The Biden administration will allow 1.25 million metric tons of steel to enter under a tariff rate quota, it said Feb. 7, as long as those products are melted and poured in Japan. That would be more than the U.S. imported from Japan in 2019 and 2020, and more than last year -- preliminary data says that the U.S. imported about 989,000 metric tons of steel from Japan in 2021.

The Federal Maritime Commission plans to request comments on the possibility of new demurrage and detention billing requirements, which would seek to address unfair charges and billing practices faced by shippers. In a pre-rule set to be published "soon," the FMC will request feedback on whether it should require carriers and terminal operators to include “certain minimum information” with their billings and whether they should be issued to shippers within a certain time frame.

The tariff on most imported solar panels will drop to 14.75% at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 7, and bifacial solar panels will continue to be exempt from the global safeguard, a presidential proclamation Feb. 4 says. The tariff rate quota threshold for solar cells will also double from 2.5 GW to 5 GW, making it unlikely any imported cells will be subject to the tariff.

The House passed its China package, the America Competes Act, on a nearly party-line vote, with one Democrat dissenting and one Republican voting for it. The America Competes Act and the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act both propose subsidizing American semiconductor manufacturing and both propose investing in science research to better counter China's play for technological dominance, but the House version spends far more money and includes some priorities that the Senate did not, such as $2 billion annually for climate change foreign assistance and a generous reauthorization of Trade Adjustment Assistance. The vote was 221-210.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hopes to be able to support the House China package, since the trade group supported the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, but said the House bill "continues to include numerous policies that would undermine U.S. competitiveness, and Members are being denied the opportunity to vote on amendments to address these issues." The Chamber said it will push during the conference process to get better bill.

FDA is issuing its long-awaited proposed rule on standards for licensing of third-party logistics providers and wholesale distributors under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). As expected (see 1708210034), the proposal’s definition of 3PLs includes only warehousing and 3PLs that take direct possession at a “facility,” exempting carriers engaged only in transportation from licensing requirements.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is proposing a new safety standard for chests, dressers, wardrobes and other clothing storage units to address risks of injury and death associated with clothing storage units tipping over. The proposal would require clothing storage units (CSUs) to be tested for stability, exceed minimum stability requirements, and be marked and labeled with safety information, as well as bear a hang tag providing stability performance and technical data.

Amendments that would have directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to broaden access to Section 301 exclusions and would have liberalized the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program will not get a vote when the America Competes Act gets a vote on the House floor this week, but the Ocean Shipping Reform Act will get a vote. That bill passed the House last year, but has not gotten a vote in the Senate.

The Court of International Trade heard oral argument on Feb. 1 over whether lists 3 and 4A of Section 301 tariffs were properly imposed, marking one of the largest cases in the CIT's history. The hourslong affair saw the judges push back on arguments made by both the Department of Justice and the plaintiffs, with significant attention paid to the procedural elements of the president's decision to impose the retaliatory Section 301 tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods. In all, the three-judge panel of Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves heard from the Department of Justice, counsel for the test case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, and amici.

Although it's not clear whether a full conference committee will be convened, or there will be an informal conference to reconcile the House and Senate packages, some Republicans are leaving the door open to incorporating the antidumping duty and countervailing duty law changes that only appear in the House's America Competes Act. Leading voices on trade in both the House and Senate, however, said the Senate version of renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill should take precedence over those put forward in the Competes Act, since the Senate trade title had strong bipartisan support.