An Indonesian jewelry company and its co-owner, along with two other employees, were charged last week with taking part in a scheme to evade over $86 million in customs duties on jewelry imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. Two of the individuals, Indonesian national Icha Anastasia and Italian national Claudio Fogale, were arrested last week and each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud (United States v. PT Untung Bersama Sejahtera a/k/a UBS Gold, D.N.J. # 2:25-12158).
CBP has issued a withhold release order against imports manufactured in Mauritius by Firemount Group based on information CBP said "reasonably indicates" the use of forced labor.
Customs brokers that filed entries after tariff exemptions on agricultural products took retroactive effect on Nov. 13 should file corrections "as soon as possible," according to a Nov. 14 cargo systems message outlining guidance on the exemptions for agricultural products (see 2511140054).
Trade experts -- including the chief negotiator for the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement -- were puzzled by language in a joint statement on the recent Korea tariff deal Nov. 15.
The Trump administration is hindering its stated objectives by holding the USMCA trade agreement hostage and trying to reshape the agreement during the review process, according to experts speaking at a Washington International Trade Association event.
President Donald Trump may look to ramp up his use of sections 232 and 301 should the Supreme Court rule that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act can't be used for levying tariffs, various lawyers told us. However, the expanded use of these statutes, both as they are being used now and how they may be used to supplant the existing reciprocal and fentanyl trafficking tariffs, may encounter legal difficulties.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order late Nov. 14 exempting many agricultural products, including food, from all reciprocal tariffs. The executive order said the new tariff exemptions took effect at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 13.
Should the Supreme Court rule that the tariffs administered under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are not valid, importers of record, who could potentially receive duty refunds, may also end up in legal battles with others who shared in the importer's tariff burden, founding member and principal of Sandler and Travis said during Flexport's Nov. 12 webinar on tariff trends.
The U.S. is eliminating 15% tariffs on Ecuadoran bananas and cocoa, and 10% tariffs on Guatemalan coffee and Argentinian beef, as the three countries have reached framework agreements on reciprocal trade.
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