CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP will grant Lorte Technologies, Inc.'s protest on the tariff classification of its pulse oximeters from China, according to a June 18 decision posted by CBP on Aug. 19. The agency ruled that, even though part of the pulse oximeters could fall under the classification for tachometers, considering the whole instrument would place the oximeters under a different classification category for medical instruments.
The Federal Maritime Commission is asking for public comments on an information collection related to ocean common carriers that are subject to the FMC’s regulations. The notice said controlled carriers must ensure that they don’t maintain rates or charges in their tariffs and service contracts “that are below a level that is just and reasonable; nor establish, maintain, or enforce unjust or unreasonable classifications, rules, or regulations in those tariffs or service contracts that result or are likely to result in the carriage or handling of cargo at rates or charges that are below a just and reasonable level.” Public comments are due Oct. 22.
Imposing tariffs of 20% on all imports and a 60% tariff on Chinese goods would cost middle-class households more than $2,600 a year -- $900 more annually than a 10% tariff on imports, what former President Donald Trump floated earlier in his current presidential campaign, according to a new analysis from the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies "Trade Guys" said that while there is some pressure on Congress to get the Generalized Systems of Preferences benefits program renewed, and restrict de minimis, competing pressures make it unlikely bills will become law this year.
CBP has released its Aug. 21 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 33), which includes the following ruling action:
As USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service prepares for the Dec. 1 enforcement of the seventh phase of Lacey Act import declaration requirements (see 2405300052), officials already are eyeing the challenges that may come in implementing Phase VIII.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Shipping company OL USA notified the Federal Maritime Commission last week that it has reached a settlement agreement with Maersk, which it accused in February of violating the Shipping Act by failing to keep its "automated tariff system" open for public inspection (see 2402200007).
USDA is revising the appendices to its Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing Regulation for the 2024 tariff-rate quota year, it said in a notice. The agency is transferring the amounts for certain dairy articles from the historical license category (Appendix 1) to the lottery (nonhistorical) license category (Appendix 2) pursuant to the Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing regulations for the 2024 quota year.