International Law Bulletin - Vol. 14, No. 12
In Memoriam of the Victims of Terrorist Attacks
Vol. 14, No. 12 — December 2008
Editor
Co-Editors
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND TRADE
Finance
U.S.: The Global Economic Prospects 2009 Report forecasts that most of the real economy side effects of the banking crisis will be felt in the final months of 2008 and the first two quarters of 2009 with Global GDP growth improving to 3% by 2010 reaching 2% expansion in the U.S. matching the growth of 2007 and the EU expanding to 1.6% in 2010 with Japan reaching 1.5% by 2010 (25 ITR 12/18/08).
Imports
U.S.: The Department of Commerce seeks comments on a proposal to extend the Steel Import Monitoring Analysis (SIMA) System until March 21, 2013 (73 Fed. Reg. 75,624; December 12, 2008;
steel_license@ita.doc.gov “Comments on the 2008 Proposed Rule”; 25 ITR 1774; 12/18/08).
Automotive
WTO: The World Trade Organization (WTO) determined that the Chinese registration and tax systems for imported car parts wrongly discriminated against imported parts in favor of its domestic manufacturers (25 ITR, 1780; 12/18/08).
Tax Incentives
South
Korea: The Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy designated four industrial parks and seaports as free trade zones bringing the number of export oriented tax havens to 14 (25 ITR 1782; 12/18/08).
Dumping
U.S.: The Commerce Department will not initiate a dumping case against Vietnamese textiles after reviewing the final six months of data collected under the textile monitoring program (25 ITR 1683; 11/27/08).
Countervailing Duties
U.S.: The Commerce Department announced it’s preliminary finding that China is providing countervailable subsidies to certain tow-behind lawn groomers and parts (Certain Tow-Behind Lawn Groomers and Certain Parts thereof from China, ITA (25 ITR 1693; 11/27/08).
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND INVESTMENTS
Government Procurement
WTO: The WTO Governmental Procurement Agreement (GPA) gave approval to the accession of Taiwan to be admitted as a WTO member to the GPA (25 ITR 1782; 12/18/08).
Environment
U.S.: The U.S. and China agreed on a new framework to work on environmental and energy issues through partnerships which arose from the fifth round of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (25 ITR 1752; 12/11/08).
Customs
U.S.: The duty free preference claims under the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central American Fee Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) "pocketing fabric" rule will be verified by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (25 ITR 1755; 12/11/08).
Foreign Investment
OECD: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that the 30 member countries will experience a sharp contraction in the second half of 2008 as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) continues to fall through 2009 reflecting FDI inflows shrinkage of 13% and outflows to decrease 6% by the end of the year (25 ITR 1714; 12/4/08).
U.S.: The Treasury Department published a final rule revamping the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) giving examples of what would be considered control of the US business by a foreign investor thereby requiring a national security review under the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 (FINSA) (73 Fed. Reg. 70,701; November 21, 2008; 25 ITR 1665; 11/27/08).
LEGISLATIVE & LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
Export Financing
Russia: Regulations are being improved by the Finance Ministry on the issuance of export guarantees in foreign currencies to support Russian exports (25 ITR 1718; 12/4/08).
Chemical
EU: An amendment proposed to the European Union’s 1976 Cosmetics Directive (76/768/EEC) loosens pre-market assessment requirements for products containing nano materials (25 ITR 1776; 12/18/08).
Dumping
U.S.: The Commerce Department correctly classified composite rods as non-prime merchandise which were appropriately excluded in the calculation of anti-dumping duties according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Mittal Steel Point Lisas Limited v. U.S. Fed. Cir., Nos. 2008 - 1040, 1054, 12/3/08; 25 ITR 1787; 12/18/08).
Sources: IR - Interpreter Releases, Federal Publications, Inc.; Financial Times (FT); ITR - International Trade Reporter, Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.; IB-Bender’s Immigration Bulletin; ILT - Immigration Law Today, American Immigration Lawyers Association Monthly Journal; IL - International Lawyer, SMU School of Law; FT- Financial Times; TE - The Economist Magazine; GATM - German American Trade Magazine published by the German American Chamber of Commerce; WSJ - Wall Street Journal; ILN/ABA-International Law News, American Bar Association; TMIJ-Tax Management International Journal, Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.; AILA - American Immigration Lawyer’s Association
