May 26, 2005

If you haven’t talked to your tax advisers yet about these two important changes to the Internal Revenue Code effective in 2005, you may be missing out on a significant opportunity to reduce your company’s (and possibly your own) tax liability:

Section 199
In October 2004, Congress gave final approval to the American Job Creation (JOBS) Act of 2004, which, among other things, provides tax relief for manufacturers in hopes of boosting domestic economic activity. Essentially, the tax deduction amounts to 3 percent of manufacturing-related income in 2005, and incrementally increases the rate to 9 percent of this income by 2010.

Section 179
An additional well kept secret is Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code, which refers to depreciation of business assets. For 2005, you can claim an immediate, one-year depreciation on up to $105,000 in assets purchased or placed in to service during the 2005 calendar year.

For more information, including potential impacts to component manufacturers, click on the link below for the latest Legislative Notice.

050524 Legislative Notice-Tax Code Changes.pdf

April 1, 2005

Yesterday, March 31st, the Canadian government announced is will impose a punitive 15% duty on targeted goods imported from the U.S. in retaliation of the controversial anti-dumping trade law called the Byrd Amendment. Effective May 1st, the duties would affect shipments of swine, cigarettes and oysters to Canada, and would amount to nearly $11.6 million this year. Canada’s retaliatory move, along with a similar one announced by the EU on Wednesday, puts more pressure on Congress and the Bush Administration to rescind or amend the Byrd Amendment

For more information, including potential impacts to component manufacturers, click on the link below for the latest Legislative Notice.

050401 Legislative Notice-Canadian Retaliation.pdf

March 18, 2005

In the midst of recent high-profile movement between the U.S. and Canada regarding trade and the current dispute over softwood lumber, the Value-Added Wood Products Alliance (VWPA) sent a letter today, March 18, 2005, to newly appointed Commerce Secretary Carlos Guiterrez and Ambassador Peter Allgeier, Acting U.S. Trade Representative, outlining the detrimental impacts the tariffs placed on Canadian softwood lumber are having on the value-added wood products industry in the United States. Copies of this letter were also sent to every member of the 109th Congress.

For more information, including potential impacts to component manufacturers and a copy of the letter, click on the link below for the latest Legislative Notice.

050315 Legislative Notice-VWPA Letter.pdf

January 20, 2005

On Tuesday, January 19, 2005, the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service issued interim guidance to help taxpayers calculate the new deduction for income from domestic manufacturing activities created through the recently enacted American Jobs Creation Act (JOBS). Effective the first day of 2005, JOBS entitles manufacturers to a tax deduction for a portion of income from domestic production activities, limited to 50% of wages. For more information, including potential impacts to component manufacturers, click on the link below for the latest Legislative Notice.

050120 Legislative Notice-Manufacturing Tax Deduction.pdf
050120 Tax Deduction Fact Sheet.pdf

December 14, 2004

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) issued a final administrative ruling today, stating the countervailing duties (CVD) established on softwood lumber imported from Canada will be set at 17.18%. In addition, the DOC also provided a final administrative ruling on anti-dumping duties (AD), setting an overall rate of 4.03%, down from the 8.43% rate previously established. This represents an overall decrease in duties collected on imported Canadian softwood lumber from 27.2% down to 21.2%. A fact sheet produced by the DOC’s Import Administration summarizing this decision is is provided below as a PDF. For more information on this issue, including impacts to component manufacturers, please read the Legislative Alert, which is also provided below as a PDF.

DOC CVD Fact Sheet
Legislative Alert - DOC Ruling on CVD

December 3, 2004

President Bush’s goodwill trip to Canada could not have come at a better time. In addition to the current lack of a softwood lumber agreement, the WTO gave formal approval on Friday, November 26, for Canada and seven other jurisdictions to punish the U.S. for refusing to amend or rescind the Byrd Amendment. If that weren’t enough, on Tuesday, December 1, a NAFTA trade dispute panel ruled for the third straight time to reject the methods used by the Department of Commerce to prove that Canadian softwood lumber is subsidized by the government. For more information, including impacts to component manufactures, please read the Legislative Alert provided as a PDF below.

Last week, to signal perhaps a new approach to how the U.S. will handle trade, President Bush nominated Carlos Gutierrez, CEO and Chairman of Kellogg Co., to be the next Secretary of the Department of Commerce (DOC). In a related matter, WTCA sent a letter on Wednesday to James Jochum, Assistant Secretary for Import Administration at the DOC, reiterating our industry’s commitment to a long-term negotiated settlement of the current softwood lumber dispute between the U.S. and Canada. A copy of that letter, along with a similar letter sent on behalf of the Value-Added Wood Products Alliance to Ambassador Allgeier, are also provided below.

Legislative Alert - U.S. Trade
WTCA Letter to James Jochum
VWPA Letter to Ambassador Allgeier

November 9, 2004

If you receive goods from either Canada or Mexico, you should make certain you or your carrier is complying with the new regulations finalized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Beginning November 15th, certain U.S. ports of entry will begin requiring advanced electronic information for shipments imported into the U.S. by commercial truck carriers. For more information on the new regulations and their impacts on component manufacturers, please review the Legislative Alert provided as a PDF below. For more information on the interim measures (PAPS, BRASS and FAST) discussed in the Legislative Alert, please read “Truck Release Scenarios” PDF document provided below, produced by Norman G. Jensen, Inc.

Legislative Alert - Electronic Cargo
Truck Release Scenarios