CBP announced a new Enforce and Protect Act investigation, saying it has reasonable suspicion that Just About Foods evaded the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on xanthan gum from China, and enacting interim measures against the importer.
Maersk has increased its Peak Season Surcharge as the company continues to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope for the "foreseeable future" because of Yemen-based Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea (see 2401290052), the ocean carrier said May 6. The higher charges are being put in place to offset the cost of the longer journeys, increased sailing speeds and additional fuel costs.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will meet with Canadian National ahead of its strike deadline on May 13 and Canadian Pacific Kansas City on May 17, the teamsters said in a news release May 2. The teamsters voted on May 1 to strike if no deal is reached with both companies, and the earliest the union could strike would be on May 22, Canadian National said.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will on May 20 "roll out" use of its APHIS Core Message Set for Certificates of Foreign Inspection and/or Treatment, or PPQ Form 203, for air shipments of precleared commodities from Chile, air shipments of precleared commodities from Thailand, and both air and maritime shipments of precleared commodities from Argentina, the agency said in a bulletin on May 6. This will create an electronic database -- for Certificates of Foreign Inspection and/or Treatment -- that can be "invoked" by filers and accessed by CBP agriculture inspectors through the Automated Commercial Environment Document Image System. "The process will function like current permitting and ePhyto capabilities in ACE," APHIS said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website May 3, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.
CBP will begin requiring trade community users to identify the "subject company" whenever a report is run or scheduled in ACE Reports starting on May 16, the agency said in a CSMS message May 6. There will be a phased roll-out through August. The first universe affected is the Importer Security Filing (ISF). All existing scheduled reports will need to be updated after this change has taken effect or the scheduled reports will fail, CBP said. CBP will have a pre-deployment call on May 10 at 1 p.m. EDT.
The Mediterranean Shipping Company denied allegations by the Federal Maritime Commission that it knowingly violated U.S. shipping laws, calling a proposed $63.2 million FMC penalty "excessive and unlawful.”
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on May 3:
The Federal Maritime Commission has been encouraging carriers to have a better relationship and more transparency with shippers, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said during a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on April 30. Maffei said that this issue stems from the lack of transparency surrounding the Red Sea-related surcharges imposed by carriers due to Houthi attacks on commercial ships (see 2401290052).