The State Department kept the import restrictions going anyway.

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Mr. Obama's proposal at the time was for Congress to grant him "consolidation authority" to combine executive branch functions, specifically singling out the five housing agencies and the six shops that deal with business like the Commerce Department and the Export-Import Bank.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: Pritzker's Progress

Separately, the U.S. Labor Department said the October import price index fell 4.7% month over month, a few ticks more than the 4.4% drop expected by Wall Street, for the biggest one-month drop since 1988.

FORBES: Market Scan

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's CCC and the Export-Import Bank should be compelled by the Congress to reveal as soon as possible all available data, on a transaction by transaction basis, concerning their respective allocations of American loan guarantees destined for the Soviet Union.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

The Labor Department revised November's import increase to 1.5% and reported that import prices gained 4.8% overall in 2010, instigated by higher fuel prices since October.

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In July lawyers for dealers, auction houses and museums tried to persuade the State Department's cultural property advisory committee not to recommend renewing the emergency import restrictions on Byzantine ethnological material from Cyprus for another three years.

FORBES: Magazine Article

On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department announced it would start charging 31% higher import duties on China made solar panels and equipment after a finding that Chinese solar panel makers were selling goods in the U.S. below market prices.

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The Department of Energy is considering applications for new export terminals and conversions of idle import terminals that want to export.

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On the economic front, import prices fell 0.9 in November, marking the biggest decline in five months, according to the Labor Department.

FORBES: Daily Wrap