CBP has released its May 1 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 17). While it contains recent court decisions, no customs rulings are included.
Greenpeace sent CBP a “request” to impose penalties on Bumble Bee Tuna and other entities that it alleges have continued to import tuna from a fishing vessel subject to a CBP withhold release order, Greenpeace said in a May 1 news release. The request is “being made in line” with 19 U.S.C. 1595a(b), which provides for “a penalty equal to the value” of the imported goods on any person who aids unlawful importation. Greenpeace said it “found a Bumble Bee branded can of tuna containing fish caught by the reportedly blacklisted Da Wang at an Arlington, Virginia supermarket in April 2022.” It said a penalty was imposed on another importer for similar reasons in 2020 (see 2008140016). CBP didn’t immediately comment, nor did Greenpeace when asked for more details on the request.
Representatives from the domestic textiles industry testified at an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative hearing May 2 regarding ways to promote supply chain resilience, especially after many were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2404290057).
Canadian Solar, which is ramping up a 5-gigawatt solar panel manufacturing factory in Texas, told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that tariff rate quotas on solar cells under the current safeguard action and Section 301 tariffs on machinery that helps make solar panels and cells are harming solar manufacturers. Canadian Solar also is working on opening a solar cell plant in Indiana, but it won't open until late 2025. It imports cells made in Thailand. The TRQ only allows five gigawatts' worth of tariff-free cells in annually.
In the first third of its first public hearing on promoting supply chain resilience, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and interagency officials heard from groups disputing the premise of the project -- that liberalizing trade was harmful to U.S. workers and manufacturing -- and from those who say the worker-centered trade approach of the Biden administration is not going far enough to restore American manufacturing.
Masud Husain, a Canadian foreign service official, will replace Sheri Meyerhoffer as the new head of the government agency that investigates human rights concerns, including forced labor, in Canadian-linked supply chains, the country announced April 30. Husain will take over “later this year” in an interim role as the Canadian ombudsperson for responsible enterprise (CORE), Canada said.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the May 2 Federal Register on the following AD/CVD injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register May 2 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 has published the preliminary results of its countervailing duty administrative review on phosphate fertilizers from Russia (C-821-825). The agency calculated a preliminary rate of 18.83% for Joint Stock Company Apatit, the only company under review. That 18.83% CVD rate would apply for cash deposit purposes, and for the purposes of assessments for entries from Apatit for entries in calendar year 2022. Changes to Apatit's cash deposit rate would take effect beginning on the date of publication of the final results in the Federal Register.
The Commerce Department announced the opportunity to request administrative reviews by May 31 of producers and exporters subject to 66 antidumping duty orders and 21 countervailing duty orders with May anniversary dates, as well as one AD order on preserved mushrooms from France that was published in a previous notice with the wrong period of review.