The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is extending tariff exclusions for 352 products from China that had been scheduled to expire Dec. 31. Those exclusions will now last until Sept. 30.

These are a subset of the original exclusions granted during the Trump administration, and they were restored Oct. 12, 2021.

A prepublication version of USTR's Federal Register notice said the decision to extend these exclusions was made in light of both the ongoing review of the entire Section 301 action against Chinese imports and comments back in October 2021 that said the goods were not available outside China, or that the additional tariffs caused importers "possible severe economic harm."

The Commerce Department is setting new antidumping and countervailing duties on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam -- though collection is on hold per a presidential proclamation and subsequent Commerce regulation -- after finding imports from the four countries are circumventing AD/CVD orders on solar cells from China in the preliminary determination of an anti-circumvention inquiry.

The determination applies countrywide to all solar cells and modules produced in the four Southeast Asian countries, with the exception of exports from a few companies Commerce found are not circumventing the duties: New East Solar in Cambodia, Hanwha Q Cells and Jinko Solar in Malaysia, and Boviet Solar Technology from Vietnam.

Commerce will allow importer/exporter certifications to exempt entries from AD/CVD, except from 22 Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese companies ruled ineligible for certification due to their lack of cooperation in the inquiry. One type of certification will exempt from the four countries cells that aren’t made from Chinese wafers, or modules that either aren’t made from Chinese wafers or don’t use certain other Chinese components.

Customs brokers must restructure by Feb. 17 any powers of attorney they had previously executed with freight forwarders or other third parties to satisfy a new requirement that the POAs be directly executed with the importer of record or drawback claimant, CBP said in a CSMS message Dec. 1.

The deadline applies to all POAs executed with forwarders or other third parties prior to Dec. 19. That’s the effective date of CBP’s recent customs broker modernization final rule, which amended the customs regulations to require all POAs be directly executed. Beginning on that date, all new POAs must also be directly executed with importers of record or drawback claimants.

For brokers with POAs executed prior to Dec. 19, “CBP will permit the requirement identified in the Modernization of the Customs Broker Regulations Final Rule … to be satisfied" by Feb. 17, 2023, CBP said. “Brokers may take steps to ensure that a POA has been directly executed with an importer or drawback claimant by affirming the POA via direct communication with the importer or drawback claimant.”

CBP on Nov. 23 issued a new withhold release order banning imports of raw sugar and sugar-based products produced in the Dominican Republic by Dominican sugar giant Central Romana, it said in a news release. The WRO takes immediate effect. According to a USDA report issued in April, Central Romana accounted for 59% of Dominican sugar production in the 2021-2022 sugar marketing year, and took 62.84% of the U.S. tariff rate quota for raw sugar in fiscal year 2021.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is extending exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs for 81 products related to the COVID-19 pandemic through February 2023, it said in a notice released Nov. 23. The exclusions, originally granted Dec. 29, 2020, were scheduled to expire Nov. 30, USTR said. “In light of the continuing efforts to combat COVID, the exclusions have been extended for an additional 90 days, through February 28, 2023,” USTR said in an emailed announcement.

CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus resigned Nov. 12. According to news reports, Magnus, who was confirmed by the Senate 11 months ago, was asked to resign last week by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and had originally refused. Deputy CBP Commissioner Troy Miller will manage the agency again until another presidential appointee can be confirmed, Mayorkas said in an email to staff, The Washington Post reported.

CBP will delay until Dec. 15 its deployment of a new mandatory data element in ACE for goods with a country of origin of China, said a CBP spokesperson Oct. 26. The new UFLPA Region Alert capability in ACE will use a new mandatory data element for the Chinese manufacturer’s postal code to generate a warning message when a Uyghur region postal code has been provided, according to an earlier update to the agency’s ACE development schedule that had listed a scheduled deployment in November.

CBP plans to put out an updated CATAIR document and add the capability to the ACE certification environment over the coming weeks, the spokesperson said. The agency also plans “further discussions with the trade community about the proposed change to be sure we understand the potential impacts,” and “will work to resolve” any issues and concerns “or change the deployment date as needed,” he said.

