CBP is updating its Document Image System implementation guide to modify the document review process for documents submitted to DIS, it said. CBP will be able to send users a status of "accepted" or "under review" when a document is accepted or in the process of being reviewed, the agency said in a CSMS message March 26. Before the update, a review status was available only when a document has been rejected. The review status messages returned to the filer also may now have accompanying comments, CBP said.
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.
PHILADELPHIA -- Troy Miller, acting CBP commissioner, said that since stakeholders have said they're concerned that de minimis and trade cheating in USMCA and the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement is damaging the domestic and Latin American textile and apparel industries, the department will release a comprehensive plan to intensify enforcement soon.
PHILADELPHIA -- Bill Reinsch, a senior scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie Highsmith that he is pessimistic Congress will vote on any trade bill, whether liberalizing trade, as in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program or the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, or restricting it, as in changes to de minimis eligibility or changes to trade remedy laws.
The Fish and Wildlife Service seeks input on issues it should raise at the 20th Conference of the Parties meeting (CoP20) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, FWS said in a notice last week. “With this notice, we are soliciting recommendations for amending Appendices I and II of CITES at CoP20 as well as recommendations for resolutions, decisions, and agenda items for discussion at CoP20,” the agency said. Subsequent notices will seek further input, including on specific proposals FWS will release for comment, it said. FWS will also hold a hearing on an as yet undetermined date before CoP20, which is "tentatively scheduled to be held in the second half of 2025," although "the specific date and location of CoP20 are yet to be determined" as well. Comments are due by May 21.
The International Trade Commission recently began a Section 337 investigation on imports of liquid coolers for electronic components in computers that allegedly infringe on patents held by Cooler Master (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1394), the ITC said in a notice last week. In its February complaint (see 2402200055), Taiwan-based Cooler Master and its U.S. subsidiaries CMI USA and CMC Great USA said SilverStone, Enermax and Apaltek are importing liquid coolers that copy its “novel” and “relatively simple” designs for liquid coolers. It also said they’re infringing on a patent related to ornamental LEDs on the liquid coolers. In the investigation, the ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against SilverStone, Enermax and Apaltek.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register March 25 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department is leaving in place an agreement suspending countervailing duties on sugar from Mexico (C-201-846), it said last week in the final results of an administrative review. Mexican exporters remain in compliance with the suspension agreements, Commerce said. The final results of Commerce's concurrent review of the antidumping duty suspension agreement on sugar from Mexico are currently due April 25.
The Commerce Department is amending its preliminary antidumping duty determination on mattresses from Taiwan (A-583-873), ending retroactive duties on the “all others” companies after finding its critical circumstances finding for those companies was in error. Suspension of liquidation and AD cash deposit requirements will now be in effect for entries on or after March 1, 2024, for the “all others” companies. Commerce’s critical circumstances findings remain unchanged for the individually investigated companies from Thailand -- Fuyue Mattress Industry Co., Ltd.; Star Seeds Co., Ltd.; and Yong Yi Cheng Co., Ltd. – so entries from those companies will remain subject to suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements effective Dec. 2, 2023 (see 2403010055).
The Commerce Department is revoking the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on rubber bands from China (A-570-069/C-570-070), as well as the AD order on rubber bands from Thailand (A-549-835), after no domestic producers sought to participate in five-year sunset reviews conducted by the agency, it said in a notice. Effective for entries from China on or after Feb. 19, 2024, and for entries from Thailand on or after April 26, 2024, Commerce will direct CBP to end suspension of liquidation and collection of AD/CVD cash deposits in connection with the now defunct AD/CVD orders, which had been in place since 2019. Entries before those effective dates will remain subject to suspension of liquidation and AD/CVD cash deposit requirements and assessments, Commerce said.