The Treasury Department is seeking public comments on an information collection involving the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Rough Diamonds Control Regulations, which outline restrictions on certain diamond imports. Under the regulations, Treasury said the person listed as the ultimate consignee on the entry summary or its electronic equivalent must report that person’s receipt of a shipment of rough diamonds “to the relevant foreign exporting authority within 15 calendar days of the date that the shipment arrived at the U.S. port of entry.” Comments on the information collection are due Dec. 16.
CBP's new Forced Labor Allegation Portal and Forced Labor Portal will consolidate the information collection of potential forced labor violations into one centralized location, "increasing efficiency and reducing the burden of collection to both CBP and the public," the agency said in a notice seeking comments as it prepares to submit the information collection to the Office of Management and Budget.
The Commerce Department has published the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on certain steel racks and parts thereof (steel racks) from China (A-570-088). In the final results of this review, Commerce will set assessment rates for subject merchandise from the three companies remaining of the original nine under review entered Sept. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2023.
Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Martha Bárcena said that she has been told that the U.S. will not comply with the panel ruling that said that rollup was understood to be part of the automotive rule of origin (see 2403070067), and she said that is undermining USMCA. She said that's because both the Republicans and the Democrats are fighting for the political support of the United Autoworkers and Teamsters. (The autoworkers' union characterizes rollup as watering down the requirement for North American content in vehicles).
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao urged U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo this week to lift U.S. semiconductor export restrictions against China (see 2211010042 and 2302020034) and reverse its proposed import restrictions on Chinese connected vehicles (see 2409220001), saying the two countries need to reach a clearer understanding around their national security-related trade policies.
The Commerce Department is setting new countervailing duty cash deposit requirements for imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from Cambodia (C-555-004), Malaysia (C-557-831), Thailand (C-549-852) and Vietnam (C-552-842)., after finding countervailable subsidization of producers and exporters in the four countries in the preliminary determinations of its CVD investigations. Suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements will generally take effect for entries on or after Oct. 4, the date that the preliminary determinations were published in the Federal Register, but Commerce is making the suspension of liquidation and CVD cash deposits retroactive to approximately July 6 for some Thai and Vietnamese companies.
The Commerce Department issued its final determinations in the antidumping duty investigations on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-158), Colombia (A-301-806), Ecuador (A-331-804), India (A-533-920), Indonesia (A-560-840), Italy (A-475-846), Malaysia (A-557-826), Mexico (A-201-860), South Korea (A-580-918), Taiwan (A-583-874), Thailand (A-549-847), Turkey (A-489-850), the United Arab Emirates (A-520-810) and Vietnam (A-552-837). Cash deposit rates set in this final determination are set to take effect Oct. 3, the scheduled publication date for these final determinations in the Federal Register.
A hearing about the Time to Choose Act, a bipartisan bill that would ban consultants and other service providers from working both with the U.S. government and Chinese-owned companies, Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he agreed with a witness who said it could create a slippery slope.
EPA may require manufacturers, importers and exporters of 30 chemical substances that are subject to premanufacture notices or microbial commercial activity notices under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to notify the agency at least 90 days ahead of time, it said in a notice on the proposed significant new use rules (SNUR).
CBP's Office of Regulations & Rulings upheld a Feb. 9 Enforce and Protect Act determination that Legion Furniture evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Chinese-origin quartz surface products, according to a notice released Sept. 11 by CBP (see 2402150013).