The National Commodity Specialist Division's consumer products and mass merchandising branch has received 237 ruling requests relating to 312 products so far in FY 2024, Steve Mack, the NCSD's director, said at CBP's NCSD Trade Forum April 3. Seventy-six, or 32%, of the ruling requests were subject to trade remedies, while 64, or 27%, of the ruling requests involve country of origin scenarios, Mack said.
The Canadian Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise concluded that Dynasty Gold, a mining firm headquartered in British Columbia, allowed Uyghur labor transfers to its joint venture in Xinjiang during 2017-2020, and that such forced labor "may continue to persist" at the Hatu mine in Xinjiang.
The country of origin for omega-3-acid ethyl ester capsules is Norway for the purposes of government procurement, as they don't undergo a substantial transformation when the Norwegian active pharmaceutical ingredient is combined with inactive ingredients in China, CBP said. The product's name, character or use doesn't change as a result of the processing in China, CBP said.
PHILADELPHIA -- CBP has not issued any withhold release orders for goods unrelated to Uyghur forced labor since the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act passed in late 2021. Eric Choy, the CBP official whose office oversees the ban on goods made with forced labor, said that targeting forced labor abuses outside of China "is something that we're definitely reprioritizing resources [for], to focus in on those efforts." Choy, who is executive director of Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate, said in an interview during the CBP Trade Facilitation and Cargo Security Summit last week that he expects there will be a WRO announced before October.
The Commerce Department is finalizing a new exemption for metal safes from its antidumping and countervailing duty orders on metal lockers from China (A-570-133/C-570-134), it said April 1 in the final results of a changed circumstances review. The partial revocation takes effect for entries on or after Dec. 1, 2021.
The Commerce Department is amending antidumping duty rates it set in its preliminary determination in the AD investigation on mattresses from India (A-533-919), it said in an April 1 notice correcting a "significant ministerial error" in its original preliminary determination issued in March (see 2403010055).
CBP announced a new Enforce and Protect Act investigation, saying it has reasonable suspicion that VY Industries, a Canada-based company and U.S. distributor, evaded the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on wire coated coil nails from China. The agency said this finding made the enactment of interim measures necessary.
Vessels arriving with cargo for unloading in Baltimore may consider using a different U.S. port until further notice, CBP said in a CSMS message on March 29. Vessel arrival notices and manifest updates would be required to make a switch, including updating the port of unlading, the agency said in the notice. The port has been closed to vessel traffic since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed March 26 (see 2403260047).
The Commerce Department intends to end antidumping and countervailing duties on stainless steel flanges made to SAE J518 or ISO 6162 specification, the agency said in the initiation and preliminary results of a changed circumstances review of the AD/CVD orders on stainless steel flanges from China (A-570-064/C-570-065) and India (A-533-877/C-533-878).
PHILADELPHIA -- Getting the funding for ACE 2.0 is the biggest challenge, the executive director of CBP's trade transformation office said. He said the agency was unsuccessful in the budgetary process, and asked industry to lobby their representatives for funding.