade at What Cost?

(Allentown Morning Call)

NAFTA-like debate brewing on Capitol Hill as White House pushes pacts with South Korea, Panama and Colombia

Inking free trade deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia is among the highest priorities for the U.S. business community.

Manufacturer B. Braun Medical, for one, anticipates that lowering tariffs, especially south of the border, would greatly increase sales of its medical devices.

“The bottom line is we are trying to keep jobs here in the Lehigh Valley,” said Tom Black, the Bethlehem company’s vice president of overseas and emerging markets sales and marketing. “The more we can export into countries in Central and South America, the more it is going to allow to keep jobs here.” Read more here.

China Promises to ‘Properly Follow Up’ Adverse WTO Decision

(VOA News)

Chinese officials said Wednesday they will “properly follow up” a World Trade Organization finding that the country broke global trade rules by limiting exports of raw materials needed to make products ranging from steel to electronics.

The WTO panel Tuesday rejected Beijing’s argument that the curbs were needed to protect China’s environment, ruling instead in favor of the United States, the European Union and Mexico. The ruling affects the export of nine raw materials, including coke, bauxite, magnesium, silicon metal and zinc.

China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Ministry of Commerce officials saying Wednesday that several aspects of the ruling were favorable to China. But, they said, the government “feels regret” over the findings that its actions were inconsistent with WTO rules. Read more here.

Electronic Filing Moves Ahead at ITA, ITC

(World Trade Interactive)

The International Trade Administration and the International Trade Commission are both moving to require the electronic filing of certain documents to increase efficiency and reduce agency expenditures.

ITA Final Rule. The ITA has issued a final rule that, effective Aug. 5, will amend its regulations governing the submission of information in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings to reflect the implementation of an electronic filing and document management system, the Import Administration Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (IA ACCESS). Under this rule, parties must file all AD/CV submissions to ITA electronically except (1) submissions of more than 500 pages or (2) large database files (currently, more than 20 MB). Read more here.

Border Action Plan: Getting Trade, Traffic Back on Track

(Windsor Star)

Quietly, Canada and the United States are moving toward an agreement that could fix many of the border problems that have developed since 9-11.

An “action plan” to address major issues - including congestion and restrictions on the flow of goods and services and cross-border trade - is being developed by negotiating teams from each country and is expected to be tabled in September.

The initiative stems from a commitment made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama last February to craft a border deal that will cut through the bureaucratic red tape that’s stifling trade and traffic between Canada and the U.S.

Both Harper and Obama are trying to find a compromise that will put safety and trade on an equal footing. The overall goal is to create a continental security perimeter, to better share information, facilitate the free flow of goods and services and make the necessary infrastructure improvements at border crossings. Read more here.

Beyond The Border: Removing Barriers to Trade

(CFIB)

Research conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) with the assistance of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the participation of the U.S. Embassy (Ottawa) reveals a number of challenges and obstacles small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must overcome in order to be able to successfully conduct business across the border.

Earlier this year, Canada and the U.S. issued a declaration on the countries’ shared border. The objective of the pact was to ‘streamline and decongest’ the Canada-U.S. border, as well as find ways to reduce and prevent regulatory barriers to cross-border trade. A high-level commitment to improving the efficiency of the border will reduce the costs of doing business, enhance security and facilitate trade. “A Canada-U.S. border that is more effective, secure and trade-friendly will increase Canadian competiveness and create jobs on both sides of the border,” stated CFIB vice president, national affairs, Corinne Pohlmann.

CFIB’s policy brief, Border Barriers: SMEs Experience With Cross-Border Trade involved interviewing 12 small business owners: eight Canadian and four American. This report offers mixed results from Canadian small business owners about their experiences with border agencies on both sides of the border.

The number one obstacle in cross-border trade for smaller companies relates to the complexity of the process and its related paperwork. The data shows the common thread in the problems faced by small business is the varying requirements of government agencies and complicated rules and regulations. “And, although the requirements of any one entity may not be unreasonable, it is the combined effects that impede SME participation in cross-border trade,” said Pohlmann.

“Simple measures, such as providing information in plain language, making information sources readily accessible and easy to find, providing contact information (email/telephone) to respond to questions and creating a one-stop web portal with trade and border information specific to SMEs, will help address some of these issues,” said Pohlmann. Adding, “With this in mind, the brief offers policy maker’s practical recommendations on how to make trade and border processes more small-business friendly.”

As both Canada and the U.S. have a strong entrepreneurial presence with SMEs accounting for half the GDP, more than half of employment and the bulk of net new jobs, this research offers ways to encourage cross-border trade. By focusing on small-business friendly policies, making an extra effort to provide information and services geared to small business’ unique needs, and creating a culture of service and understanding of small business challenges within the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may help to encourage more small firms to take the plunge and start looking to other markets to grow and expand their business.

To view the full list of recommendations, visit www.cfib-fcei.ca.

The 10-Year, $20 Million Peace Bridge Lesson

(Patrick Lakamp — Buffalo News)

Amid disappointment over the decision to abandon plans for a new span, some still see the benefits of the long review process

The spirit of Daniel Patrick Moynihan keeps fading from the Peace Bridge saga.

The late U.S. senator from New York inspired many in the late 1990s with his call for an iconic bridge across the border as “a new gateway, a defining moment of entry.”

So did Swiss bridge designer Christian Menn, who in 2002 proposed a soaring cable-stayed design because “I thought you should have the courage to build a big bridge between these two big nations.”

But Menn’s words seem as distant as when then-Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer, becoming the first New York governor to address the Buffalo Common Council, insisted in 2007 that “we are dedicated to making it happen.”

The news late last week that the proposal for a new companion bridge to the Peace Bridge has reached a dead end disappointed many in the community.

The Peace Bridge Authority, formally known as the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, announced it would pursue a plaza upgrade with its own money and drop the idea for a new bridge and new plaza — at least for now — because federal aid has dried up. Read more here.

US Claims all .com and .net Websites Are in Its Jurisdiction

(Lawrence Latif — The Inquirer)

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) wants to take down web sites that use the .com and .net top level domains (TLD) regardless of whether their servers are based in the US.

Erik Barnett, assistant deputy director of ICE said told the Guardian that the agency will actively target web sites that are breaking US copyright laws even if their servers are not based in the US. According to Barnett, all web sites that use the .com and .net TLDs are fair game and that, since the Domain Name Service (DNS) indexes for those web sites are routed through the US-based registry Versign, ICE believes it has enough to “seek a US prosecution”.

According to the Guardian, ICE is not focusing its efforts just on web sites that stream dodgy content but those that link to them, something the newspaper claims has “considerable doubt as to whether this is even illegal in Britain”. It points out that the only such case to have been heard by a judge in the UK was dismissed.

Barnett said, “By definition, almost all copyright infringement and trademark violation is transnational. There's very little purely domestic intellectual property theft.”  Read more here.

Legislative Update: All Eyes on FTA/TAA Drama

(World Trade Interactive)

Once again the fate of the legislative trade agenda depends on the outcome of an increasingly partisan battle over the pending free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama. The FTA debate directly involves the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, the Generalized System of Preferences and the Andean Trade Preferences Act and could affect other issues as well, including China’s currency, customs reauthorization and trade remedy enforcement. Read more here.