CBP on Oct. 17 released its long-awaited final rule amending Part 111 to modernize the customs broker regulations. As expected, the final rule eliminates broker district permits, modifies CBP’s responsible supervision and control framework for brokers, and increases fees for the broker license application to better cover CBP’s costs. CBP also released a concurrent final rule eliminating all references in its regulations to the customs broker district permit fee.

The agency made few changes from its proposed rule, including a new requirement that brokers must report breach of any known compromised importer identification numbers within 72 hours, in addition to requiring submission of any additional known compromised importer identification numbers within 10 days, and the consolidation of responsible supervision and control factors on responsiveness to CBP communications and internal communications. The final rules are set to be published in the Oct. 18 Federal Register, and will take effect Dec. 19.

In the final rule, CBP finalized a change related to responsible supervision and control that says CBP “may” consider factors listed in its regulations when assessing a broker, rather than “will” assess the factors. Commenters had said the change means CBP can now assess penalties on brokers for a single mistake rather than considering the broker’s compliance in its totality. CBP said that, despite the change, it will continue to consider factors on a “case-by-case” basis and that “no decisions will be made without a thorough evaluation of the relevant factors present that apply to an individual broker.”

The Court of International Trade ruled Sept. 21 that importer Eteros Technologies USA is legally allowed to import goods federally deemed "drug paraphernalia" because Washington state legalized the delivery, possession and manufacture of marijuana-related drug paraphernalia. Judge Gary Katzmann found Eteros is authorized to import motor frame assemblies used to create marijuana harvesting units under the federal exemption section of the Controlled Substances Act. As such, the U.S. cannot legally seize or forfeit Eteros' imports, Katzmann said.

The Court of International Trade was wrong to consider China's non-market economy status when analyzing whether to grant first sale treatment, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a Aug. 11 ruling. The decision overturns and remands a 2021 CIT ruling that said that first sale treatment shouldn't apply for cookware imported by Meyer from Thailand and China through a Chinese middleman because China is a NME.

A 1992 CAFC ruling in Nissho Iwai said a first sale transaction must be absent of distortive non-market influences, but the CIT wrongly interpreted that to extend to the role of NMEs, said the CAFC. "This provision concerns effects of the relationship between the buyer and seller, not effects of government intervention, and especially not with government intervention that affects the industry as a whole," said the court. "Because the Court of International Trade relied on its misreading of Nissho Iwai to reject Meyer’s first-sale price, we vacate and remand for the court to reconsider whether Meyer may rely on the first-sale price."

DHS posted the Forced Labor Enforcement Strategy document from the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force on June 17. The document was required under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which creates a rebuttable presumption that as of June 21 goods connected to the Xinjiang region are made with forced labor. Included in the document is "comprehensive assessment of the risk of importing goods mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, with forced labor," said the task force. Also included is an "evaluation and description of forced-labor schemes, UFLPA-required lists (including the UFLPA Entity List), UFLPA-required plans, and high priority sectors for enforcement."

The House voted Monday to pass the Senate version of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act 369-42, clearing the way to enact legislation that lawmakers say will reduce supply chain congestion, penalize unfair carrier practices, better aid agricultural exporters and address broader issues in the ocean freight delivery system. President Joe Biden applauded the passage and said he will soon sign it into law.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a June 9 opinion dismissed a broad challenge to President Donald Trump's Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. The plaintiffs, led by USP Holdings, argued that the Commerce Secretary's report preceding presidential action violated the law since it failed to outline an imminent threat to the domestic industry as required by the statute and was unsupported by substantial evidence. A three-judge panel at the court ruled against these arguments, holding that there is no imminence requirement in the statute and that the threat determination is not reviewable under the "arbitrary and capricious" standard since the Secretary's action "is only reviewable for compliance with the statute." Judge Timothy Dyk, author of the opinion, also ruled that the statute grants the president the discretion to set the nature and duration of the tariffs.

Judge Raymond Chen issued a partial dissent from the opinion on whether the threat determination is judicially reviewable. The majority cited a 2003 Federal Circuit opinion to find that the threat determination is a final agency action, and thus reviewable, since it predicates presidential action. While Chen agreed that applying this standard would make the determination reviewable, the judge said that the 2003 decision was wrongly decided since it doesn't square with two Supreme Court decisions which say that a final agency action is one that carries direct consequences for a party.

