The Senate passed a resolution that could undo the USDA's approval of imported Paraguayan beef, if the House also votes to end these imports by a veto-proof margin.
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).
New USDA Agricultural Marketing Service National Organic Program requirements are mandatory starting on March 19, CBP said in a CSMS message on March 19. The message reminded the trade public of the USDA Strengthening Organic Enforcement final rule on January 2023 that required electronic National Organic Program import certificates for organic agricultural products (see 2301180051).
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The American Apparel and Footwear Association's vice president for trade and customs policy is hearing that a higher competitive needs limitation will be part of a Generalized System of Preferences benefits program renewal.
At a political rally in the Dayton, Ohio, suburbs, former President Donald Trump addressed Chinese President Xi Jinping with a threat that if Chinese firms open car assembly plants in Mexico, the U.S. will put a 100% tariff on their products.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register March 18 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced country-by-country allocations of additional FY 2024 in-quota quantities of the tariff-rate quotas for imported raw cane sugar. Of the 125,000 metric tons raw value added to the raw cane sugar TRQ by USDA in early March (see 2403060084), USTR is allocating quota amounts as follows: Australia 15,555; Belize 2,061; Bolivia 1,499; Brazil 27,174; Colombia 4,498; Costa Rica 2,811; Ecuador 2,061; El Salvador 4,873; Eswatini (Swaziland) 2,998; Fiji 1,687; Guatemala 8,996; Guyana 2,249; Honduras 1,874; Jamaica 2,061; Mozambique 2,436; Peru 7,684; Philippines 25,300; South Africa 4,310; Thailand 2,624; and Zimbabwe 2,249. The changes are effective March 19.
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 created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2404 on March 15, containing 2,083 ABI records and 338 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.