The United States will impose new quotas on clothing imported from China (i.e., cotton shirts, trousers, and underwear). The quantities of these products being imported to America has increased recently. Import growth will be limited to 7.5 percent per year. The quotas are being imposed to help protect textile jobs in the United States.
Source: Elizabeth Becker, U.S. Moves to Limit Imports from China (Washington, May 13, 2005).
Trade between the US and Australia became easier and more beneficial after the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) came into force on 1 January 2005. This agreement benefits both Australia and the US by removing tariffs and opening markets. The agreement was signed mid-2004 at the end of eleven months of negotiations between the two nations. It is the first trade agreement the US has entered into since 1988 and is Australia’s first trade agreement with a major economy. Click here for more information.
Director for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Dr. Christina Sevilla recently spoke at Zions Bank's 4th International Trade and Business Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Sevilla’s remarks focused on the Bush Administration's agenda and highlighted how US trade agreements are promoting economic growth, better-paying jobs, and higher standards of living in Utah and across the country. Click here to view the full text of Dr. Sevilla’s address.
The Commerce Department’s US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recently levied one of the highest fines ever against EMD Biosciences, Inc. (EMD) of San Diego, California. The charges were brought after the company exported biological toxins to Canada without the required export license. The fine was part of a settlement that also included a two year ban on EMD’s export privileges. Click here for more information on the risks associated with failing to comply with Export Administration Regulations.
The deadline to file a Form TD F 90-22.1 to report certain interests in foreign bank and similar accounts in foreign countries, is June 30, 2005. Reporting is required if a US person has a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a foreign bank or similar account. Filing may be required both for entities and for individual employees of an entity. Reporting must be done for any financial account that is located in a foreign country, even if it is held at an affiliate of a US bank or other financial institution. Pursuant to the 2004 JOBS ACT, the penalty for non-willful failure to file is $10,000 and up to $500,000 for willful failure to file. Click here for more details on filing and to access a Form TD F 90-22.1.
Pfizer recently triumphed in a strategy for continuing the exclusivity of its branded drug Neurontin. In Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. v. Lester M. Crawford, Jr., Acting Commissioner of Food And Drugs, et al. (No. 05-5004, June 3, 2005), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that while other generic pharmaceutical companies cannot seek approval of their own Abbreviated New Drug Application (and thereby sell their own generic versions), the holder of an approved New Drug Application is not prohibited from marketing and selling its own generic version of its branded drug. Click here for more information.
Kirton & McConkie and The Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hosted a seminar on June 7, 2005 to discuss the legal and practical issues of doing business in Mexico. Gabriel Sanchez and Anthony Bentley of Kirton & McConkie, in conjunction with the Honorable Mexican Consul Salvador Jimenez, Michel Rovira, Executive Director of The Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Mark Archuleta Wheatley, Utah State House of Representatives for Salt Lake County presented on Mexico and its economy. The discussion focused on foreign trade, foreign investment regulations, various forms of doing business in Mexico, and the main generators of foreign trade.
The distinguished guests in attendance included, in part, Mac Epps, Vice President of the International Business Development Department for Zions Bank, Mark Alvarez, Administrator of Minority Affairs for the Salt Lake Corporation, Layne Palmer of the Division of International Trade & Diplomacy for the State of Utah, Richard L. Mailer, Business Development Manager for LA Chemical Co., Nancy Mitchell of the Women's Business Center for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Jeremy Lunt, Assistant General Counsel for USANA, Shelly Gruver, Program Manager, Global Management Center for the Marriott School of Management, Benjamin Martinez, Member of the Board of Directors for The Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Ned Maxfield, President and CEO of the Utah Angel Network, Vaughn Taylor, Managing Director of Harvest Capital International, and Erick Hagen, Legal Counsel for NuSkin.
Click here to view pictures from the event.
