The Court of International Trade on Oct. 15 limited the scope of the testimony that will be offered by two of the government's witnesses in a customs spat on the classification of The Comfy, a wearable blanket imported by Cozy Comfort Co. Judge Stephen Vaden said fashion industry professional Patricia Concannon can testify only on topics related to the "sale, marketing, and merchandising of apparel," and that CBP national import specialist Renee Orsat "may not testify about opinions she formed during the Customs’ classification process."
President Donald Trump will be receptive to Sen. Bill Cassidy's proposal to impose a carbon border tax, predicted Dave Banks, a former energy and environment expert in the National Economic Council and National Security Council during the first Trump term.
Trade groups representing corn and soybean farmers say that if Donald Trump imposes 60% tariffs on Chinese imports, as he has promised to do if re-elected, it would devastate their exports to China.
The strong differences in tariff and immigration policies whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins the election made it difficult for a think tank's economic outlook, but Alejandro Werner, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that Mexico will have a slow-down in foreign investment over the next couple of years because of "the uncertainty associated with the continuation of the USMCA regardless of who wins the election."
The Commerce Department seeks public comments on any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, paid by certain countries that exported softwood lumber to the U.S. Jan. 1 through June 30, 2024, it said in a notice. The Softwood Lumber Act of 2008 requires Commerce to submit a report every 180 days on any subsidy provided by nations exporting softwood lumber or softwood products to the U.S., including subsidies for stumpage. Commerce is seeking input on subsidies paid by countries whose exports composed at least 1% of total U.S. softwood imports by quantity, as classified under tariff schedule subheadings 4407.1100, 4407.1200, 4407.1300, 4407.1400 and 4407.1900, the agency said. International Trade Commission Tariff and Trade DataWeb information indicates that five countries -- Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany and Sweden -- exported that much softwood lumber to the U.S. during that six-month period. Comments are due Nov. 14.
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened a portal to be used for submitting exclusion requests for industrial machinery outside the solar sector.
Less than a month from the election, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves invited U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to speak at his company's Coatesville, Pennsylvania, mill about how recent policy has supported steelworkers.
Bangladesh is the country of origin for blue surgical towels imported by Global Resources International (GRI), CBP said in a notice. GRI had asked CBP to make a final determination on the surgical towels' country of origin on April 12 for the purposes of U.S. government procurement. The towels are made from 100% cotton huckaback weave fabric from Bangladesh, where the fabric is also woven and dyed blue. It's then shipped to Vietnam in rolls, where it's cut to size, sewn, autoclaved, packaged and shipped to the U.S. Because of these factors, the country of origin is Bangladesh, CBP said, outlining its reasoning in the attached ruling HQ H339826). The surgical towels are classified under subheading 6307.90.89 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S.
CBP has released its Oct. 9 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 40), which includes the following ruling actions: