The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for June 18:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for June 12:
Steel and aluminum importers and producers who wish to file exclusion requests or objections will need to start using a dedicated "232 Exclusions Portal" starting June 17, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in an interim final rule that's slated to be published in the June 10 Federal Register. The Commerce Department expects this system to be more user-friendly than regulations.gov, and parties will be able to track submission deadlines through the website as well. Comments on the interim final rule are due by Aug. 9.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for June 5:
The Commerce Department seemed to hint at the possibility of new Section 232 investigations in its critical minerals strategy report. According to one of the action items, Commerce suggested that the U.S. government "consider whether the circumstances of U.S. reliance on imports of high risk materials merit investigations to determine the effect on U.S. national security." Such an effort is "ongoing" and the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Defense Department are mentioned as handling the item. The report was a result of a 2017 executive order that called for a broad review of the U.S. supply of critical minerals (see 1712260006). "Currently, the United States is heavily dependent on imports of critical minerals, with the U.S. dependent on imports for more than 50 percent of domestic demand for 29 of the 35 minerals named" in an Interior Department report, a June 4 Commerce news release said. "In addition, the United States lacks any domestic production for 14 of the 35 minerals and does not have domestic access to processing and manufacturing capabilities for many of these minerals." Among other action items mentioned are to "use international trade agreements to challenge unlawful or otherwise unfair trading practices of foreign countries, where applicable" and "monitor foreign countries’ barriers to critical mineral-related trade and investment and seek to remove such barriers when they arise."
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for June 3:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for May 31:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for May 28:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for May 23:
The Commerce Department seeks public comments on any subsidies, including stumpage, paid by certain countries that exported softwood lumber to the U.S. between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2018. Comments are due June 10. The Softwood Lumber Act of 2008 requires Commerce to submit a report every 180 days on any subsidy provided by nations exporting softwood lumber or softwood products to the U.S., including subsidies for stumpage. Commerce is seeking input on subsidies paid by countries whose exports composed at least 1 percent of total U.S. softwood imports by quantity, as classified under tariff schedule subheading 4407.10.01, the agency said. International Trade Commission Tariff and Trade DataWeb information indicates that four countries -- Brazil, Canada, Germany and Sweden -- exported that much softwood lumber to the U.S. during that six-month period.