President Donald Trump said on social media he is "strongly considering large-scale" sanctions and tariffs on Russia "until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED."
CBP has postponed indefinitely an enhancement within ACE that would withhold the release of de minimis shipments that exceed the $800 per person/per day threshold, according to the February development and deployment schedule released last week.
CBP plans to double down on implementing President Donald Trump's America First trade policy, according to federal officials speaking during the quarterly meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, held in Atlanta on March 5.
The trade community is closely watching whether plans by the Department of Government Efficiency to drastically cut the federal workforce will have any impact on trade operations, judging by recent social media posts.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, blocked his effort to pass a bill through the Senate unanimously that would require Congress to approve tariffs imposed on free-trade partners like Mexico and Canada, or on NATO and major non-NATO allies.
Matthew Axelrod, the Bureau of Industry and Security's former export enforcement chief, has joined Gibson Dunn to help lead the firm's new sanctions and export enforcement practice group. Axelrod and former Treasury Department senior adviser Adam Smith will co-chair the new group, which they said will aim to help clients navigate rising export control and sanctions risks.
China used forced labor from North Korean nationals on its tuna fishing vessels, advocacy group Environmental Justice Foundation said in a report published Feb. 23. EJF found evidence that North Koreans worked on 12 Chinese vessels and were subject to "physical abuse, verbal abuse and excessive overtime."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
President Donald Trump directed the Commerce Department to launch a Section 232 investigation on copper and copper products, which will cover the effect of imports of copper, copper concentrates, refined copper, copper alloys, scrap copper and copper derivative products on national security -- specifically, how they affect domestic copper mining, smelting and refining. The investigation is not limited to those categories; as the order says, it should look at "imports of copper in all forms."
The U.S. government is considering charging fees ranging from $500,000 to $1.5 million each time a ship docks at a U.S. port, with higher fees charged when Chinese vessels enter; South Korean or Japanese-built ships wouldn't avoid the fees, however, as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seems to have taken earlier criticisms into account that global shipping companies would own just as many Chinese ships but use them at other destinations.