The legislation introduced Dec. 7 by House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to modernize CBP and other customs-related agencies would add several new provisions meant to allow CBP to better enforce intellectual property laws. The bill, HR-6642, would also allow for new sample sharing programs for importers and intellectual property rights holders.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP posted a Dec. 10 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Dec. 10. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
CBP released its Dec. 12 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 51). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent Court of International Trade decisions.
CBP said the following customs broker licenses, as well as any and all permits, have been canceled with prejudice::
The legislation introduced Dec. 7 by House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to modernize CBP and other customs-related agencies would set a minimum standard for the amount of information customs brokers would be required to collect about an importer.
Bob Henry from Robinson, Kan. was elected as Trade Policy & International Affairs Committee chairman for the American Soybean Association, the ASA said in a press release. The ASA also has confirmed Danny Murphy from Canton, Miss., as president and Steve Wellman from Syracuse, Neb., as chairman, it said.
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., who will become the chairman of the House Commerce Committee's Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee said during an interview that the recent disagreement over miscellaneous tariff bills (MTB) and whether they amount to congressional earmarks is a new wrinkle to the process. The MTB faces controversy over whether the duty suspensions are earmarks and if such a bill violates a congressional GOP ban on earmarks.