The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule listing the Louisiana pinesnake (Pituophis ruthveni), a reptile species from Louisiana and Texas, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect May 7.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule listing the yellow lance (Elliptio lanceolata), a mussel species from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect May 3.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is proposing to add “bump stocks” to its definition for machine guns, it said in a proposed rule. The change would apply the restrictions on machine guns, including those applicable to importation and exportation, to bump stocks. Under the National Firearms Act, machine guns may only be imported for sale to federal and state government agencies. The proposed rule would amend the definition of machine guns in ATF’s regulations so that it “includes a device that allows semiautomatic firearms to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm to which it is affixed so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter (commonly known as bump-stock-type devices).” Comments on the proposed rule are due June 27.

The International Trade Commission on March 23 issued Revision 2 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The main reason for the update was to implement new Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel products (see 1803230060). The ITC also made technical corrections and changes related to recently imposed Section 201 safeguard duties on solar cells and residential washers. The changes, most of which took effect March 23, are as follows:

The International Trade Commission on March 23 issued Revision 2 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Changes, many of which take immediate effect, include provisions required to implement Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel products that took effect March 23 (see 1803230014). The ITC said it is aware of some technical issues with the documents and is "working to resolve it as quickly as possible." International Trade Today will have more details on the changes in a subsequent issue.

The International Trade Commission recently issued further changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule meant to implement Section 201 safeguard duties on solar cells. Changes to 10-digit statistical suffixes in the tariff schedule allow for reporting of photovoltaic generators and solar modules comprising lead-acid batteries attached to solar cells. The modifications, approved by the interagency “484(f)” Committee for Statistical Annotation of Tariff Schedules, took effect March 1.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is seeking public comment on a petition to exempt “inflatable head protective devices for bicyclists” from safety standard testing requirements, it said in a notice. The petition, submitted by Hovding Sweden AB, asks whether testing for CPSC's Safety Standard for Bicycle Helmets is necessary when the product "complies with, and is certified to, requirements in a standard developed by SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden." The product "is worn around the cyclist's neck, like a collar" and in a crash will inflate "to cover the rider's head for a few seconds and then deflates." CPSC would like input on whether such inflatable devices provide a level of protection similar to that of helmets and "what existing standards or other performance requirements could be used to evaluate the reliability and integrity of the deployment systems in inflatable helmets, such as sensors and batteries."

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

The Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the Eureka Valley evening-primrose (Oenothera californica ssp. Eurekensis), also known as the Eureka evening-primrose or the Eureka Dunes evening-primrose, from the list of endangered and threatened species, it said in a final rule. FWS is also reclassifying Eureka dune grass (Swallenia alexandrae), also known as Eureka dunegrass or Eureka Valley dune grass, from an endangered to a threatened species, it said. The final rule takes effect March 29.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission will continue to detain and seize hoverboards that don’t meet the requirements of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standard for self-balancing scooters, it said in a Feb. 22 letter to importers and retailers of the product. "You should not manufacture, import, distribute, or sell self-balancing scooters that do not comply with the UL standard," said the letter from Robert Kaye, director in the CPSC Office of Compliance and Field Operations. "I urge you to review your product line immediately and ensure that all self-balancing scooters that you manufacture, import, distribute, or sell in the United States comply with the UL standard. Failure to do so puts U.S. consumers at risk of serious harm and may result in enforcement action."