A steel importer will receive refunds of Section 232 tariffs under a settlement that resolves its legal challenge of denied exclusion requests. Approved Oct. 15 by the Court of International Trade, the settlement directs CBP to reliquidate some entries covered by exclusions Borusan Mannesman Pipe U.S. had alleged were improperly denied by the Commerce Department. The government did not admit liability under the settlement.

Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, told a business audience that his country and the U.S. have completed a trade facilitation agreement, an agreement on best regulatory practices, and an anti-corruption agreement. He said these treaties would “slash red tape and bring about even more growth to our bilateral trade with beneficial effects to the flow of investments as well.”

CBP issued a forced labor finding on imports of stevia from China, it said in a notice released Oct. 19. It's the first time a finding has been issued since 1996, according to a list of CBP actions. The forced labor finding applies to “stevia extracts and derivatives, mined, produced, or manufactured” in China by the Inner Mongolia Hengzheng Group Baoanzhao Agriculture, Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., CBP said. The finding follows a withhold release order issued in 2016 on Baoanzhao (see 1605310019) that resulted in the first CBP penalty for forced labor (see 2008140016). CBP has ratcheted up its use of authorities this year under provisions to stop goods made with forced labor (see 2009140040).

There is some industry concern that a proposal to end the de minimis exemption to Section 301 goods isn't considered “economically significant,” an executive following the issue said. CBP submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a proposed rule titled “Excepting Merchandise Subject to Section 301 Duties from the Customs De Minimis Exemption,” according to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website (see 2009040026).

An importer’s handwritten corrections on a 1520(d) post-importation claim for U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) treatments were sufficient, and the Apparel, Footwear & Textiles Center of Excellence and Expertise should not have denied the claim and required submission of a new certificate of origin, CBP headquarters said in a ruling released in early October.

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said it's a lot of work to get through the nearly 2,700 petitions that the International Trade Commission says are worthy of tariff relief through the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill.

Solar importers intend to oppose President Donald Trump’s Oct. 10 proclamation ending an exemption from safeguard duties for bifacial panels (see 2010130028), they told the Court of International Trade in a status report filed Oct. 15. The proclamation runs contrary to the safeguard laws, and is barred by a CIT injunction currently in effect against the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s earlier attempts to end the exemption, they said. The brief was filed hours after a related court decision left the injunction in place.

There is “substantial evidence” MSeafood used evasion to avoid antidumping duties on imported frozen shrimp, CBP said in an Oct. 13 final determination notice released by the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA). MSeafood, a U.S. importer affiliated with Vietnamese shrimp company Minh Phu Seafood, was accused of evading an AD order on frozen shrimp from India through transshipment by the Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee in 2019 (see 2001150041).

The Washington counsel for the U.S. Fashion Industry Association told members that it's not time yet to think about moving production out of Vietnam, in light of the recently announced Section 301 investigation into currency manipulation in that country (see 2010050036).

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Oct. 5-9 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.