The administration will hike tariffs this year on steel and aluminum, solar cells (including in modules), ship to shore cranes, electric vehicles, lithium-ion EV batteries, battery parts, some critical minerals, certain respirators and face masks, syringes and needles, and will hike tariffs on other Chinese imports next year and in 2026. A White House fact sheet on the tariffs doesn't include more specific dates.

The Court of International Trade on April 10 said that neither the U.S. nor importer Blue Sky the Color of Imagination properly classified entries of four types of notebooks with calendars, ultimately finding that the products fit under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 4820.10.20.10 as "diaries." Judge Jane Restani said that the Harmonized System should be interpreted to provide "conformity" between the French and English versions of the HS. As a result, the judge looked to the French and English definitions of the term "diary," which both describe as a notebook to write what one proposes or remembers what to do.

Customs brokers have been pushing for a change to U.S. bankruptcy law for decades to make it so pass-through payments to CBP for tariffs are not subject to clawback after a client goes bankrupt. With a package of funding bills the Senate passed March 8, brokers got a permanent change to the law.

The Court of International Trade on Feb. 27 ruled that Chinese exporter Ninestar Corp. wasn't required to exhaust its administrative remedies by appealing to the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force before challenging its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List "under the particular facts of this case." But Judge Gary Katzmann denied the exporter's motion for a preliminary injunction against its placement on the Entity List, finding that the company was unlikely to succeed on three of its four claims against its listing.

The Federal Maritime Commission issued its final rule for new demurrage and detention billing requirements, describing the information carriers and marine terminal operators must include in their invoices, clarifying which parties can be billed and under what time frames, outlining the processes for disputing charges, and more.

CBP will require type 86 entries to be filed “upon or prior to arrival” of the shipment beginning Feb. 15, it said in a notice modifying its Entry Type 86 test. The change from the current requirement, which is within 15 days of arrival of the cargo, is intended to address “enforcement challenges surrounding low-value shipments entered” via type 86, CBP said. The notice also “clarifies the consequences of misconduct” by participants in the pilot, including potential ineligibility for type 86 entry filing, the agency said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is extending 77 COVID-19 related tariff exclusions as well as the 352 Section 301 exclusions that were restored in March 2022. Both sets of exclusions were set to expire Dec. 31; now they will last through May 31.

A bipartisan Customs Modernization bill would allow CBP to use advance data to enforce customs laws, permit summary forfeiture of certain goods that infringe on intellectual property rights, and allow for streamlined disposition of detained de minimis packages, when CBP did not receive a response from the shipper.

DHS will add three more entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, it said in a notice released Dec. 8. Anhui Xinya New Materials Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Chaohu Youngor Color Spinning Technology Co., Ltd. and Chaohu Xinya Color Spinning Technology Co., Ltd.); COFCO Sugar Holdings Co., Ltd.; and Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group Co., Ltd. (also known as Sichuan Mianyang Jingweida Technology Co., Ltd. and JWD Technology; and formerly known as Mianyang High-tech Zone Jingweida Technology Co., Ltd.) are being added for “working with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region." The new listings will take effect Dec. 11.

The Court of International Trade in a Nov. 30 opinion said that it is likely to have jurisdiction over Chinese exporter Ninestar Corp.'s challenge to its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Following Ninestar's motion for a preliminary injunction against its placement on the list, Judge Gary Katzmann ruled more narrowly, holding Ninestar is likely to show that jurisdiction is proper under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction, which covers any civil action regarding "embargoes or other quantitative restrictions." While the U.S. said the UFLPA Entity List does not create an embargo since it establishes a rebuttable presumption, Katzmann said the court has exerted jurisdiction over similar embargoes where exemptions or reconsideration are granted.