The Wall Street Journal and CNN are reporting that the Commerce Department is investigating the security risk of TP-Link routers, and unnamed sources said the product could be banned for sale in the U.S. next year.

The Commerce Department set the 12-month 2024 value-added tariff preference level for certain apparel imported directly from Haiti eligible to receive duty-free treatment under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE). For the one-year period Dec. 20, 2024, through Dec. 19, 2025, the recalculated quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added TPL is 322,927,229 square meters equivalent (SME). Apparel articles entered in excess of this TPL will be subject to otherwise applicable duty rates.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has submitted a rule for interagency review that would finalize its proposed import restrictions on connected vehicles from China (see 2409220001). BIS said it’s reviewing public comments on the proposal (see 2410290026) and is working to determine “the technologies and market participants most appropriate for regulation.” The agency sent the final rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Dec. 17.

The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on Dec. 18:

The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on Dec. 16:

The Bureau of Industry and Security completed a round of interagency review for a rule that could lead to new import restrictions on certain drones and drone parts from China and other countries of concern.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is finalizing a rule that revises current regulations in order to "improve the uniformity and reliability of seafood inspection services," according to a notice. This rule would compel the NMFS Office of International Affairs, Trade and Commerce to adopt recognized best practices for inspection. The notice said that the existing regulations have not been significantly updated since they were first issued in 1971. "NMFS anticipates that these revisions will benefit the seafood industry by streamlining seafood inspection services and providing improved, more accurate inspection results," NMFS said. The rule is effective Jan. 15. NMFS had sought comments on the proposed rule in April (see 2404240025).

The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on Dec. 11:

Nearly half of U.S. companies surveyed by the Bureau of Industry and Security this year said they didn’t know whether their products contained any Chinese-made, mature-node semiconductors, BIS said in a summary of those survey results released Dec. 6.

A final rule on what kinds of purchases of information and communications technology and services (ICTS) from China or other "foreign adversaries" may be reviewed by the Bureau of Information and Security, and perhaps, banned, was released Dec. 5.