The U.S. has suspended liquidation for goods exported from Minera Camino Rojo, a mine in Zacatecas, after deciding a petition from Mineros, a mining union, had merit. The petition said that managers undermined worker support for Mineros and promoted the idea of joining a different mining union. This is the 27th time the U.S. has invoked the USMCA rapid response labor mechanism; all cases have been settled without a removal of tariff benefits.
The U.S. has asked Canada for formal consultations on the 3% digital services tax on revenues of large social media platforms, e-commerce platforms and other companies that target advertising or collect data from Canadian customers.
The U.S. said that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng talked dairy market access, trade in softwood lumber, and cooperation in USMCA. "Tai welcomed Canada’s recent announcement concerning electric vehicles, steel, and aluminum. The two ministers also discussed their shared commitment to strengthening North American supply chain resilience, especially for electric vehicles, and stressed the importance of collaboration on issues related to non-market policies and practices of other countries," the U.S. readout said. Canada's readout said: "Minister Ng raised the issue of U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber products and discussed the need to move forward in a mutually beneficial manner that would create greater predictability and stability in the forestry sectors of both countries."
Once accelerated payment for USMCA drawback claims becomes available Aug. 20 (see 2408050055), users requesting it for eligible unliquidated claims currently on file with CBP must contact the filing office directly and request the claim be returned to trade control, CBP said in an Aug. 8 CSMS update. The claimant will be required to resubmit the claim with the AP request, CBP said.
CBP plans to add a new ACE functionality that will automate the removal and restoration of Entry Type 86 test participants, it said in the latest version of its ACE development schedule, released Aug. 5.
Eight former Volkswagen factory workers who were union representatives will be reinstated with back pay, and one fired worker will receive severance pay, according to a remediation plan for Volkswagen de México, the largest auto manufacturing plant in Mexico, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced July 30.
Accelerated payment (AP) will become available for all USMCA drawback claims late next month, according to a July 26 CBP CSMS message. The agency will issue a confirmation after the required programming is deployed in ACE, CBP said.
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Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, has said that former President Donald Trump's tariff policy was a "trade tax that has resulted in American families spending as much as $1.4 billion more on everything from shampoo to washing machines."
The Supreme Court's recent decision eliminating the standard of deferring to federal agencies' interpretation of ambiguous statutes (see 2406280051) "will likely result in more litigation in the already heavily litigated world of international trade," two ArentFox Schiff partners said in a client alert.