| |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
|
|
|
|||
| |||||
     |
 |
|
House Committee Passes Byrd Amendment Repeal . . . On October 26, 2005, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a budget reconciliation package that includes a repeal of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA), the so-called Byrd Amendment, named after its chief sponsor Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). The Byrd Amendment requires the U.S. customs agency to distribute collected antidumping and countervailing duties to the U.S. producers that petitioned/supported imposition of the underlying antidumping/ countervailing duty orders. Continued operation of the Byrd Amendment has led to retaliation by U.S. trading partners such as Europe, Japan, and Mexico who successfully challenged the validity of the law under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Despite the retaliatory acts, however, Congress has not moved to repeal the law, which according to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office in late September 2005, has primarily benefited only the bearings, candles and steel industries. Click here to obtain a copy of the GAO Report. The Byrd Amendment repeal provision will now move to the House Budget Committee to be included in a comprehensive budget reconciliation package. However, because many lawmakers continue to support the law, it is unclear whether the repeal will be enacted. The Bush Administration also supports the law's repeal, and on three occasions has included its repeal in the President's annual budget proposal. Senate Approves Stabenow Amendment to Fund Trade Enforcement Efforts . . . Last week, the Senate approved an amendment to the Treasury Department appropriations bill that would provide funding for trade enforcement in a number of areas, including currency manipulation and intellectual property rights violations. According to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the amendment's author, the legislation targets unfair trading practices of Asian countries and, in particular, against the currency manipulation employed by China and Japan. Following approval of the bill, Sen. Stabenow noted that the amendment sends a warning to U.S. trading partners that the U.S. will not tolerate efforts to manipulate currencies to gain a competitive trade advantage. The bill would allow the Treasury Department to allocate up to $1 million to combat trade violations, but does not mandate how the Department uses the funding. According to Inside U.S. Trade, there are indications that the amendment is intended to compel the Bush Administration to acknowledge China's currency manipulation if Treasury decides to use the funds. Senate Hearing on Status of WTO Negotiations . . . On October 27, 2005, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on "The Status of World Trade Organization Negotiations." Peter Allgeier, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and head of the U.S. mission at the WTO, and representatives of the manufacturing, services, and agricultural sectors, testified on the economic benefits to the U.S. from the Doha talks. All witnesses expressed support for the conclusion of an ambitious trade liberalization package. This hearing comes at a crucial time for the Doha Round of multilateral negotiations, as WTO members are preparing for the upcoming ministerial meeting in Hong Kong on December 13-18, 2005 (see below). Click here to obtain copies of the testimonies.
China Bans Use of DEHA in Plastic Food Wrappers . . . On October 26, 2005, the Chinese government announced a nation-wide ban on the use of plastic wrappers made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and containing the plasticizer diethylhexyladipate (DEHA). China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has advised consumers to choose polyethylene (PE) or DEHA-free PVC food wrap. According to the agency, DEHA may be harmful to human health when used in contact with fatty food or heated in a microwave. China Daily reports that the agency has ordered supermarkets to withdraw all plastic food wrappers that do not contain labels indicating their input materials and whether they are safe for microwave use. The Chinese government intends to intensify its supervision of the manufacturing, sales, and use of food wrapper films. Beijing intends to ban the import and export of PVC wrappers that fail to meet national safety standards and will soon add PVC food wrappers to the Chinese Customs office's mandatory inspection list.
