The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed a lawsuit from clothing company Smart Apparel (U.S.) that accused Nordstrom of breaching a contract when it canceled orders from Smart Apparel that were suspected of being made with forced labor (Smart Apparel (U.S.) v. Nordstrom, W.D. Wash. # 23-01754).
The Commerce Department finalized another new exemption for off-grid panels from antidumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from China (A-570-979/C-570-980), it said in the final results of a changed circumstances review released March 19. Commerce confirmed its preliminary finding that “substantially all” U.S. producers of solar cells, including original petitioner American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing, don't oppose Source Global's request to create the exemption.
USDA said that Product of USA labels -- which continue to be voluntary -- only apply to products derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the U.S. (see 2403130053).
American, Canadian and Mexican customs brokers and freight forwarders are urging Canada to rethink its upcoming deployment of a new customs management system in two months, saying they’re concerned the country’s current approach could significantly disrupt trade.
More than a quarter of the U.S. Senate asked the U.S. trade representative to push back against the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation, saying the approach presents "significant compliance issues due to its stringency and ambiguity. One specific concern is the traceability requirement. The EUDR imposes a geolocation traceability requirement that mandates sourcing to the individual plot of land for every shipment of timber product to the EU. In the U.S., 42 percent of the wood fiber used by pulp and paper mills comes from wood chips, forest residuals, and sawmill manufacturing residues -- wood sources that cannot be traced back to an individual forest plot."
A House member who is running for the Senate in Indiana asked the Commerce Department to initiate an investigation on the import of electric vehicles and electric vehicle batteries made anywhere in the world.
CBP announced an Enforce and Protect Act investigation and said it has reasonable suspicion that Kings Marble and Granite, Musa Stone Import, and KMG Marble and Granite evaded the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on quartz surface products from China. The agency said this finding made the enactment of interim measures necessary.
Certain types of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe exported from the U.S. to Mexico for reprocessing and subsequent re-importation are not covered by the antidumping duty order on Mexican standard pipe, the Commerce Department said in a March 13 scope ruling. The products’ country of origin is the U.S., not Mexico, the department said.
CBP is asking solar companies about their corporate structure, overall supply chain, entries, accounting and financial practices, production, sales and sales and production reconciliations, law firm Morgan Lewis said in a March 13 blog post. The agency began sending the questionnaires in February to solar companies asking how they're guarding against the use of forced labor in their supply chains with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act top of mind for the agency (see 2402270061).
The U.S. ambassador to Canada and the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. said trade cooperation between the two countries -- each is the other's top trading partner -- is crucial, but their tone on the NAFTA replacement was slightly different.