International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said he doesn't think the chatter among lobbyists that the trade title could be dropped from a compromise China package has any merit (see 2205310033). Lobbyists were reacting to a leaked timeline that said the negotiations should be finished, and the new legislative language done, by June 21. The House is scheduled to leave Washington for two weeks at the end of the day on June 24.

Even if the Commerce Department finds that solar panels from Southeast Asia are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty actions against Chinese exports, no AD/CVD will be collected for the next two years, the Biden administration announced on June 6. Trade lawyers were astonished by the action, which is based on the authority to temporarily suspend AD/CVD when imports are needed to respond to natural disasters "or other emergencies."

The Court of International Trade in a June 6 opinion dismissed test taker Byungmin Chae's lawsuit contesting five questions on the customs broker license exam. Judge Timothy Reif said CBP was right to dismiss Chae's appeal of four of the questions but that the agency wrongly denied the test taker's appeal for the fifth question. The reversal of one question wasn't enough to for a passing grade for Chae, who was two questions shy of the 75% threshold needed to pass the test.

A panel of industry, trade group representatives and a customs broker disagreed on the proper approach to changing domestic de minimis policy, or even if it should be changed, but agreed that it's perverse that warehouses in Canada and Mexico are serving as way stations for small packages destined for U.S. consumers.

The 11 withhold release orders currently in place that involve companies or products from the Xinjiang region in China will become subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act as of June 21, said Elva Muneton, CBP acting executive director for the UFLPA Implementation Task Force, while speaking to a Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association webinar June 2. That means goods subject to those WROs that are detained by CBP as of June 21 will require clear and convincing evidence that forced labor wasn't involved to be allowed to enter the U.S, she said. Before June 21, those detained goods would continue through the WRO process, Muneton said.

Commissioner Rebeccca Dye of the Federal Maritime Commission this week released the final report stemming from a two-year investigation of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international ocean freight delivery system, which includes a dozen new recommendations to address supply chain and maritime logistics issues. The report, previewed by Dye last month (see 2205180056), has recommendations for mandatory FMC compliance officers, a clearer process for returning containers and a new investigation into carrier charges assessed through tariffs.

Despite industry requests for delayed enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to allow for a review of CBP's coming guidance around the new law (see 2203110059), the agency seems set for full implementation starting June 21, said Elva Muneton, CBP acting executive director for the UFLPA Implementation Task Force. "The expectation is that we will be ready to implement the Uyghur Act on June 21 and that we have the resources and that we're going to take the approach of addressing any shipments coming from that region," she said. "So the question is, are we ready to implement? Yes, we are. June 21." Muneton and others spoke June 1 during the first of three CBP webinars about the UFLPA (see 2205250021).

Steel that was melted and poured in the U.K. prior to further processing in the EU will be eligible to enter under a new tariff rate quota for U.K. steel that begins June 1 in lieu of Section 232 steel tariffs, according to a proclamation issued by President Joe Biden May 31 alongside a similar proclamation establishing a TRQ for U.K. aluminum.

Just three weeks before the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act will go into effect, many important questions remain unanswered, said Richard Mojica, a former CBP headquarters attorney now with Miller & Chevalier.