The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notice for Aug. 15:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Aug. 14:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking comments by Oct. 9 on a new information collection related to coming permitting, recordkeeping and ACE filing requirements for imported shrimp and abalone, NOAA said in a notice. Shrimp and abalone will be subject to requirements for high-risk seafood starting Dec. 31 (see 1804230037). As of that date, "importers of shrimp and abalone species will be required to obtain an International Fisheries Trade Permit" and "submit harvest and landing information on those products" into the International Trade Data System through the ACE portal. NOAA estimated the information requirements will require 215,167 annual burden hours and cost a total $805,000 annually due to recordkeeping and reporting costs.
The U.S. trade representative said increasing the tariff level on $200 billion in Chinese imports (see 1808010070) could "could encourage China to change its harmful policies." China responded with its own threat. "We would advise the United States to correct its attitude and not try to engage in blackmail. This won’t work on China,” Geng Shuang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Aug. 1, according to Reuters. "Secondly, we would advise the U.S. side to return to reason, and not blindly let emotions affect their decisions, because in the end this will harm themselves."
The National Marine Fisheries Service is developing a plan to ban fish and fish products from Mexican fisheries that use gillnets near the endangered vaquita porpoises as required by a recent Court of International Trade ruling (see 1807260039), said Zak Smith, a senior attorney at the National Resources Defense Council. "It is my understanding that the government is not yet imposing a ban on imports, but that the National Marine Fisheries Service is working on the process for blocking the products subject to the import ban, while allowing other imports to enter," Smith said by email. The NRDC is one of the animal conservation groups that brought the lawsuit. CIT approved a preliminary injunction on July 26 that requires the government to ban imports of certain fish products from Mexico while the case is pending. The NMFS didn't comment.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for July 23-30:
The U.S. could be on a "pretty rapid track with the Mexican talks" to close NAFTA, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Indo-Pacific Business Forum July 30. He said that Mexico's role in NAFTA is "intellectually more complicated" than Canada's, and "there are fewer issues with Canada." So, Ross said, if the Mexico side can be solved "we should be able to fill in with Canada." Ross's comments contrast with what U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Senators last week (see 1807260029), when he said that "I don't believe [Canadians] have compromised in the same way the United States has and Mexico has," and he suggested closing the deal with Mexico would force Canada to bend.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross pointed to the European Union's interest in working on a trade deal (see 1807250031) that addresses non-tariff barriers and some industrial tariffs as "a real vindication that the president’s trade policy is starting to work." Ross, who was speaking to reporters traveling with the president to Iowa July 26, said Donald Trump's approach is to make it painful for other countries to continue their trade stances.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments by Sept. 10 on the Section 232 investigation into the national security effects of uranium imports (see 1807180029), BIS said in a notice. The agency seeks input on the health of the domestic uranium industry, quantities of uranium imports and industry growth needed to meet national security requirements, it said. BIS will publish another notice if a public hearing is planned, it said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a list of frequently asked questions about product exclusions from the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. Among the answered questions are how to seek a different decision if a company disagrees with a denial. If the denial is the result of an inaccurate Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification, the company should contact CBP and then resubmit the request with the correct classification. "If the denial is based on an objection, the requester may file a new exclusion request and include information documenting the reason why the new request should be granted notwithstanding the prior objection(s)," BIS said. "This information could include, for example, the documentation of the inability or refusal of the objector(s) to provide the product." The lack of denial appeal procedure is among some complaints about the exclusion process (see 1807230062).