Office of the United States Trade Representative April 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On March 22, 2007, USTR published FR Doc E7-5268 (Vol. 72, No. 55) announcing that the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) was seeking public comment on a list of goods for which U.S. tariff concessions may be withdrawn and applied duties may be raised and announcing that the TPSC will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, April 24, 2007, on the list. All respondents to this notice have chosen to submit their comments in writing only and there were no requests to testify. Therefore, the April 24 public hearing will be cancelled. The United States is continuing to negotiate with the EU regarding the EU's provision of adequate and permanent compensation to the United States for an event that increased duties on U.S. imports to EU markets above WTO bound rates of duty. On January 1, 2007, as part of its enlargement process, the EU raised tariffs above bound rates on some imports into the countries of Romania and Bulgaria. If this issue is not resolved, the United States may seek to exercise its rights under Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (``GATT 1994'') to withdraw substantially equivalent concessions and raise tariffs on select goods primarily supplied by the EU.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice that on April 10, 2007, in accordance with the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement), the United States requested consultations with respect to (1) Certain measures that restrict trading rights with respect to imported films for theatrical release, audiovisual home entertainment products (e.g., video cassettes and DVDs), sound recordings, and publications (e.g., books, magazines, newspapers, and electronic publications), and (2) certain measures that restrict market access for, or discriminate against, foreign suppliers of distribution services for publications and foreign suppliers of audiovisual services (including distribution services) for audiovisual home entertainment products. That request may be found at https://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS363/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.