The National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones did a round of lobbying calls last month to tell appropriators that in some ports, CBP isn't accepting applications for new FTZs because they don't have the resources to manage them. That, in turn, delays economic development, they argued. In a news release published Jan. 5, NAFTZ said that during the 14 meetings, they also argued that lack of money is the reason CBP backtracked on allowing goods detained under suspicion of forced labor to be housed in FTZs.
CBP posted to its website an attachment it has been sending along with notices of detention under the Uyghur Forced Labor Detention Act that includes examples of documentation importers may submit to obtain a release, including for several products that only recently have come under CBP scrutiny.
Companies, labor unions and domestic producer coalitions that support antidumping and countervailing duties on Vietnamese exports all said Vietnam has not changed its practices enough to be considered a market economy in AD/CVD cases in the 21 years since the last evaluation of its status found it wasn't.
U.S. solar cell maker Auxin Solar and solar module designer Concept Clean Energy launched a lawsuit at the Court of International Trade on Dec. 29 to contest the Commerce Department's pause of antidumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules from Southeast Asian found to be circumventing the AD/CVD orders on these products from China (Auxin Solar v. U.S., CIT # 23-00274).
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 2023. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference numbers.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2023 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a new mention of a proposed rule to amend CBP’s regulations on the entry of “certain low-value shipments not exceeding $800 that are eligible for an administrative exemption from duty and tax.”
China sanctioned American compliance risk advisory firm Kharon, a Kharon researcher and a researcher at the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in reaction to recent U.S. sanctions announced on Human Rights Day earlier this month (see 2312080026).
CBP in November identified 331 shipments valued at more than $125 million for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational statistics update. The value of those shipments is down from October, when CBP identified 504 shipments worth more than $199 million (see 2311140053). Also in November, CBP seized 1,607 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $118 million if the items had been genuine, the agency said.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans asked Temu, Alibaba and Shein to justify their use of data, to decry China's treatment of Uyghurs and to explain how they avoid stocking products made with forced labor or counterfeits.