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.

After Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., heard from automakers that they ask their suppliers to pledge that they do not source inputs made with forced labor, he turned his attention to tier 1 suppliers to the major automakers, and is asking them the same questions he asked the eight major automakers back in December (see 2212220045). Although he asked automakers to detail how they do supply chain mapping, and asked if any of their goods have been subject to forced labor detentions, the companies did not reply with details.

The Internal Revenue Service on March 27 released new proposed regulations to “provide guidance” on superfund excise taxes on imported chemicals and substances that took effect July 1 of last year. Comments are due May 30.

CBP can confer classification "treatment" on a good through consistent decisions at a single port, the Court of International Trade ruled March 24. Finding importer Kent International's imported child safety seats for bicycles should be classified as seats rather than bicycle parts, Judge Leo Gordon agreed with Kent that the Port of New York/Newark's consistent classification of them as seats constituted treatment on a "national basis" because the standard does not require treatment to have been applied at multiple ports, only that CBP not take inconsistent actions over a two-year period.

In more than four hours of questioning during a hearing March 24 before the House Ways and Means Committee, no member of Congress advocated for lessening tariffs on Chinese goods under Section 301, or for reopening exclusions applications.

​​The two lawmakers who spearheaded last year's House ocean shipping reform bill plan to introduce new legislation next week that could further expand the Federal Maritime Commission’s authority. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said he and Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., plan to introduce the “Ocean Shipping Reform Act 2.0,” which could “undo some of the damage the Senate did” to revise OSRA before it passed both chambers in June.

Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said "there could be" movement on the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, now expired more than two years, "but I think it has to be part of a broader trade agreement."

Almost five years after the first round of 25% tariffs were put on Chinese imports, it was trade irritants with Mexico and India, as well as concerns about tariff preference programs and the lack of a market-opening strategy, that senators dwelled on during the U.S. Trade Representative's appearance in front of the Finance Committee.

Companies attempting to comply with U.S. laws against importing goods made with forced labor need to choose their words carefully when communicating with Chinese suppliers, said a trade lawyer on a recent webinar. A Chinese law enacted in recent years means using the words Uyghur or Xinjiang, among others, could expose the importer or their Chinese suppliers to legal liability.

The top trade official in the EU, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, said a critical minerals agreement that would secure "FTA-equivalent treatment" under the Inflation Reduction Act incentives could happen within "a few months."