The Treasury Department issued a white paper on how it will shape proposed guidance for electric vehicle batteries and critical minerals, with some specifics on how it will define the critical mineral/battery component dividing line but deferring the definition of a free trade agreement.

Hapag-Lloyd violated U.S. shipping regulations when it failed to make containers available for pickup, causing demurrage charges for Wisconsin-based logistics company M.E. Dey to exceed more than $136,000, the company said in a complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission released last week. Dey said Hapag-Lloyd’s demurrage charges were “unreasonable,” and the FMC should require the ocean carrier to pay Dey reparations.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing to expand its Seafood Import Monitoring Program requirements to cover additional species, as well as amend the SIMP regulations to clarify the responsibilities of the importer of record, it said in a notice released Dec. 27. Comments on the proposal are due March 28.

The Inform Consumers Act, which will require online platforms to verify high-volume third-party sellers, and to make those sellers' contact information available to the public, was included in the massive year-end spending bill that became law Dec. 23.

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 first decision of the World Trade Organization's multiparty interim appeal arbitration arrangement, or MPIA, was judiciously economical, and also gave more deference to countries' antidumping authorities, trade experts said.

A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel found the U.S. violated global trade rules by requiring goods made in Hong Kong to be marked as being made in China. Submitting its ruling Dec. 21, the three-arbitrator panel found the U.S. measures inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, saying the U.S. failed to show the moves were made in response to an "emergency in international relations." The U.S. argued the change in the origin requirement was needed to safeguard American national security.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he sent letters to major automakers asking about their supply chains' links to the Xinjiang region in China because "there are substantial questions with respect to forced labor ... and we want to get to the bottom of it."

An upcoming requirement to include a postal code for entries of China-origin goods and new and updated Chinese manufacturer IDs is now scheduled for deployment on March 18, and CBP is looking to also automate the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions process in the following months, according to an updated CBP ACE deployment schedule released Dec. 21.

Electric vehicles that are assembled in the U.S., Canada or Mexico will qualify for the full tax credit the first few months of 2023, because the Treasury Department will not be ready to issue guidance on the critical minerals and battery component requirements by its Dec. 31 deadline.