The FDA released updates Jan. 30 to two chapters of its draft guidance on its Food Safety Modernization Act regulations on preventive controls for human food. The agency added additional information to the introduction of the draft guidance, first released in 2016 (see 1608230028), as well as to an appendix that details potential hazards that may need to be addressed.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., along with Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and two California Democrats, announced they are launching a caucus to push for boosting agricultural exports and knocking down trade barriers in ag.
Both of Georgia's senators, plus Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged the Biden administration to raise Section 301 tariffs on Chinese solar panels, cells and wafers. They said a Chinese panel costs more than 60% less than U.S.-made panels.
In a party-line vote, the House Homeland Security Committee voted to advance articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Texas company Kubota North America was ordered Jan. 25 to pay $2 million for falsely labeling replacement parts for tractors, mowers, utility vehicles, and construction and agricultural equipment as having been made in the U.S. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a stipulated judgment against the company, which included the penalty and compliance reporting and record-keeping requirements for the next 20 years (U.S. v. Kubota North America Corp., N.D. Tex. # 3:24-00159).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website Jan. 30, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.
CBP has released its Jan. 31 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 04). While it contains recent court decisions, no customs rulings are included.
An analysis of how the stricter rule of origin for auto imports has been implemented -- including the unprecedented labor value content element -- praised coordination among the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Labor Department, CBP and other agencies with expertise, but noted that final regulations have been held up because the U.S. has not reached a final resolution in the dispute it lost at a USMCA panel.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directed CBP and Homeland Security Investigations to "provide him with a comprehensive enforcement action plan in 30 days" to protect domestic textile interests. The announcement, after a meeting with domestic textile mill owners who asked the government to step up free trade agreement enforcement and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act apparel enforcement and to end de minimis sales, also says that report should include "a determination whether current trade law provides adequate authorities to solve the core issues."