Fernando Jimenez

The simple answer is yes. If you have a federal tax ID number and fail to file a tax return with that number on it, the IRS will charge you a nonfiling penalty--in your case, that would be $600 per partner, or $1,800 total. What you should do is download Form 1065 (a partnership tax return) from the IRS website , and fill in all the blanks with zeroes. On the line reading "date business commenced", write in "N/A - never commenced business," and be sure to check the "Final Return" box on page one of the form. That should be enough to put the IRS on notice that you're not planning to use your tax ID number in the future and that "There's nothing to see here.

Contact the Office of Defense Trade Controls (DTC) if the item in question involves a dual-use-product (defense-related materials or equipment, e.g., computers, munitions, and certain raw materials). From the DTC web site you can:

Order State Department Forms
Submit Export License Applications
If your material or services does not require DTC review, then the next office to contact is the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) which provides:

• Export assistance on licensing requirements
• Required documentation for export transactions
• Assistance in selecting the appropriate license

WTO membership gives a country the legal right not to be discriminated against in its trade with the other members of the organization. The principle of non-discrimination, which is especially important for a country's exports, is laid down in the most favoured nation (MFN) clause and the national treatment clause. In addition, every WTO member is entitled to seek redress against any impairment of its rights by another country through the dispute settlement mechanism. Another important element of WTO membership is the right to take part in the decision-making process of the organization and in the conduct of future multilateral trade negotiations.

On the other hand, WTO members must respect the general rules and obligations contained in the various WTO Agreements, in particular the GATT 1994 (goods), the GATS (services) and the TRIPs (intellectual property) Agreements. A flexible application is foreseen in many of these Agreements for developing and least developed countries, as well as for countries moving from a centrally-planned to a market, free-enterprise economy. Each WTO country must make binding commitments on market access for goods and services. The degree of access for developing countries depends on their development, financial and trade needs.

The Statistical Office of the EU (Eurostat) collects the import figures reported by each EU country. Your country has the figures available for the goods exported from your country. For various reasons goods might not have arrived in the EU country they were destined for, e.g. they might have been damaged on the way or the final destination could have changed. Other reasons can be that certain EU countries have not yet submitted intermediate figures to Eurostat, the periods of reference are not the same (export figures might be from December of year N, import figures from January of year N+1) or variations in currency exchange rates. In our experience the value of imports can be 3 to 10% less than exports declared by a partner country.

Foreign governments subsidize industries when they provide financial assistance to benefit the production, manufacture, or exportation of goods. Subsidies can take many forms, such as direct cash payments, credits against taxes, and loans at terms that do not reflect market conditions. The statute and regulations establish standards for determining when an unfair subsidy has been conferred. The amount of subsidies the foreign producer receives from the government is the basis for the subsidy rate by which the subsidy is offset, or "countervailed," through higher import duties.