CBP has updated its FAQ on Section 232 tariffs for aluminum and steel on its website, addressing certain elements of the tariffs that the trade community has been grappling with, particularly on determining the value of new steel and aluminum derivatives outside of chapters 73 and 76 (see 2503140059.
Associations' views diverged widely on the wisdom of codifying a modified Type 86 process and tweaking the clear-from-the-manifest process for de minimis entries. Groups also disagreed on CBP's proposals for what new data should be submitted. The agency received 95 comments on its proposal, though dozens were from individuals and didn't make substantive suggestions. Some associations and companies addressed both this proposed rule and the one that would carve out sections 301 and 232 goods from de minimis. The comment period for that rule closes March 24.
Among more than 700 submissions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative -- as the administration seeks to quantify the cost to American exporters and producers of trade barriers and unfair subsidies -- were just over a dozen from trade groups representing foreign companies, American chambers of commerce specific to foreign markets, and foreign governments.
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will "substantially upend" the International Trade Commission's established approach to determining whether a company's U.S. operations are part of the domestic industry, lawyers from Ropes & Gray said.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will "shortly" respond to EU retaliatory tariffs on U.S. whiskey with a 200% tariff on EU alcoholic beverages, including wine and champagne, if the EU whiskey tariff -- set to take effect April 1 -- isn't removed.
Two Section 232 investigations launched March 10 by the Commerce Department -- one on copper, the other on lumber -- serve as harbingers of potentially more trade activity to come, attorneys with the law firm Pillsbury said during a webinar on "DC Disrupted: Upcoming Tariffs & Trade Actions," said after notices seeking comments on the investigations had been posted.
Given that more than half of imports from Canada and Mexico don't claim USMCA preferences, trade lawyers and customs experts are expecting a sharp and rapid increase in entries that claim the preference.
Fourteen models of passenger vehicle and light truck wheels imported by Keystone Automotive Industries aren’t subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders on steel wheels 12 to 16.5 inches in diameter from China (A-570-090/C-570-091), the Commerce Department announced in a Feb. 24 scope ruling. Keystone’s wheels can’t be used for trailers, it explained.
President Donald Trump's recent expansion of Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs likely would survive a judicial challenge, particularly in light of the string of cases challenging the Section 232 duties imposed during his first term, trade lawyers told us. Thomas Beline, partner at Cassidy Levy, said Trump's move to eliminate the country-specific arrangements and product exclusions is "likely defensible," since the statute lets the president take any action he deems necessary where an agreement is "not being carried out or is ineffective."
A new vessel sharing agreement between Japanese carrier Ocean Network Express, South Korea-based Hyundai Merchant Marine and Taiwan-based Yang Ming Marine Transportation (see 2411070005) will take effect Feb. 9, the Federal Maritime Commission said Feb. 6 after completing its review. The commission said it carried out an “economic analysis of the competitive effects of the” arrangement, called the Premier Alliance Agreement, adding that all agreements “are subject to the strictest standards for ongoing monitoring by the Commission.”