President Joe Biden announced on June 6 a 24-month grace period during which solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam may be imported free from antidumping and countervailing duties, regardless of the results of an ongoing anti-circumvention inquiry being carried out by the Commerce Department.

The action comes amid uncertainty in the solar industry due to the possibility Commerce may impose AD/CV duties, and ensures solar cells and modules from the four countries “can be imported free of certain duties for 24 months in order to ensure the U.S. has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.”

The grace period will have no bearing on the inquiry's outcome, Lisa Wang, who heads the office at Commerce tasked with AD/CV duties, said in an agency statement. “The Commerce Department’s anti-circumvention proceeding continues uninterrupted, and whatever conclusion Commerce reaches when the investigation concludes will apply once this short-term emergency period is over,” she said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend the exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs on goods used to treat COVID-19 for another six months, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. The exclusions were set to expire May 31, but USTR said it will extend the 81 product exclusions to Nov. 30.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that the Section 232 25% tariffs on Ukrainian steel will be temporarily lifted. "For steel mills to continue as an economic lifeline for the people of Ukraine, they must be able to export their steel," she said. "Today’s announcement is a signal to the Ukrainian people that we are committed to helping them thrive in the face of Putin’s aggression, and that their work will create a stronger Ukraine, both today and in the future." The tariff reprieve will last one year.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a notice asking if any companies that benefited from the Section 301 tariffs would like those tariffs continue. If no company benefited, the tariffs would end July 6, said the agency. If requests for continuation are submitted, the USTR will review the tariffs. During that review, opponents to the tariffs will also have the opportunity to be heard, it said. Another notice will be posted after July 6, the four-year anniversary of the tariffs on Chinese imports.

The Court of International Trade dealt a blow to the over 3,600 lawsuits challenging Lists 3 and 4A Section 301 China tariffs covering over $200 billion in goods, finding that the U.S. Trade Representative had the authority to impose the tariffs. In the highly-anticipated opinion, the court ruled against the plaintiffs' argument that the USTR could not impose Section 301 tariffs because the government was responding to retaliatory tariffs from China.

The opinion was not a complete loss for the importers, however, as the trade court sent the matter back to USTR after ruling that the agency failed to adequately respond to comments submitted in advance of the tariffs. A three-judge panel at the court ruled that the tariffs may remain in place while the agency reconsiders its action pertaining to these comments. USTR now has until June 30 to return to the court with a response to the remand.

The U.S. Trade Representative on March 23 announced the extension of 352 exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on China. The exclusions, all of which had expired, resume effect as of Oct. 12, 2021, and will remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2022, USTR said.

The exclusions include 89 covered under List 1 Section 301 tariffs, 34 under List 2, 187 on List 3 and 42 exclusions covered by List 4, according to a pre-publication notice released by USTR. Most had expired at the end of 2020, but some expired in 2021.

The extensions follow a request for comment from USTR in November asking for input on the extension of 549 Section 301 exclusions that had been previously extended by the agency prior to their expiration. The 352 exclusions extended by USTR will be covered by new subheading 9903.88.67.

The U.S. and U.K. reached an agreement that will drop Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the U.K. Under the deal, the U.S. will allow “historically-based sustainable volumes” of U.K. steel and aluminum goods to enter the country, the Commerce Department said, adding that it will lift the tariffs June 1. The U.S. will also require any U.K. steel company owned by a Chinese entity to undergo a financial audit “to assess influence” from the Chinese government.

President Biden issued an executive order March 11 that bans imports of Russian seafood, spirits and non-industrial diamonds. A fact sheet from the White House said the action "will deny Russia more than $1 billion in export revenues and ensure U.S. citizens are not underwriting Putin’s war" and that the U.S. "retains the authority to impose additional import bans as appropriate."

Biden also said he will sign a bill ending normal trading relations with Russia once Congress sends it to him and that other G7 nations will no longer provide Russia with most favored nation tariffs.

The U.S. will impose a ban on imports of all Russian energy products, President Joe Biden said March 8. "The American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine," Biden said at the White House. A White House fact sheet said the ban would be accomplished through an executive order that will prohibit "the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal."

