The Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) is seeking comments on its Comply Chain: Business Tools for Labor Compliance in Global Supply Chains, as well as three reports on child labor and forced labor in certain foreign countries, through Dec. 16, it said in a Federal Register notice.
The Department of Labor's Bureau of International Affairs said in a notice it's removing two goods from its List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor: shrimp from Thailand and garments from Vietnam. Federal contractors who supply products on Labor's list must certify that the product wasn't made using child labor.
American Apparel and Footwear Association CEO Steve Lamar said California's Responsible Textile Recovery Act is more implementable than the version that was introduced two years earlier. He said the trade group is pleased that amendments were made "that addressed some AAFA concerns by tightening a loophole for online marketplaces, ensuring brands’ resale efforts will be accounted for, ensuring brands’ circularity partners will be able to participate in the program, and removing brand liability for counterfeit products, among other concerns."
The Southern Shrimp Alliance and Port Arthur Area Shrimpers’ Association are asking the State Department to suspend certifications for imported shrimp from Peru and Guatemala.
The Federal Maritime Commission is asking for public comments on an information collection related to ocean common carriers that are subject to the FMC’s regulations. The notice said controlled carriers must ensure that they don’t maintain rates or charges in their tariffs and service contracts “that are below a level that is just and reasonable; nor establish, maintain, or enforce unjust or unreasonable classifications, rules, or regulations in those tariffs or service contracts that result or are likely to result in the carriage or handling of cargo at rates or charges that are below a just and reasonable level.” Public comments are due Oct. 22.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies "Trade Guys" said that while there is some pressure on Congress to get the Generalized Systems of Preferences benefits program renewed, and restrict de minimis, competing pressures make it unlikely bills will become law this year.
Republican attorneys general from 21 states are asking Temu how it certifies that products sold on its website "are not made with slave labor," among other questions about Americans' consumer data.
The State Department this week is publishing a final version of a rule to expand its regulatory definition of activities that don’t need a license because they don’t qualify as exports, reexports, retransfers or temporary imports. The rule, effective Sept. 16, is largely consistent with the proposed version, though the agency made changes to narrow its scope and make sure certain temporary imports will still require a license.
Former President Donald Trump said Aug. 14 that he wants to impose a 10% to 20% tariff on “foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years,” making what seems to be a slight change to the 10% tariff on all U.S. imports that he proposed last year (see 2308290005).
A direct final rule released by the Federal Maritime Commission this week will set requirements for how and when the official FMC seal can be used. It’s also meant to prevent “any outside person or organization” from using the seal without commission approval, the FMC said, adding that there have “been recent occurrences of use of the seal by outside parties that FMC believes is misuse of the seal. Having a codified policy will help to ensure that the seal is used for lawful purposes only.” Violators could face administrative action or criminal penalties, the commission said. The rule takes effect Oct. 15 unless the FMC receives a “significant adverse comment” on the new requirements by Sept. 12.