CBP “understands” that the five-year Harmonized Tariff Schedule update to implement changes to the World Customs Organization’s harmonized system will not take effect Jan. 1, 2022, it said in an emailed CSMS message. “CBP is awaiting formal direction for this update, which will be implemented by Presidential Proclamation and published in the Federal Register. In the interim, CBP will continue to use the current harmonized tariff schedule and encourages the trade community to do the same until further guidance is provided.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was able to get unanimous consent for a bill that will create a rebuttable presumption that goods with Xinjiang content are made with forced labor. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which was already approved in the House, now heads to the president's desk. After it is signed, agencies will have 180 days to develop guidance for importers on due diligence and what sort of evidence would be adequate to prove goods are not made with forced labor. The shift of the burden of proof to importers will also begin 180 days after enactment.

Senate and House lawmakers reached an agreement on compromise text that merges versions of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act from each chamber, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., tweeted on Dec. 14. "Happy to report that Senator [Marco] Rubio & I just reached an agreement on final text of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," McGovern said. "We will be moving our bill through both chambers & to President Biden's desk as quickly as possible." The bill would add a rebuttable presumption that goods from the Xinjiang region of China are made with forced labor starting 180 days after enactment.

The Court of International Trade struck down the U.S. Trade Representative's attempt to withdraw an exclusion on bifacial solar panels from the Section 201 safeguard measures on solar cells in a Nov. 17 decision. Judge Gary Katzmann found that USTR lacked the statutory authority to withdraw the exclusion. The opinion is the second in as many days over the Trump administration's termination of the exclusion, following a Nov. 16 decision that struck down the presidential proclamation issued after CIT imposed a preliminary injunction on USTR's action. That Nov. 16 decision ordered refunds for tariffs paid under the safeguard on bifacial cells by the importers that filed the lawsuit.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend the exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs on goods used to treat COVID-19 for six months, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. The exclusions were set to expire Nov. 30, but USTR said it will extend the 99 product exclusions to May 31.

Correction: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend the expiration date for 81 of 99 previously granted Section 301 tariff exclusions for six months to May 31, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. All the exclusions were slated to expire Nov. 14, but USTR is allowing a "transition period" and the exclusions not being extended will expire Nov. 30, it said.

The office of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., released a discussion draft of much-anticipated customs modernization legislation that CBP has been considering as part of its 21st Century Customs Framework, according to an email from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. The trade group said Cassidy is seeking input on the draft legislation, and provided a one-page fact sheet, draft legislation and a section-by-section discussion summary for review.

The U.S. will administer tariff rate quotas starting Jan. 1 on European steel across 54 product categories, with an annual 3.3 metric ton limit, but the products that are currently covered by Section 232 exclusions won't count against the quotas. Those exclusions will automatically renew through the end of 2023, the Commerce Department announced. For both steel and aluminum, derivative products will no longer be subject to tariffs or quotas.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative plans to restart a Section 301 tariff exclusions process, and has no immediate plans to remove any of the Section 301 tariff targets now that its comprehensive China review is over. However, a government official who spoke on background during an Oct. 3 call with reporters said, "We also want to make sure to align existing tariffs to those [Biden-Harris administration] priorities."

The U.S. Trade Representative announced that Vietnam has committed to keep illegally traded timber out of the supply chain, so no trade action is warranted as a result of the Section 301 investigation. Vietnam agreed to improve customs enforcement at the border with high-risk source countries, and to collaborate on enforcement with those countries, in addition to other verification and seizure practices.