U.S. drops Mexican cement import licensing system

U.S. drops Mexican cement import licensing system    The U.S. Department of Commerce will remove its Mexican Cement Import Licensing regulations, effective May 12, in response to the recent termination of the Cement Agreement with Mexico.
   On March 6, 2006, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Department entered into an agreement with Mexico's Ministry of Economy pertaining to imports of Mexican gray portland cement and clinker. The Cement Agreement provided for the settlement or suspension of ongoing litigation before the North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization panels challenging various antidumping duty determinations involving Mexican cement.
   The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration implemented the Mexican Cement Import Licensing program regulations as part of the Cement Agreement. The program requires all Mexican cement importers covered by the Cement Agreement to obtain an import license from the Commerce Department prior to completing their U.S. Customs and Border Protection entry summary documentation. The International Trade Administration used the information recorded via the licensing program to monitor compliance with the Cement Agreement.
   The agreement provided that if all parties abided by its terms the Commerce Department would end the agreement on March 31, and would revoke the underlying antidumping duty order.
   'All obligations of the Cement Agreement were fulfilled,' the International Trade Administration said.