Customs lawyer Ted Murphy, remarking on the nine-page letter from the House Select Committee on China regarding Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and other customs issues (see 2401220005), said firms should be aware that enforcement of laws that affect trade with China is a top priority.
The Biden administration recommends that metal importers avoid sourcing from or brokering through Myanmar-military owned or affiliated companies, "even if their supply chains appear to be completely outside" the country, so that their sourcing doesn't violate sanctions.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance formally petitioned for the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to add eight Chinese processing companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act's Entity List.
The Commerce Department is again amending its preliminary determination in the AD investigation on boltless steel shelving from Thailand (A-549-846), it said in a Jan. 24 notice. Commerce said the AD rate tables in both its original preliminary determination from November (see 2311280055) and in a first amended preliminary determination issued Jan. 2, listed the rates on a "chain rate" (i.e., produced and exported by) basis, rather than on a “produced and/or exported by” basis. The agency made no changes to the rates themselves. The amended table is as follows:
CBP found substantial evidence that Suzhou Quality Import and Export evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Chinese-origin aluminum extrusions, the agency said Jan. 23. Suzhou Quality imported extruded aluminum fence posts but didn't enter these extrusions as subject to the AD/CVD orders, the announcement said.
U.S. companies can temporarily import certain controlled firearms they previously exported to Ukraine in order to service or repair them, the Bureau of Industry and Security clarified as part of a broader Russia-related final rule released Jan. 23. BIS said those firearms can be temporarily imported under License Exception RPL (Replacement of Parts and Equipment) as long as they were originally exported under a BIS license.
The House Select Committee on China is asking the Treasury Department to assess if "altering de minimis eligibility for textile and apparel and other high-risk items," such as not allowing these goods to enter under de minimis, would improve enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Apple likely will stop selling watches that contain pulse oximeters, at least for now, after a Jan. 17 court order made clear that a stay on those watches’ Section 337 import ban would end the next day (Apple v. International Trade Commission, Fed. Cir. # 24-1285).
The Commerce Department is amending the final results released in December of the antidumping duty administrative review on large diameter welded pipe from Canada (A-122-863). Based on comments received after publication of the final results on Dec. 13, Commerce determined that it made a ministerial error in a calculation, with the result being that there was no dumping of subject merchandise during the review period May 1, 2021, through April 30, 2022.
CBP affirmed an August 2023 Enforce and Protect Act decision that thermal paper from Germany transshipped through Mexico was covered by the scope of, and evaded, an antidumping duty order, the agency said in a de novo administrative review on Dec. 22.