The State Department received requests from Turkey and Yemen in September under a UNESCO agreement to restrict U.S. imports of archaeological and ethnological materials representing the two countries' cultural patrimony, it said. Turkey and Yemen filed the requests under Article 9 of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

The International Trade Commission's portal for Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) petitions will open on Oct. 11, it said in a news release. The agency will also hold an event on how to use the portal on Oct. 8.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements set fiscal year 2020 limits on imports of apparel articles from sub-Saharan Africa qualifying for preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, CITA said in a notice. For the year running Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2020, the aggregate quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under AGOA is capped at 2,146,573,294 square meters equivalent, up from 2,048,357,135 square meters equivalent in FY19. Of that amount, 1,073,286,647 square meters equivalent will be available to apparel imported under AGOA’s third-country fabric provisions.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing to designate norfentanyl as a fentanyl precursor chemical and control it as a schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act. "The scheduling of norfentanyl as an immediate precursor of the schedule II controlled substance, fentanyl, would subject norfentanyl to all of the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, importing, and exporting of a schedule II controlled substance," DEA said. Comments are due Nov. 18.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the Foskett speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus ssp.), a fish native to Oregon, from the Endangered Species List, it said in a final rule. Threats to the species have been "eliminated or reduced to the point where it no longer meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species," FWS said. The delisting takes effect Oct. 15.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing to control benzylfentanyl and 4-anilinopiperidine and their amides, carbamates and salts as list I chemicals under the Controlled Substances Act. The two chemicals are used in the manufacture of fentanyl, DEA said. DEA is not proposing a threshold for domestic and international transactions for these chemicals, so “all transactions of chemical mixtures containing benzylfentanyl or 4-anilinopiperidine will be regulated at any concentration and will be subject to control under the CSA,” the agency said. Comments are due Nov. 12.

The Drug Enforcement Administration proposed 2020 quotas for the manufacture and import of controlled substances Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act. Substances not listed in the table included in DEA's notice will have a quota of zero. DEA is also proposing 2020 quotas for the Schedule I chemicals ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine and pseudoephedrine. Comments are due by Oct. 15.

Wendy Cutler, former acting deputy U.S. trade representative, says that the first bucket of Section 301 tariffs, the ones tailored to Made in China 2025, worked. Even though Cutler is generally not a fan of tariffs, she said, "I think those succeeded … in getting China to negotiate in earnest."

The International Trade Commission recently released Revision 12 to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Changes in the latest version relate entirely to the imposition of 15 percent Section 301 tariffs on products from China, effective Sept. 1. New U.S. Note 20(r) and U.S. Note 20(s) are added to subchapter III of chapter 99 describing the applicable tariff treatment and HTS subheadings covered by the new tariffs, respectively. New subheading 9903.88.15 is added for goods subject to the new List 4 tariffs.

Protests in Hong Kong could cut off an escape route importers have been using to avoid Section 301 tariffs, according to a blog post by trade consultant David Trumbull. The 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act “gives Congress and the President, or the President alone by Executive Order, the power to suspend U.S. recognition of the separate Hong Kong Customs Territory if the U.S. determines that Mainland China has suppressed Hong Kong's autonomy,” Trumbull said. “The current tension in Hong Kong, with protesters saying that China is attempting to do just that could trigger President Trump to invoke the Hong Kong Policy Act and subject goods of Hong Kong origin to the Section 301 tariffs,” he said. “Companies relocating production from Mainland China to Hong Kong to avoid the Section 301 tariffs on China are getting the jitters” over concerns that the U.S. could use the law to end Hong Kong’s status as a separate customs territory from China, he said.