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.
Although former Mexican officials are pleased with the conciseness and clarity of the USMCA panel ruling against the U.S. interpretation of the auto rules of origin, they have no confidence it will be followed this year.
The Federal Maritime Commission is preparing for increased enforcement this year as it expects to receive more complaints and hire more investigators as part of a $43.7 million congressional funding request -- an uptick from the nearly $35 million it asked for last year.
The head of the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force said one of the group's highest priorities this year is to add additional companies to the entity list of firms and organizations that either produce goods made with forced labor or are involved in the recruiting or transfer of minority workers out of Xinjiang to other parts of China.
Software developers voiced concerns March 16 over whether they can meet a tight April 10 deadline for new country of smelt and cast information on entry summaries for aluminum products (see 2303090060). Speaking on the agency’s bi-weekly ACE trade call, developers urged CBP to develop a “work around” in the event that trade systems aren’t ready on the effective date of the new requirement.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative complied with Administrative Procedure Act requirements when it set lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on China, the Court of International Trade held in a much-anticipated opinion on March 17. After USTR provided more explanation of its tariff decisions on remand, judges Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves held that the explanations were not made impermissibly post hoc and cleared APA requirements.
A new bill introduced in the Senate March 15 would dramatically increase penalties for fraud and gross negligence and create a new pathway for civil lawsuits against customs violators from companies, labor unions and trade associations that have been injured by customs fraud.
The U.S. is pushing for Taiwan to automate its customs process, create a single window for trade and reduce restrictions on e-commerce in talks on the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, according to U.S. negotiating proposals released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative March 16.
CBP has received a third "exception request" under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act seeking to rebut the presumption that goods with content from China's Xinjiang province were made with forced labor, CBP officials said at a press conference March 14. The agency is still working through all three requests received so far by the agency, the officials said. CBP announced it had received the first two in January (see 2301270078).
The promise of the International Trade Data System “has unfortunately not been matched by reality,” with duplicative and repetitive entry requirements for partner government agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments on NMFS implementation of ITDS submitted to the Office of Management and Budget.