Statutes and regulations administered by the Federal Maritime Commission will remain in effect if International Longshoremen’s Association members go on strike next week at container terminals at East and Gulf coast ports, the FMC said in an industry advisory Sept. 23.
While a top CBP official didn't give any specifics on how many brokerages were suspended from a pilot that allows electronic clearance of de minimis packages (see 2405310054), he told attendees at an annual National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference not to "be afraid of that enforcement," as the brokers who were suspended were so lax that there wasn't even anything that the companies could argue about with CBP.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is making changes to its list of Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes the agency plans to implement Phase VII of the Lacey Act provisions.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements is adding a two-way stretch woven polyester, rayon, spandex fabric to the "short supply list" in Annex 3.25 of the Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement for items not commercially available in a timely manner, it said in a notice. CFI Textiles requested the additions in August. The fabric, classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 5515.11.00, is being added in unrestricted quantities. Under short supply provisions of CAFTA-DR, fibers, yarns and fabrics listed in Annex 3.25 are provided with tariff preferences under the trade agreement.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will open a docket for comments on Sept. 23 for views on proposed new Section 301 tariffs on 8101.94.00 (Tungsten, unwrought); 8101.99.10 (Tungsten bars, rods, plates, sheets, strip and foil); 8101.99.80 (Tungsten, articles nesoi); 2804.61.00, Silicon; and 3818.00.00 (Chemical elements doped for use in electronics.
The leading Democrat in efforts to restrict de minimis in the House of Representatives, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore, has tried to restrict de minimis eligibility since the beginning of 2022, and has said that getting a bill passed is how he'd like to end his career in Congress (see 2402150060).
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Sept. 19 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):
Rubio introduced a bill that would change the country of origin for goods so that a company owned by or based in China or any other "foreign adversary" would assign the adversary country of origin to those companies' goods, no matter where the goods were manufactured. The bill is silent on whether that would also apply to U.S.-manufactured goods by Chinese companies, such as Volvo cars.
CBP has released its Sept. 18 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 37), which includes the following ruling actions:
A Department of Treasury official acknowledged Sept. 18 that “personnel changes in the Treasury Security Department” are creating a backlog in the process of appointing additional members to the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee.