The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on May 22:
Senators and witnesses focused on de minimis and CBP's data collecting authorities -- both sides agreeing that data collection, particularly from partner government agencies, needs to be refined, and that de minimis is a useful trade facilitation tool.
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website May 21, 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 May 22 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 20), which includes the following ruling action:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Failures in import compliance were revealed in the Senate Finance Committee's report on two auto companies' imports of parts or cars containing parts made by a company on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act entity list (see 2405200009). But the report also exposed a weakness in CBP's ability to detect goods that should be detained under UFLPA, finding that Jaguar Land Rover imported spare parts that included LAN transformers made by a Chinese company on the entity list and only one manufacturer removed from the finished product.
Five products identified by the Biden administration as deserving 100% Section 301 tariffs for strategic reasons -- electric vans, buses, low-speed golf-cart like EVs, electric cars, and plug-in hybrids -- will see higher rates on Aug. 1.
Solar manufacturing equipment imported from China will automatically be exempt from 301 tariffs, but a notice published by the Office of U.S. Trade Representative is unclear on when those tariffs will be lifted. A spokesperson said they will be effective on the day the notice is published in the Federal Register.
Former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas, who led the committee when the major tax cuts were written and passed during the Trump administration, is joining Akin's lobbying practice. Brian Pomper, former chief international trade counsel when Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., led the committee, now is co-lead of the lobbying practice. He said: "With the novel USMCA review process starting in earnest next year and the need to navigate difficult trade issues like the Section 301 tariffs on China, Brady’s distinguished career at the forefront of shaping trade policy will bring unparalleled perspective and insight to our clients at a critical time.”
A Flexport spokesperson this week disputed U.S.-based Giti Tire's allegations that Flexport violated U.S. shipping laws (see 2405200019), saying the logistics company tried "everything" to resolve the dispute, but Giti "refused to pay their obligations."