CBP issued an interim final rule that implements several provisions included within the USMCA. The rule, which took effect July 1, implements USMCA language on import and export requirements, "general verifications and determinations of origin, commercial samples, goods re-entered after repair or alteration in Canada or Mexico, and penalties," among other things. Another interim final rule to implement other USMCA provisions will also be issued "at a later date," said CBP.
CBP will be detaining silica-based products made by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries under a new withhold release order, the White House announced June 24. The agency said there is information that indicates that Hoshine used forced labor in manufacturing these products. The polysilicon produced in the Xinjiang region of China is a core material in solar panels made in Asia.
The U.S. and European Union are ending the longest trade dispute in the history of the World Trade Organization, and are moving from litigation to cooperation, the European Commission said in a news release. The White House said the tariffs are suspended for five years, which is a "fresh start," but allows the U.S. "to reapply tariffs if we’re no longer competing on a level playing field." Should the EU "cross a red line and U.S. producers are not able to compete fairly and on a level playing field, the United States retains the flexibility to reactivate the tariffs that are being suspended," said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during a call with reporters.
Goods from the United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Austria and India will face new 25% Section 301 tariffs in response to digital services taxes if negotiations don't produce a resolution, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a June 2 news release. The tariffs are suspended for up to 180 days, as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development continues to negotiate international tax agreements.
President Donald Trump's addition of Section 232 tariffs on finished products of steel and aluminum was “invalid,” Court of International Trade Judges Timothy Stanceu and Jennifer Choe-Groves said in an April 5 ruling. The ruling is the result of a challenge from PrimeSource Building Products, which said the presidential proclamation that imposed the tariffs on steel and aluminum “derivatives” was improper because it was issued after the statutory deadline.
The Commerce Department is delaying a requirement for aluminum import licenses that had been set to take effect March 29, it said in a message on its website. The agency will soon publish a Federal Register notice again pushing back the effective date its agency’s Aluminum Import Monitoring System, which requires importers of aluminum or their customs brokers to submit information in an online portal to obtain an automatically issued license, then to submit the license number with entry summary documentation.
The Senate approved House Ways and Means Chief Trade Counsel Katherine Tai to be the U.S. Trade Representative with no opposition. The Senate voted 98-0 in favor of the confirmation.
Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant commissioner-trade, will retire at the end of the month, Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said March 17 at the start of a Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting.
The 15% tariffs on civil aircraft and 25% tariffs on about 150 tariff lines of products including liquor, Italian food and beverages, lenses, Greek yogurt, Spanish pork and more were lifted at 12:01 a.m. March 11, and will remain suspended until midnight July 10.
The European Union will drop its tariffs on U.S. exports on the Boeing retaliation list, and the U.S. will drop its Section 301 tariffs on EU products under the Airbus dispute, including food, wine and liquor, for four months, the EU announced March 5.