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THAILAND AND AUSTRALIA PLAN FTA

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand plans to sign a comprehensive free trade agreement with Australia in May, as many key issues have been settled, according to the country's Permanent Secretary of Commerce, Karun Kittisataporn.

The deal with Australia would be Thailand's first free trade agreement with a foreign country that covers a comprehensive list of goods and services, he said.
 
Last year, Thailand signed a preliminary free trade agreement with Bahrain and started free trade in agricultural products with China.

Karun said Thailand and Australia have concluded more than 95% of the negotiations, with three areas to be discussed further next month.

Under the initial agreement, Thailand and Australia will eliminate trade barriers within 10 years, Karun said. Currently, the country's import tariffs average around 16%.
 
"Secondly, we are negotiating ways to deal with trade disputes in the future. We are discussing the details about arbitration," Karun said.

The third pending issue is whether permanent residents in both countries are eligible for the free trade privileges.
 
Thailand's free trade deal with New Zealand is likely to be concluded in October.
Apiradi Tantraporn, director-general of the commerce ministry's trade negotiations department, said Thailand is also likely to sign free trade agreements with Japan and Bahrain this year, and with China, the US, India, and Peru in 2005.

COMMERCE OFFERS SEMINARS ON IRAQ TRADE

WASHINGTON, DC - Commerce Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance and Chairman of the Iraq and Afghanistan Investment and Reconstruction Task Force William H. Lash today announced that the Department will offer a series of seminars across the country to promote trade and investment opportunities in Iraq.

Over the next several weeks, Lash and Susan Hamrock, Senior Advisor for Iraq Policy at Commerce, will travel to 12 cities to discuss trade assistance programs and government support for private investment.

The announcement comes on the heels of a successful business conference in Washington, DC, where nearly 500 US firms showed up to learn more about doing business in Iraq. Commerce Secretary Don Evans hosted the conference.

The World Trade Organization's approval of Iraq's observer status symbolizes the global community's confidence in Iraq. For the business community it shows that Iraq is moving towards a transparent and predictable marketplace.

California seminars are planned for Los Angeles on March 9, San Diego on March 10, and San Francisco on March 11.

Local businessmen and women and trade associations are invited to attend a session in their area. For more information on a specific seminar, please contact Blake Holcomb at 202-482-0981.
 
ITC APPROVES DUMPING PROBE ON JAPANESE ENGINES

WASHINGTON, DC - The US International Trade Commission has ruled in favor of continuing dumping investigations regarding pleasure boat engines from Japan.
 
The Commission voted unanimously that there was a reasonable indication that the Japanese imports were sold below fair values, thus injuring US outboard engine industry.
 
The investigation will now move to the Commerce Department, which will determine in coming months whether preliminary antidumping duties should be levied on the Japanese products.
 
The petition was filed earlier this year by Mercury Marine Inc., a division of the Brunswick Corp. of Lake Forest, Ill.

Mercury alleges that Japanese makers, such as Yamaha Marine Group, a subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Corp., expanded their market share to 56% in 2002 from 43% two years earlier by under-pricing their products.
 
Japan exported nearly 150,000 engine units to the US in the first nine months of 2003, up 14% from the same period a year earlier, Mercury said.

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