The Labor Department is seeking comments on its interim rules for how automakers can establish that enough of their vehicles were produced with $16/hour labor. Stakeholders have until Aug. 31 to comment.
CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner for Trade Brenda Smith told reporters June 30 that CBP staffers “are very well-prepared to implement the agreement” that takes over from NAFTA at midnight.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on June 30 added 11 entries to its Venezuela sanctions list. The sanctions target government officials and prosecutors within President Nicolas Maduro's government.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 22-26 in case you missed them.
Mexican companies may struggle to comply with U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement provisions due to uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and confusion about certificate of origin provisions, two former Mexican government officials said. Some Mexican businesses may opt to forgo the preferential treatment under USMCA, which takes effect July 1, and instead pay most favored nation rates on imports until they better understand the agreement’s provisions, the former officials said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security clarified the agency’s suspension of license exceptions for exports to Hong Kong, saying it will no longer allow exceptions for items subject to the Export Administration Regulations “that provide differential treatment than those available” to China. In a guidance issued after its June 29 suspension announcement (see 2006290063), BIS said U.S. exporters cannot use license exceptions for any shipments to Hong Kong “except for transactions that would otherwise be eligible for a license exception” for mainland China.
Canada complained at the World Trade Organization that the U.S. has neither proposed a period of time to comply with the ruling on supercalendered paper, nor said whether it will comply with the Dispute Settlement Body ruling at all (see 2002060059). So, as it did in April, Canada is asking for the right to retaliate for the damage done. The complaint was part of the regular Dispute Settlement Body meeting in Geneva on June 29.
The Canada Border Services Agency issued a memorandum June 25 on its interpretation of the phrase “for domestic purposes” under certain tariff items under the Harmonized System headings 94.01 and 94.03. Canada said “intended use, rather than the actual use, of furniture is the test” to determine whether furniture is classified “for domestic purposes,” the memorandum said. Canada also said the phrase should be given “a broad enough interpretation to include products that are used primarily in a domestic setting,” and that an item's “design, characteristics, marketing and pricing” should all be considered.
China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the Senate’s passage of a bill that would sanction Chinese officials, companies and foreign banks for interfering in Hong Kong’s autonomy (see 2006250043), threatening to impose countermeasures. China “will react firmly” if the bill is signed into law, a ministry spokesperson said during a June 29 news conference, “and the U.S. shall bear all the consequences.” The spokesperson also said the sanctions will not stop any Chinese actions in Hong Kong. “Their attempts are doomed to fail,” the spokesperson said. “This act will be nothing more than a piece of paper.”
The State Department is extending the comment deadline on an information collection related to notifications submitted to the agency for changes in company registration. The information collection applies to companies registered with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls that undergo a change in registration information, or if the company is involved in a merger, acquisition or divestiture of an entity producing items controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Comments, which were due by June 1 (see 2003310022), now will be accepted through July 30.