ITC starts second annual wool articles monitoring report

ITC starts second annual wool articles monitoring report    The U.S. International Trade Commission has started its second annual monitoring report on U.S. market conditions for certain worsted wool products that benefit from temporary tariff reductions lasting through Dec. 31. 2005.
   The International Trade Commission must produce the annual reports for the U.S. Trade Representative under the 2002 Trade Act as part of a three-year extension of temporary reductions in tariffs and tariff-rate quotas for imports of certain worsted wool fabric that is used to make men’s and boys’ suits, suit-type jackets and trousers.
   The agency’s report will cover:
   * Increases or decreases in sales and production of specific domestically produced worsted wool fabrics.
   * Increases or decreases in domestic production and consumption of worsted wool products specified in the tariff reductions.
   * Ability of domestic producers of the worsted wool fabrics being monitored to meet the needs of domestic manufacturers of the named apparel products.
   * Sales of the specified worsted wool fabrics lost by domestic manufacturers to imports benefiting from the temporary duty reductions.
   * Lost sales by domestic manufacturers of the specified apparel items due to their inability to buy adequate supplies of the fabrics on a cost competitive basis.
   * Price per square meter of imports and domestic sales of the specified worsted wool fabrics.
   The report, which is due to the U.S. Trade Representative by Sept. 15, will provide data for 2003 and year-to-date 2004. The International Trade Commission will hold a public hearing related to the report at its Washington headquarters on March 25. For more information, contact the International Trade Commission at (202) 205-1816.