Obama's Trip to Egypt - Paving the Way for Increased Commerce

President Obama arrived in Egypt 5 days ago on June 4 to deliver a much anticipated speech on global trade between the US and Middle East. Fostering bilateral trade and investment could benefit both nations and help stabilize political relations.

Egypt is striving to become a trade hub in the Middle East on the strength of its favorable geographic location, purchasing power, and consumer culture. The United States is stuck in the worst recession since the 1930's, worsened by sluggish consumer spending.

Put the two together and benefits will flow. "Egypt can offer US companies many advantages, including a large domestic market of almost 80 million consumers and Egypt's many bilateral trade agreements with almost all major world markets," said Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Egyptian minister of trade and industry.

Egypt is the 36th-largest export market for U.S. goods, totaling $6 billion in 2008, up from $5.3 billion in 2007. U.S. imports from Egypt were down 0.3% last year to $2.4 billion.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised strong US backing to promote economic opportunity in Egypt. "I want to stress economic opportunity because out of it comes confidence, comes a recognition that people can chart their own future," she said.

To read the full article, please visit the Los Angeles Times.

Chinese Rules of Origin - The Basics to Lowering Costs and Ensuring Compliance

Companies doing business in China can lower the costs of cross-border trade and avoid compliance risks by ensuring that they have a sound understanding of China’s preferential and non-preferential rules of origin (ROO).

There are two types of rules of origin:
1. Most-favored-nation trade (non-preferential ROO)
2. Imports under bilateral and regional trade agreements (preferential ROO)

The World Trade Organization does not have an agreement on product-specific and detailed ROO, and international trade is governed by national laws and bilateral and multilateral international agreements.

Non-preferential ROO provide that if an imported good is wholly obtained in a particular country, that country is the country of origin. If, on the other hand, a good is produced or manufactured in two or more countries, the country in which the good is finally materially changed is the country of origin.

Preferential ROO under FTAs and CEPAs vary from agreement to agreement, but in each case there are key differences from non-preferential ROO, including in the areas of regional value content, product-specific rules and standards, content accumulation, direct transportation, and certificate verification cooperation.

To further understand Chinese Rules of Origin, please visit WorldTrade\Interactive.

CBP Amends "Imported Directly" Requirement under Bahrain FTA

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has amended its regulations on an interim basis to change certain provisions relating to the requirement under the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement that a good must be imported directly from one country to the other to qualify for preferential tariff treatment. This rule removes the condition that a good passing through the territory of an intermediate country while en route from one FTA party to the other must remain under the control of the customs authority of the intermediate country, a condition that is not contained in either the FTA or the U.S. law implementing it.

As a result of this change, the only requirement for a shipment passing through an intermediate country to be considered to be imported directly under the U.S.-Bahrain FTA is that it not undergo production, manufacturing or any other operation outside the territories of the U.S. or Bahrain other than unloading, reloading or any other operation necessary to preserve the good in good condition or transport it to the U.S. or Bahrain. Operations that may be performed in an intermediate country include inspection, removal of dust that accumulates during shipment, ventilation, spreading out or drying, chilling, replacing salt, sulfur dioxide, or aqueous solutions, replacing damaged packing materials and containers, and removal of units of the good that are spoiled or damaged and present a danger to the remaining units of the good, or to transport the good to the U.S. or Bahrain.

This rule is effective as of May 22.

To read this article, please visit WorldTrade\Interactive.

Updates on Free Trade Agreement Negotiations

The following is a list of updated efforts to conclude new free trade agreements around the world:

1. Chile and Turkey conclude FTA talks

2. Belarus signs FTA with Serbia

3. Nicaragua walks out of talks on EU-Central America FTA

4. Korea-EU FTA hung up on drawback


To read the details of each agreement, please visit WorldTrade\Interactive.

Canada Moves Forward on FTAs with Colombia, Peru

The Canadian government announced recently that legislation has been introduced to implement the free trade agreements Canada recently concluded with Colombia and Peru. Trade minister Stockwell Day said these FTAs will provide Canadian companies with “a competitive edge in many sectors, including wheat, paper products, mining, oil and gas, engineering and information technology.” The agreements also include “robust” side agreements on labor and environmental standards.