Concerns about the EU's Metric Directive . . . The European Union has adopted a directive that, effective January 1, 2010, will require all products and related documentation entering the EU to bear measurements only in metric units. Non-metric units (i.e., pounds and inches) will no longer be permitted to be used on product labels and product documentation (e.g., manuals, marketing materials, and even websites targeting European customers). If this directive takes effect as promulgated, all U.S. companies selling to the European market will be forced to adjust their operations to take into account the Metrics Directive. Given the widespread impact on U.S. businesses, NAM has launched a campaign to change the EU's metrics-only requirement. Many European businesses have complained about U.S. labeling requirements under the U.S. Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FLPA). To garner the European industry's support for changing the metrics-only requirement, NAM will lobby for amendment to the FLPA to permit both dual measurements and metric-only measurements on certain federally-regulated products. SPI is a member of NAM's working group on this issue and will continue to monitor developments in this area. If your company is impacted by this directive, or you would like to discuss how this regulation may affect your operations, please contact Gennie Ross. Trade Agreements and Negotiations Andean FTA Negotiations Continue . . . Negotiators from the U.S. and the three Andean countries of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru met on October 17-23, 2005 in Washington, DC to assess the level of completion of a U.S.-Andean FTA. The negotiations were launched in May 2004 and have undergone 13 rounds. SPI has provided input to U.S. trade negotiators on key priorities for the elimination of tariffs, particularly on processed plastics products. According to Inside U.S. Trade, the talks made progress in narrowing differences between the U.S. and the Andean states last week, but failed to add substantial momentum to the negotiations. The talks are scheduled to resume on November 14, 2005 in Washington, in what the participating countries are hoping will be the final round. Colombia and Peru are eager to complete the negotiations by the end of November 2005 prior to the WTO ministerial meeting in December 2005 and the start of electoral campaigns in these countries. SPI Advocates Plastics Industry Interests Before the WTO . . . In early October, Karen Toliver, SPI's Senior Director of International Trade, participated in a Geneva Fly-in sponsored by the NAM. The delegation consisted of various representatives of U.S., European, and Korean manufacturing trade associations. This was the second Fly-in of global manufacturers to emphasize the need to substantially reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers on industrial goods in the ongoing Doha Round multilateral trade negotiations. The delegates met with the trade ministers of several WTO members, including China, Brazil, and India to stress the importance of cutting tariffs on industrial goods and to keep momentum going up to the Hong Kong ministerial in December. Ms. Toliver provided input on SPI members' concern about global tariffs on plastics industry goods. She also advocated the need for a multilateral agreement to lower and harmonize tariffs on a sector-specific basis for plastics machinery and equipment and other products of interest to the plastics industry. Currently, both plastics machinery and molds are included under a proposed sectoral initiative on electronics and electrical machinery. Chemicals (including plastic resins), toys, and sporting equipment and goods are other areas where WTO members are exploring sectoral initiatives. Doha Round Negotiations in Critical Stage . . . The Doha Round negotiations have entered a critical stage in the past several weeks, as the participating countries are preparing for the upcoming WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong in December 2005. The Hong Kong ministerial is key to obtaining a successful conclusion of the Doha Round by the end of 2006. The multilateral talks have lagged as the U.S. and EU could not reach agreement on disciplines for agricultural products. Members such as Brazil and India have not been willing to discuss lowering tariffs on industrial products until they are assured of better market access for their agricultural goods. Many were optimistic that momentum would be gained when the U.S. tabled a proposal that offered deep cuts on trade-distorting agricultural domestic subsidies and elimination of all agricultural subsidies by 2010. However, this optimism was dampened this week when the EU submitted a proposal, characterized as "disappointing" by U.S. trade officials. There is growing concern that the EU proposal is insufficient to end the stalemate in the agricultural talks. Nonetheless, U.S. trade officials have reporting that they continue to work aggressively with the EU and other trading partners to jump-start the agricultural talks in the very near term to meet the mid-November deadline for initial text of a framework agreement. SPI Joins the American Business Coalition for Doha . . . On October 25, U.S. business groups launched the American Business Coalition for Doha (ABC Doha), an umbrella group of companies, associations, and other organizations seeking a successful outcome of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. At ABC Doha's launch, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman delivered an address outlining the prospective benefits of an ambitious Doha Round trade liberalization package for U.S. exporters and the global economy. SPI is a member of the ABC Doha Coalition and will join the Coalition's lobbying efforts in support of the Doha talks. To learn about the ABC Doha Coalition, click here to visit its website or contact Karen Toliver. Export Promotion - Tools to Expand Your Markets
For more information about SPI Link, mailing list additions/deletions, or to receive the publication by e-mail, contact Paula Weis, (202) 974-5282; e-mail pweis@socplas.org. More About SPI: Vision and Mission . Membership . Business Units . Regional Offices . News and Publications . Calendar of Events . Terms and Conditions of Use |
|
||
|
|
 © Copyright 2005 The Society of the Plastics Industry.
