On April 30, 2012, CBP issued a memorandum that outlines the requirements for duty-free treatment under the new US-Columbia Free Trade Agreement.  The following must be marked on the entry in order to qualify for such treatment:

1. The country of origin must be as “CO”

2. The country of export must be “CO”

3. The FTA claim must contain a tariff number with the special “CO” program indicator

4. HTSUS classifications 9822.08.01 – 9822.08.35 and 9918.02.01 – 9918.24.20 are subject to quotas

5. In order to be exempted from MPF, goods that qualify as originating and have already been classified under a duty free tariff must transmit the country code SPI CO.

6. Cotton or manmade sewing thread must be both formed and finished in either the US or Colombia.  The only exception to this is for manmande fiber staple sewing thread.

7. Knit or woven narrow elastics or “strips” must also be formed and finished in either the US or Colombia.  This is a change from the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act which allowed “strips” to be sourced anywhere as long as they stayed within the 25% value allowance.

8. Yarns and fabrics are subject to a maximum of 10 non originating de minimis provision, except for spandex.  Gimped yarns classified under HTS 5606 do not have to be originating materials.

9. The need to determine if a component is a trimming or a fabric is no longer necessary.  Only the component of garment that meets the tariff shift requirement will determine the classification.  Specific visible linings, narrow elastics, sewing thread and pocketing fabrics will still need to be assessed.

The US – Colombia Free Trade Agreement enters into effect today, May 15, 2012.  As of today, over 80% of products exported to Colombia will be duty free.  The remaining tariff on goods will be phased out over the next 10 years.

CBP has not yet issued the official message that their system has been updated to accommodate the necessary changes to process claims for preferential treatment.  Importers and exports should wait until CBP released the official announcement to file claims under the FTA.

Additionally, as of today, Colombia is no longer eligible for preferential treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences or the Andean Trade Preference Act.

Ron Kirk, the United States Trade Representative, has issued an announcement that the US has asked the WTO to enact a dispute settlement panel tasked with the review of restrictions on US agricultural products.  This announcement comes on the heels of negotiations between the US and India held on April 16017 with no resolution.

Mr. Kirk has stated that India has had a formal ban on certain US agricultural products since February 2007.  Supposedly, India enacted the ban to prevent outbreaks of avian flu even though the US has not had an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu since 2004.  Additionally, Mr. Kirk the international standards for control of avian flu do not justify imposing import bans.

US trade groups have estimated that if the ban were lifted, the value of poultry exports alone would be in excess of $300 million.

On December 19, The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued their opinion in GPX International Tire, et al. v. US, et al., 666 F.3d 732, 741 (Fed. Cir. 2011) reh’g granted, 2011-1107, 2012 WL 1606223 (Fed. Cir. May 9, 2012).  This opinion came down ruling that it was not the intention of Congress to allow the Department of Commerce  to impose countervailing duty on goods from Non-Market Economy countries.

Following this decision, Congress reacted and on March 13, 2012 passed an Amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930 to specifically allow the imposition of such duties.  Text of the Senate bill can be found here.  At the same time, the appellees in the GPX Int’l Tire case had a pending petition for rehearing of the original appeal.

On May 9, 2012, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the petition for rehearing and issued an order for the US Court of International Trade to examine the constitutionality of the new amendment.

Text of the Appeals Court order can be found here.