CBP is seeing an uptick in companies pulling out of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, Manuel Garza, CBP director of CTPAT in the Office of Field Operations, said. “Because of COVID, we have seen an increase in the number of companies that have withdrawn from the program,” he said. The program still has about 11,400 total members and 315 trade compliance members, he said while speaking at a CBP Virtual Trade Week session Sept. 9. Some 53.4% of U.S. imports by value are CTPAT-certified, according to a CBP presentation.

The USMCA technical corrections bill seems to have stalled out on the Hill, as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said at a meeting a month ago, he was seeing there was not unanimity among Democrats, and without that, it cannot be done quickly. A Senate Finance Committee spokesman said, “The bottom line is that it’s not clear to us whether certain Democrat senators who voted against USMCA would hold up technical corrections should a package come up for a unanimous consent vote.”

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he's not for an extreme version of free trade, because maintaining manufacturing jobs in the U.S. that provide a decent standard of living is a higher priority than promoting efficiency in business. “While that is an objective, it shouldn’t be the primary objective,” Lighthizer said in a talk at Catholic University conducted over Zoom on Sept. 8.

The multifront tariff war hurts American consumers and businesses, as well as America's standing in the world, argues Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a moderate Democrat from Florida who serves on the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. Murphy, who was interviewed during an online event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association Sept. 9, said she believes returning to 10% tariffs on some categories of Canadian aluminum undermines U.S. credibility in trade.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 31-Sept. 4 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

An importer of caulk guns is entitled to monetary damages from a competitor that claimed its caulk guns were made in the U.S. when substantial portions of them were imported, the New Jersey U.S. District Court said in a recent decision. The court found that Albion Engineering continued to claim “Made in U.S.A.” in its marketing materials, representations to customers and even on some product labeling after moving much of its production to Asia, to the detriment of Newborn Bros.'s ability to attract business.

More than 80% of the comments submitted on USMCA product rule of origin were requests or demands for country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef, something that is not part of the treaty.

CBP is apparently working on a regulatory change that would eliminate the $800 de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs. The agency on Sept. 2 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.

CBP should block imports of “all cotton-made goods linked to the Xinjiang region of China based on evidence of widespread forced labor,” human rights groups said in a recent news release. The coalition, which includes the AFL-CIO, the Uyghur Human Rights Project and the Human Trafficking Legal Center, filed a petition with the agency Aug. 28 to request a withhold release order on such products. “Industry groups have repeatedly requested clear guidance from the US government and a regional WRO would provide it,” the coalition said.

Less than two weeks before Canada will impose 10% tariffs on $2.7 billion in aluminum-containing goods, the Aluminum Association, and the much smaller American Primary Aluminum Association, squared off on a Sept. 3 Washington International Trade Association panel, with the Canadian Aluminum Association and aluminum customers complaining about being caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China conflict.