Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., joined by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., has proposed that most countries in Central and South America should be invited to join USMCA, and that before that can be negotiated, the countries should be added to the Caribbean Basin Trade Preference Area.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Additional funding for forced labor enforcement included in the recently enacted omnibus federal spending bill is a “truly transformative sum,” supporting sizable increases in CBP personnel and advances in the technology the agency uses to support its forced labor efforts, customs lawyer John Foote said in a Jan. 6 blog post.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, just before she signed a memorandum of cooperation with Japan on fighting forced labor (see 2301050039), suggested that auto or auto parts imports could be in CBP crosshairs after a British university alleged that many cars could have content touched by Chinese forced labor.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Japan's economy minister, while acknowledging that complete decoupling is possible, said that dependence on China leaves countries open to economic coercion, broken supply chains and economic insecurity.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2022 regulatory agenda for CBP. The only new mention of any regulations is a new long-term action that would amend CBP's regulations "pertaining to prior disclosure and to the procedure for demanding payment of duties, taxes, fees, or revenue" when a penalty claim isn't issued. "Amendments are designed to encourage participation in the prior disclosure program and to enhance the effectiveness of the duty/revenue demand process," the agenda said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top 20 stories published in 2022. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference numbers.
CBP targeted 444 entries worth over $128 million for suspected use of forced labor in November 2022, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational update. The number of entries targeted was up from October, although the value of the entries was about the same (see 2211150070). CBP also seized "nearly 1,536 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $196 million" in November, and completed 41 audits that identified $1.9 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government for goods that had been improperly declared, the agency said.