A climate policy adviser to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat and lead advocate for a domestic carbon tax paired with a carbon border tax, said he thinks the expiration of Trump tax credits in 2025 could create a window to pass some sort of carbon border adjustment tax, because Congress will be seeking revenue raisers to be able to continue the tax cuts.
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CBP released a new guidance document Feb. 12 on how the agency sets bond amounts, replacing the bond directive it issued in 1991 with a new "Guide for the Public" that the agency has said will accompany a revised internal directive on bonds (see 2309150061).
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., told an audience of trade professionals that while he appreciates the complaint that CBP cannot adequately screen packages that enter under de minimis, he thinks if de minimis is tightened, it could make enforcement even more difficult.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that talking about tariffs more than other aspects of trade policy is, to a large degree, "a red herring," and said reducing U.S. trade policy "down to a conversation about tariffs is really unfair."
CBP is extending its Global Business Identifier pilot through Feb. 23, 2027, the agency said in a notice released Feb. 9. CBP is also removing commodity and country of origin limitations on the entries eligible for the test, it said, opening the test up to more participants across a wider range of industries.
For Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the future of U.S. trade policy is to make climate a trade policy priority, work with global allies to set digital trade standards and deepen the U.S. trading relationship with the global south.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, speaking at the University of Chicago, sidestepped a question about whether the administration would change the Section 301 tariffs, saying that although "there's a lot of drama and emotion around tariffs," the China tariffs are "the least interesting aspect of the management of our trade and economic relationship."
Trade groups representing importers of motor vehicles are asking the Interagency Autos Committee to advocate for allowing used cars made during the NAFTA years to enter duty free if those vehicles qualified for NAFTA benefits, and to make it easier to prove that cars built since July 1, 2020, qualify for USMCA tariff benefits.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2402 Feb. 2, containing 3,519 ABI records and 519 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. The update includes several partner government agency Harmonized Tariff Schedule flag updates, as well as adjustments required by the verification of the 2024 HTS.