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.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who earlier said the priority should be renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act "as soon as possible and for a lengthy period," rather than making reforms to the trade preference program, has now put out a "discussion draft" that lays out some reform proposals.

If a bill that unanimously passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee becomes law, CBP's Office of Trade would get rid of these job descriptions -- Import Specialist, Entry Specialist, National Account Manager, International Trade Specialist, Drawback Specialist and National Import Specialist -- and combine those duties all under the job of Global Trade Specialist. CBP has been asking for the change for about five years, according to a former government official now working in trade.

Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, said that policymaking around economic competition with China is "messy."

Under a newly introduced bill imposing a pollution fee, importers of record would have to pay a tax based on the percentage of the value of the imported good and calculated on the difference between the pollution intensity of that good's production in the country it's manufactured in and domestic production.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – The Federal Maritime Commission must eliminate the "perverse incentive" for ocean carriers and marine terminal operators to allow congestion as a way to make more money, FMC Chair Dan Maffei said, speaking Oct. 27 at the Pacific Coast Council's Western Cargo Conference, or Wesccon.

A White House adviser on international economics praised the Americas Act, a bill that proposes adding more countries to USMCA, subsidizing business moves away from China to the Western Hemisphere, and lowering U.S. de minimis levels to pay for it.

A National Security Council representative pitched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as a "modern economic engagement," different from past free trade agreements, and one that will "reduce supply chain dependencies in a way that brings prosperity to all involved."

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The use of artificial intelligence is not to eliminate customs broker jobs but to eliminate some of the "human error" that occurs, Scarbrough Group CEO Adam Hill said during a panel discussion Oct. 28. When it comes to AI, "you should let your imagination run wild, but don't let it run wild in a way that says 'how am I not going to be here,'" he said. "Let it run wild in such a way that says 'how can this make us better?'"

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.