On February 13, 2008, President Bush signed Executive Order 13460 blocking the property and interests in property of additional persons subject to EO 13338 regarding the national emergency with respect to Syria.
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)
The Bureau of Industry and Security has posted to its Web site a set of links to lists compiled by BIS, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the State Department that may be relevant to export and reexport transactions.
The Washington Trade Daily reports that Colombian Trade Minister Luis Guillermo Plata has asked the U.S. to extend trade preferences under the Andean Trade Preference Act, as amended by the Andean Trade Preferences and Drug Eradication Act, until 2009 while congress debates a free trade agreement signed between Colombia and the U.S. (Washington Trade Daily, dated 02/04/08, available at http://www.washingtontradedaily.com/)
Women's Wear Daily reports that apparel importer groups have formed a new coalition to oppose U.S. Customs and Border Protection's proposal to do away with the "First Sale Rule," stating that its elimination could increase apparel tariffs by as much as 15%. (WWD dated 02/06/08, available at http://www.wwd.com/article/print/122311)
American Shipper reports that according to former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, Robert Bonner, if the import-export industry gets behind the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to upgrade cargo security, it may have a chance to get Congress to reverse course on its mandate to require every ocean container to be scanned overseas by 2012. (Bonner is now a homeland security consultant and principal with the Sentinel HS Group, headed by former aide Brian Goebel.) (American Shipper, dated 01/24/08, www.americanshipper.com)
Representative Ken Calvert has issued a press release announcing the introduction on January 23, 2008 of "Our Nation's Trade, Infrastructure, Mobility, and Efficiency Act of 2007" (H.R. 5102) in order to ease congestion in areas impacted by goods movements. Among other things, the legislation would impose a fee on each article that is imported into the U.S. that would be the lesser of: (i) .075% of the value of the article or (ii) $500. (Press release, dated 01/23/08, available at http://calvert.house.gov/. and H.R. 5102 available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h5102ih.txt.pdf)
The European Union has issued a press release announcing that the European Commission has agreed on proposals that will dramatically increase the use of renewable energy in each country and set legally enforceable targets for governments to achieve them. All major CO2 emitters will be given an incentive to reform the Emissions Trading System and will impose an EU-wide cap on emissions to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 20%, and increase to 20% the share of renewable energies in the energy consumption by 2020, as agreed by EU leaders in March 2007. (EU Ref. IP/08/80, dated 01/23/08, available at http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/80&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en)
The New York Times reports that a global boom in the cost of commodities is entering its sixth year with no end in sight, and economists see a fundamental shift driving the markets which will be hard to stop because the ascent in commodity prices is connected to events beyond the U.S., particularly the industrialization of China, and to a lesser extent of India, and in booming oil economies like Saudi Arabia and Russia. (NY Times, 01/15/08, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/business/worldbusiness/15commodities.html)
The Journal of Commerce reports that fuel prices and security surcharges are likely to offset rate reductions for air-cargo shippers in 2008. (JoC, dated January 2008, www.joc.com)