RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- As CBP ramps up trade enforcement, companies must not only strive to have their supporting documents in order, they also must scrutinize CBP's enforcement actions to ensure the agency is interpreting matters correctly, trade attorneys said at last week's Western Cargo Conference (WESCCON).

Although cargo volumes at the Port of Los Angeles have remained relatively strong compared with that at smaller U.S. ports, it doesn’t mean that the port has avoided feeling any impact of the U.S. trade policies, the executive director for the port said at a monthly media briefing earlier this week.

Section 232 tariffs on heavy- and medium-duty trucks and their parts and on buses will take effect Nov. 1, under a proclamation issued by President Donald Trump. Tariffs will be set at 25% for classes III through VIII trucks and their parts, and 10% on buses.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer faced some skepticism at a Republican lunch this week, but how much is unclear, since many Republicans were circumspect in describing the conversation. However much intra-party pushback there is toward the administration's tariff and trade policy, one senator told International Trade Today that it doesn't matter in the end.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in a joint press conference with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, said the administration has already drafted some documents to hike tariffs on Chinese goods, and is drafting other documents that might impose more export controls for goods sold to Chinese firms.

Two trade associations -- the National Fisheries Institute and the Restaurant Law Center -- and 10 seafood importers challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service's comparability findings of 240 fisheries across 46 nations (see 2509020014), which will lead to an import ban on all seafood products from these fisheries effective Jan. 1, 2026, at the Court of International Trade (National Fisheries Institute v. United States, CIT # 25-00223).

President Donald Trump, on his way to Israel, softened his message on tariffs on Chinese goods. When asked if imposing those tariffs was still the plan, he said, "Right now it is. Let's see what happens. November 1st is an eternity."

President Donald Trump reacted angrily to China's plan to expand export restrictions, including when rare earths are in products made abroad (see 2510090021. In a social media post that seemed to trigger a 2.7% drop in the S&P 500, he wrote, "Dependent on what China says about the hostile 'order' that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two."

A week after CBP instructed vessel operators how to pay fees under a Section 301 shipping action, and four days before those fees are due, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative changed the fee structure.