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
      | ||
SPI Lobbies on Trade Enforcement Bill . . . This week, SPI staff met with the offices of Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Michael Crapo (R-ID), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to communicate SPI's support for S. 1421 ("the Collins bill") and other action by the Senate to address problems related to trade with China. S. 1421, introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) this summer, is the companion bill to H.R. 3283 ("the U.S. Trading Rights Enforcement Act"), which the House passed in July. Among other provisions, if enacted into law, S. 1421, would subject China and other non-market economies to the U.S. subsidies law and provide funding for more intensive enforcement of U.S. intellectual property rights in China. Despite support from SPI, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and other business groups, no action has been taken in the Senate to date because Sen. Grassley is not willing to move the Collins bill forward without unanimous consent in the Senate. While the aides were sympathetic to SPI's concerns, they noted that given the busy legislative schedule, action in the Senate on a China trade bill is not likely to occur until 2006. They emphasized the importance of letters from plastics companies to help demonstrate the industry's strong support for such legislation. In the coming weeks, SPI plans to roll-out a grassroots campaign for SPI members to urge lawmakers to act decisively by enacting remedies to the imbalance in U.S.-China trade.
SPI Identifies Plastics-Specific Concerns on China's WTO Compliance Record . . . Based on input received from members, SPI has filed a report with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on China's compliance with its WTO obligations. SPI identified China's undervalued currency; rampant intellectual property rights violations; remaining high tariffs on plastics industry products; lack of transparent customs procedures; de facto discriminatory enforcement of tax policies; and implementation of standards, technical regulations, and phytosanitary and sanitary measures as areas where China has not fully complied with rules it agreed to when joining the WTO in 2001. SPI concluded that "[d]espite some progress in recent years . . . numerous areas exist where we believe China must significantly improve its compliance record. These are critical areas for U.S. plastics companies, because . . .China is and will remain a critical market for plastics industry goods." In addition to SPI, numerous other industry associations filed comments with USTR, which will use them to prepare a report to Congress on China's compliance record. Click 
USTR Files WTO Inquiry Into China's IPR Enforcement . . . On October 26, 2005, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman announced that the U.S. has initiated a special process under WTO rules to obtain information on China's intellectual property enforcement efforts. Ambassador Portman explained that "[t]he United States is deeply concerned by the violations of intellectual property rights in China," and stressed that the Bush Administration "will utilize all tools at [its] disposal to ensure that U.S. intellectual property rights are protected." The U.S. has requested China to provide detailed information about criminal, administrative, and civil infringement proceedings since 2004. While not a formal WTO complaint against China, the information request could serve as a prelude to a WTO challenge. "We strongly support USTR's action," said SPI President Bill Carteaux. "The U.S. plastics industry has first-hand experience with the widespread illegal counterfeiting and pirating of U.S. goods in China. More often than not, plastics companies have been victimized - but not victorious - under China's intellectual property laws." Click 
Discussions Ongoing on Compliance with the EU's RoHS Directive . . . In August 2005, the European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive entered into force, subjecting local companies and importers of electrical and electronic equipment in the EU to new requirements for recycling and waste treatment. Additionally, EU member states are finalizing their regulations related to the Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, which will enter into effect on July 1, 2006. The RoHS directive requires the substitution of various heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium) and brominated flame retardants (polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)) in new electrical and electronic equipment entering the EU market. The RoHS directive applies to a wide array of products, including household appliances, consumer equipment, electrical and electronic tools, and toys, leisure and sports equipment. The EU has approved a number of exemptions to the RoHS directive and is currently accepting applications for further exemptions. China and several U.S. states are considering regulations similar to the EU's RoHS directive. If you are affected by this directive and/or would like further information about it, please contact 
Commerce Department Market Research Reports . . . The Commerce Department Commercial Service offers a host of services to U.S. companies seeking to export their products. Industry and country market research reports prepared by Commercial Service officers stationed in overseas markets are particularly helpful to get an assessment of domestic market conditions and an understanding of the business climate for entering the particular market. The reports are brief and typically contain contact information to request additional information. These reports are available on the Commercial Service's export portal at