The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service intends to allow imports of fresh Hass avocado fruit from Guatemala, it said in a notice released March 26. An agency pest risk analysis found “the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds” with the importation of Guatemalan avocados, APHIS said. If APHIS finalizes the decision, it will allow imports into the U.S., subject to the phytosanitary requirements specified by the agency. Comments will be accepted through May 28.
CBP is set to publish an "artificial intelligence strategy" with “guiding principles and goals” on how CBP can use AI “responsibly and with governance," Sanjeev Bhagowalia, the assistant commissioner for CBP’s Office of Information Technology, said March 26.
The Commerce Department released the final version of regulations on March 22 that will make various key changes in the administration of antidumping and countervailing duty regulations. The changes take effect April 24.
Shrimp farmed and processed in India is frequently produced by forced labor, with workers in debt bondage and some workers living in employer-supplied housing where they are rarely allowed to leave, according to a new investigation from Corporate Accountability Lab.
The White House told the Senate that it strongly opposes an effort to undo the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's finding that fresh beef imports from Paraguay are safe.
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.
Certain types of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe exported from the U.S. to Mexico for reprocessing and subsequent re-importation are not covered by the antidumping duty order on Mexican standard pipe, the Commerce Department said in a March 13 scope ruling. The products’ country of origin is the U.S., not Mexico, the department said.
International Trade Commissioners grappled with how they should fulfill the administration's request for a report on the export competitiveness of the Bangladeshi, Indian, Cambodian, Indonesian and Pakistani apparel sectors over the last 11 years -- is it to uncover how those countries' successes could offer lessons to other developing countries that want to industrialize? Is the success of Bangladesh, which is near to crossing the threshold into a middle-income country largely on the strength of its garment sector, a country with an "unnatural and unfair advantage," because of its suppression of unions and wages, as the AFL-CIO's Eric Gottwald asserted?
World Trade Organization members at the body's 13th Ministerial Conference decided to extend the moratorium on e-commerce duties until MC14 or March 31, 2026, whichever comes first, the WTO announced at the conclusion of the ministerial. They also agreed to conduct "period reviews on the E-commerce Work Programme" with the goal of "presenting recommendations for action to the Ministerial Conference."
Three domestic manufacturers filed a petition Feb. 28 asking the International Trade Commission to conduct a Section 201 safeguard investigation on imports of polyester staple fiber.