The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau released a final rule Jan. 12 that adds Singani as a specific type of brandy derived from grapes. Under the final rule, Singani may be manufactured only in Bolivia under Bolivian laws and regulations for its manufacture, and must be bottled at not less than 40% alcohol by volume. Singani bottled at less than 40% alcohol by volume would need to be labeled as diluted Singani. Effective Feb. 13, bottles of Singani may be labeled as such without the brandy designation, TTB said.

Although the IRS has no ability to push out the deadlines for battery or vehicle assembly in North America, or the deadlines for sourcing critical minerals domestically or from FTA partners, it is seeking comments on how to determine where assembly was done, and how to define value, all of which may make it easier or harder for electric vehicles to qualify for consumer tax credits.

The U.S. is banning the import of gold from Russia, starting June 28, but Russia-origin gold that is already outside the country is allowed to enter.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is proposing to amend its wine labeling and advertising regulations to remove a prohibition on statements that a wine contains distilled spirits, it said in a notice published June 13. “This proposed deregulatory action will allow wine makers and importers to provide additional information to consumers about their wines, while still providing consumers with adequate and non-misleading information as to the identity and quality of the products they purchase,” TTB said. Comments are due Aug. 12.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau recently issued a final rule making another set of changes to its labeling regulations for distilled spirits and malt beverages. In this second set of amendments based on a proposal issued by the agency in November 2018 (see 1811230015), the agency is reorganizing the regulations for clarity, incorporating its current policies into the regulations and adopting liberalizing changes that bring requirements for distilled spirits or malt beverages into line with those for wine. The final rule, effective March 11, “will not require industry members to make changes to alcohol beverage labels or advertisements but instead provide additional flexibility to make certain changes going forward,” TTB said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, acknowledging that removing Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods would make some difference in inflation, didn't directly answer a question about whether they should stay, but said that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is "revisiting the phase one trade deal and recognizing requests to reduce tariffs in some areas." During a "Face the Nation" appearance Nov. 14, Yellen was also asked what the Biden administration could do to unclog the supply chain. "We have been talking with the operators of ports in Los Angeles, in Long Beach, in Savannah, trying to understand why there are such backlogs of ships waiting to off-load their goods."

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a recent interview with The New York Times, suggested that the cost of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports wasn't worth the concessions wrung from China in the phase one deal. “Tariffs are taxes on consumers. In some cases it seems to me what we did hurt American consumers, and the type of deal that the prior administration negotiated really didn’t address in many ways the fundamental problems we have with China,” she told the Times.

The announcement over the weekend that the G-7 countries have agreed on a global minimum corporate tax could mean that digital services taxes will be avoided. The communique from the finance ministers said they agree that hammering out an agreement on global minimums and how to treat revenues outside corporations' home countries that do not have a physical nexus should be done at the same time. Their goal is to reach an agreement in July. They said that home countries will have the right to tax the first 10% in profit, and then at least 20% of the profit past that amount of "the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises. We will provide for appropriate coordination between the application of the new international tax rules and the removal of all Digital Services Taxes, and other relevant similar measures, on all companies."

While Vietnam, Taiwan, and Switzerland exceeded thresholds established by the Treasury Department to identify potentially unfair currency practices, a report from the department released April 16 said there is no evidence that they manipulated their currency to gain unfair trade advantage. The report noted that in early 2021, Treasury offices began “enhanced bilateral engagement with Vietnam and is working with the Vietnamese authorities to develop a plan with specific actions to address the underlying causes of Vietnam’s currency undervaluation.” It was already engaged with Switzerland on the topic, and will continue those discussions. It said similar talks should be done with Taiwan. The report noted that the Taiwanese currency appreciated in 2020, but given the strength of Taiwan's economy that year, it did not rise as much as would be expected.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. is working with the world's 20 largest economies in the hopes of arriving at “a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom.” If that agreement included an approach to taxation of the digital giants such as Google and Facebook, that would also deflate the digital services tax controversy, which could otherwise lead to additional 25% tariffs on more than $800 million in goods (see 2103290049).