October 2016

On September 14, 2016 the President issued a proclamation ending a U.S. government suspension issued in 1989 and restoring trade benefits to Burma, plus new trade benefits not previously granted, under the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”). The GSP is a duty reduction measure, which provides cost savings and applies to goods covered under thousands of individual tariff provisions. In short, the GSP permits duty-free entry for qualifying goods.

The restored benefits and new benefits for qualifying goods become effective November 13, 2016.

The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently announced additional rule amendments intended to continue improving relations between the United States and Cuba by allowing even greater commerce and humanitarian efforts between the two countries. These new OFAC  and BIS  rules take effect today.  The new amendments build on previous amendments which Husch Blackwell LLP’s Technology Manufacturing & Transportation Industry Insider blog summarized here, here, and here.

On October 7, 2016, President Obama signed Executive Order 13742, terminating sanctions on more than 200 Burmese businesses and individuals. The Order eliminates prior restrictions on business with Burmese banks, permits the import of Burmese jadeite and rubies, and allows investment reporting through the State Department’s Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements to be made on a voluntary basis. Burma will now receive duty-free treatment on more than 5,000 products exported to the United States.

On Tuesday, September 27, 2016, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade held a hearing on “Effective Enforcement of U.S. Trade Laws.” Trade Subcommittee members evaluated U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) efforts to comply with the provisions and deadlines outlined in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (PL 114-125). CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske briefed the Committee on the agency’s progress in meeting its legislative obligations.

Commissioner Kerlikowske acknowledged CBP’s delinquency on a number of statutory deadlines, but assured Committee members that the agency has been working diligently to fulfill its obligations. In addition to shifting staff priorities, the CBP Office of Trade collected all legal deadlines and triaged assignments to provide priority attention to the most urgent matters. Commissioner Kerlikowske concluded that the CBP was “well on the way” to implementing the majority of its requirements by the end of the calendar year.