Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says there shouldn't be steel and aluminum tariffs on Canadian products, but expressed confidence that the Trump administration will make the situation right eventually. Bevin is a Republican who leads a state that is third-highest in auto industry jobs as a proportion of the workforce. "I wish people would just have patience," he said at a Feb. 21 event sponsored by the Canadian American Business Council. He suggested the reason the tariffs are still in place is "there's a limited amount of bandwidth" at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and they have "a limited amount of ability to fight all these fires at once."

The Defense Department is issuing a final rule amending its procurement regulations to permanently designate supply chain risk as a factor to be evaluated in information technology procurements for certain systems. Consideration of supply chain risk has already been part of DoD’s procurement regulations since 2015, but the provision had been set to sunset in 2018 before the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019 made it permanent. DoD’s final rule removes the sunset date and makes “minor editorial changes,” the agency said.

Four trade lawyers from White & Case say that 2019 could have even more trade tumult than did 2018, especially if the Trump administration levies tariffs on auto imports from Europe or Japan. Their alert, published Feb. 6 and with Scott Lincicome as the lead author, talks about prospects for a China trade deal, ratification of the new NAFTA, a continuing truce with Japan and Europe, and other trade developments expected this year.

Imports from China into the U.S. were down $2.9 billion in November 2018 from the previous month, according to a monthly international trade report released Feb. 6 by the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, imports of goods decreased $7.9 billion to $211.9 billion in November. Of that decrease, consumer goods imports were $4.3 billion lower, with cellphones and other household goods representing $2.3 billion of the total. The U.S. trade deficit with China fell about $2.8 billion to $35.4 billion in November. Overall, the total U.S. trade deficit fell to $49.3 billion in November from $55.7 billion in October, according to the report, including an estimated $7.7 billion decrease in imports for the month. China was by far the U.S.’s largest trade-deficit partner in November, with more than twice the value of the U.S.’s second-largest trade-deficit partner, the European Union ($13.8 billion).

The Fish and Wildlife Service seeks comments on its import and export declarations for fish and wildlife species as it submits the paperwork requirements to the Office of Management and Budget for reapproval, FWS said in a notice. Specifically, the agency seeks feedback on information collected in FWS Forms 3-177 and 3-177a, as well as on related information collected via ACE. Comments, due April 2, should address the necessity of the requirements, their burden on importers and exporters, and ways to improve the information collection.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeks comments on paperwork requirements related to the import and export of nuclear equipment and materials, it said in a notice. As it submits the information collections to the Office of Management and Budget for reapproval, the agency is gathering input on requirements for obtaining, renewing and amending licenses, obtaining consent to export “Category 1 quantities” of certain materials and requesting licensing exemptions. Comments should address the necessity of the requirements, their burden on importers and exporters, and ways to improve the information collection. Comments are due April 1.

The Centers for Disease Control is updating its policy of importation of dogs to clarify that no rabies vaccination certificate is required for dogs imported from countries with no or low risk of canine rabies virus variant (CRVV), it said in a notice. Previously, for the purposes of vaccination certificate requirements for dogs, CDC had considered whether a country was at no or low risk for rabies in general, including terrestrial or other rabies virus variants. Limiting that determination to only CRVV better focuses CDC’s efforts and eliminates a situation wherein importers of dogs faced “relatively high costs and burdens” despite the “extremely low risk of importing a dog with CRVV from these CRVV-free or low-risk countries.” Vaccination certificates will still be required for dogs imported from countries that have a high risk of CRVV, as listed by CDC on its website.

The Drug Enforcement Administration permanently placed the synthetic cannabinoid MAB-CHMINACA (aka ADB-CHMINACA) into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final rule. The substance had already been temporarily listed in Schedule I since 2016. The final order takes effect Jan. 29.

Correction: Among other changes to the tariff schedule that took effect Jan. 1, subheading 7607.11.60 for unbacked aluminum foil, rolled but not further worked, of a thickness above 0.01 mm and not exceeding 0.15 mm, was subdivided. New statistical breakout 7607.11.6010 was added for boxed aluminum foil not weighing more than 11.3 kg. Subheading 7607.11.6090 now covers other such aluminum foil (see 1901110016).

The new year began without an annual update to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, with the latest version of the 2018 HTS still displayed as current on the International Trade Commission’s website. A message on the ITC’s website dated Dec. 21 says “maintenance of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule” will be “disrupted” during the ongoing government shutdown due to a lack of funding. The commission generally posts the first edition of each year’s tariff schedule around Jan. 1. An ITC spokeswoman was unavailable for comment due to the shutdown.