An FTA between the U.S. and Peru took effect Feb. 1 but a similar pact with Colombia has yet to pass Congress. Both the White House and key Democratic lawmakers have said they plan to establish benchmarks with respect to labor rights in Colombia that will have to be met before legislation to implement that FTA will be taken up. Minister Day indicated that Canada is taking a different approach, stating that “we believe that engagement, rather than isolation, is the best way to support positive change.”

To view the full article, visit WorldTrade\Interactive at http://www.strtrade.com/wti/wti.asp?pub=0&story=30702&date=4%2F6%2F2009&company=

Growing Together: Insider Perspectives on the NAFTA Nations' Economies

It has been more than 15 years since the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, dramatically changing the region's trade prospects and economic reckoning. But is NAFTA leaving global trade dollars on the table by not being as competitive as it could be?

To answer that question, Inbound Logistics and sister publication Inbound Logistics México hosted a panel of North American trade and transportation experts. They recently met in Dallas to discuss the common trade interests among the three countries and to develop plans for fostering greater cooperation.

The group included the Canadian Consul General and representatives from the advocacy group North American SuperCorridor Coalition (NASCO), Mexico's Urban Land Institute think tank, the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, the Port of San Antonio, and other organizations leading the drive for development in the three countries. The participants discussed the NAFTA partners' shared challenges, strategies for strengthening individual and collective economies, and the importance of logistics in the public and private sectors.

To find out how these thought leaders are coming to grips with the challenges facing the NAFTA countries, view the full article at Inbound Logistics at

http://www.inboundlogistics.com/articles/features/0109_feature08.shtml

EU Pursuing Individual FTAs with Andean Countries

According to press reports, the European Union has broken an impasse with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and plans to launch talks this week on bilateral free trade agreements with each of those countries.

For the complete article, please visit http://www.strtrade.com/wti/wti.asp?pub=0&story=30204&date=2%2F5%2F2009&company=

China & Switzerland to Consider Free Trade Pact

Today Switzerland became the first country whose investors will receive a "higher level" of protection in China, under the terms of a bilateral agreement signed during a working visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. The two countries also agreed to set up a working group to study a free trade agreement that should go into effect "as soon as possible."

To read the full article, visit http://genevalunch.com/2009/01/28/china-and-switzerland-investment-protection-signed-free-trade-under-study/

Peru FTA Announcement

The Peru-US Free Trade Agreement was passed by the U.S. Congress on December 4, 2004 and signed by former President Bush on December 14, 2007. The agreement provides for reductions in tariffs and facilitates trade between the two countries. The FTA is effective February 1, 2009 and for imports on or after that date, most products (including textiles) from Peru will become duty-free immediately if they meet the FTA requirements. The agreement also contains provisions that provide for stronger protection in intellectual property rights, protection for U.S. investors in Peru, as well as commitments to internationally recognized labor rights.

The summary can be downloaded from the Meeks, Sheppard, Leo & Pillsbury website: http://www.mscustoms.com/Reference.htm.

Canada, India to Discuss Possible FTA

The Canadian government announced Jan. 21 that it has agreed to initiate exploratory discussions toward a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with India. At a meeting this week Canadian Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath stressed the need to further tap the potential for increased bilateral trade and investment, especially in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture and related activities, and industrial goods. They also acknowledged the progress made on the Canada-India Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and emphasized the need for an early implementation of that pact.



To view the article, visit WorldTrade/Interactive at http://www.strtrade.com/wti/wti.asp?pub=0&story=30076&date=1%2F22%2F2009&company=

US Implements FTA with Peru

President Bush issued Jan. 16 a proclamation implementing the U.S. free trade agreement with Peru. Effective Feb. 1 this proclamation will modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to reflect the duty benefits and rules of origin under this FTA, remove Peru as a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences, set forth special provisions concerning textiles and apparel, and make technical and conforming changes in the HTSUS general notes. The proclamation also makes certain technical changes to the HTSUS to properly implement the U.S. FTAs with Morocco, Bahrain and Costa Rica.

For the full article, visit WorldTrade\Interactive at http://www.strtrade.com/wti/wti.asp?pub=0&story=30061&date=1%2F20%2F2009&company