RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – The Federal Maritime Commission must eliminate the "perverse incentive" for ocean carriers and marine terminal operators to allow congestion as a way to make more money, FMC Chair Dan Maffei said, speaking Oct. 27 at the Pacific Coast Council's Western Cargo Conference, or Wesccon.

A White House adviser on international economics praised the Americas Act, a bill that proposes adding more countries to USMCA, subsidizing business moves away from China to the Western Hemisphere, and lowering U.S. de minimis levels to pay for it.

A National Security Council representative pitched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as a "modern economic engagement," different from past free trade agreements, and one that will "reduce supply chain dependencies in a way that brings prosperity to all involved."

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RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The use of artificial intelligence is not to eliminate customs broker jobs but to eliminate some of the "human error" that occurs, Scarbrough Group CEO Adam Hill said during a panel discussion Oct. 28. When it comes to AI, "you should let your imagination run wild, but don't let it run wild in a way that says 'how am I not going to be here,'" he said. "Let it run wild in such a way that says 'how can this make us better?'"

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- University and nongovernmental organization reports on forced labor are not necessarily taken at face value, a CBP official said Oct. 27 at the Pacific Coast Council's Western Cargo Conference., known as Wesccon. With any report, an "import specialist or an analyst" has to make the "ultimate decision," Eric Choy, CBP executive director of trade remedy law enforcement, said.

Comments are due Nov. 13 to the Commerce Department on the scope of coverage of its newly begun antidumping duty investigations on aluminum extrusions from China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam (A-570-158, A-301-806, A-247-004, A-331-804, A-533-920, A-560-840, A-475-846, A-580- 918, A-557-826, A-201-860, A-583-874, A-549-847, A-489-850, A-520-810, A-552-837), and countervailing duty investigations on aluminum extrusions from China, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey (C-570-159, C-560-841, C-201-861, C-489-851).

Plastic sheet rolls imported from China are outside the scope of an antidumping duty order and accompanying anti-circumvention determination on polyethylene bags from China, CBP found in a recently released ruling. CBP headquarters ultimately found that the agency had improperly assessed antidumping duties on entries of plastic rolls as if they were subject to the AD order.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- CBP is "looking at better ways" to address concerns about what brokers are supposed to do to vet their customers for potential trafficking in fentanyl, meth and other illegal drugs, said Rosa Hernandez, CBP San Diego Area Port director.

The U.S. will look for ways to improve the African Growth and Opportunity Act at the 20th AGOA forum in Johannesburg next weekend, two high-level trade policymakers said during a Oct. 26 press briefing.