In the Aug. 15 International Trade Today article (see 2508150032), customs lawyer Jen Diaz asked about CBP's process for applying additional tariffs for transshipment: "How is CBP making this determination? Is CBP going to start treating this more like a forced labor evaluation?"
As importers await a decision from the higher courts on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should hedge themselves against any outcome, according to Jen Diaz, president of Diaz Trade Law, who was speaking on an Aug. 11 podcast hosted by the Global Training Center.
Some companies and associations in the solar industry endorsed additional tariffs on Chinese polysilicon, but others expressed concern that allied countries will be hit with overlapping Section 232 tariffs on both imports of polysilicon and solar cells, in public comments to the Bureau of Industry and Security.
The president's trade team has been suggesting that its definition of transshipment is different than what the word has traditionally meant -- that they will assign country of origin based on how much of the finished good was made from local inputs.
Importers of automobiles and auto parts are facing a massive increase in compliance standards as the Trump administration's tariffs on automobiles force importers to reevaluate supply chains to find competitive advantage, compliance experts said during an Aug. 6 webinar.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on July 22 dismissed a lawsuit from eight Malian citizens against seven U.S. cocoa importers, which was filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), for lack of standing. Judges Sri Srinivasan, Patricia Millett and Justin Walker held that the Malian citizens, who attempted to certify a class, failed to clearly allege facts showing the "causal connection between" the importers' "alleged supply chain venture" and the laborers' forced child labor (Issouf Coubaly v. Cargill, D.C. Cir. # 22-7104).
Exporter Camel Group defended its motion to unredact and re-designate part of the administrative record in its case against its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, arguing on July 18 that the government won't suffer harm if Camel Group's lawyers can share the documents with the company. The exporter claimed that the government's interest in shielding the documents is "tarnished by continued inconsistencies in its designation" (Camel Group Co. v. United States, CIT # 25-00022).
A joint statement from Indonesia and the U.S. sheds more light on what the president might have meant when he wrote "if there is any Transshipment from a higher Tariff Country, then that Tariff will be added on to the Tariff that Indonesia is paying."
Alexander Fried, trade attorney at the Commerce Department, has left the agency, he announced on LinkedIn. Fried worked as an attorney adviser at Commerce since September 2022, advising the International Trade Administration on various issues, including digital service taxes, implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, UFLPA litigation, and trade remedies investigations and litigation.
How the Trump administration chooses to define transshipment has the potential to redefine the current trading system with Southeast Asian countries, trade lawyers said. The recent trade deal framework with Vietnam contained a 40% tariff rate for "transshipped" goods, which is a different approach than previously employed for transshipment (see 2507080028).