Inspections and imports of fresh avocado from Mexico have resumed, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced on Feb. 18. The agency previously suspended avocado export program operations in the Mexican state of Michoacan, the only Mexican state currently authorized for the export of avocados, on Feb. 11 after a threatening phone call was received by an APHIS official conducting an inspection.

The threshold for tariff rate quotas will double to 5 GW per year under a four-year extension of Section 201 safeguard tariffs announced by presidential proclamation Feb. 4. The ITC has said imports during the first four years of the safeguard never exceeded the previous 2.5 GW threshold in the first four years the safeguard was in effect, making it unlikely that enough cells will be imported to be subject to the tariffs. Bifacial solar panels will continue to be excluded from the safeguard.

The annex to the proclamation hasn't yet been published, so it's not clear what the tariff levels will be on solar panels. The International Trade Commission had recommended that tariffs decline 0.25% a year, so if that is followed, the tariff beginning Feb. 7 would be 14.75%.

The proclamation noted that the ITC "advised that increasing the TRQ would help to continue growth in solar module production ... ." There are no solar cells made in the U.S. at this time. The president also asked the U.S. Trade Representative to enter into negotiations with Canada and Mexico, and that she may find that imports from those countries do not undermine the effectiveness of the safeguard, and allow their panels to be imported without facing the safeguard tariffs.

Imports of palm oil and palm oil products from the Sime Darby plantation in Malaysia may be seized by CBP starting Jan. 28 under a finding that the company uses forced labor, CBP said in a notice. "Through its investigation, CBP has determined that there is sufficient information to support a Finding that Sime Darby Plantation and its subsidiaries are using forced labor on Sime Darby’s plantations in Malaysia to harvest fresh fruit bunches, which are used to extract palm oil and produce derivative products, and that such palm oil and derivative products produced by the company are likely being imported" into the U.S., the agency said. CBP's finding follows a December 2020 withhold release order aimed at the company's palm oil.

The agency also issued a finding that the Taiwanese the Da Wang fishing vessel, "owned by Yong Feng Fishery Ltd., is using forced labor in its fishing operations" and seafood from the vessel may be subject to seizure as of Jan. 28, it said.

The trade provisions of the America COMPETES Act of 2022, the House's answer to the Senate U.S. Innovation and Opportunity Act, propose dramatic changes to antidumping and countervailing laws, a restriction on future Miscellaneous Tariff Bill lists, and would bar Chinese goods from entering under the de minimis statute. The House Rules Committee also released a section by section summary.

The trade chapter proposes renewing the Generalized System of Preferences retroactively back to Jan. 1, 2021 and through the end of 2024. Its renewal of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill would authorize duty suspensions and reductions of the current list through the end of 2023, retroactive to four months before enactment.

The changes to AD/CVD law would apply CVD to subsidies outside the home government's territory and make it easier for petitioners to bring new cases when production of a good already under an AD or CVD case moves to a new country. It also would not allow the International Trade Commission to consider a return to profitability or increase in sales as a result of an existing AD/CVD order when it is considering a case from another party for the same industry. It would accelerate decisions for successive investigations, as well.

The bill would also provide "CBP with authority to establish an Administrative Protective Order (APO) process for evasion proceedings," according to the summary.

CBP will require proof of full vaccination for COVID-19 from non-citizens and non-permanent residents coming into the U.S. through land ports of entry from Canada and Mexico beginning at 12 a.m. EST on Jan. 22, it said in a notice. Limited exceptions will apply, including for minors and travelers with valid non-immigrant visas, including B-1 business visas, who are citizens of a country with limited COVID-19 vaccine availability. Truck drivers and rail operators are not exempt, CBP said.

House Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer is introducing "The Import Security and Fairness Act," which would add some restrictions around the $800 de minimis level. Under the bill, goods from countries that are both non-market economies and on the U.S. Trade Representative's intellectual property watch list wouldn't be eligible for de minimis provisions. Currently, the only country that is both a non-market economy and labeled as an IP violator is China. Blumenauer has said that 83% of de minimis packages come from China.

The bill also wouldn't allow goods subject to Section 301 tariffs or Section 232 tariffs to qualify for de minimis. It would also prohibit de minimis shipments from foreign warehouses and require CBP to collect more information on de minimis shipments.