International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 2-6 in case they were missed.
Export controls over technology and software used for the 3D printing of firearms will not transition from the State Department to the Commerce Department after a Washington court granted a request to block the Trump administration from completing the transfer. The court, whose March 6 order temporarily blocked portions of a January final rule to transfer the controls, suggested the administration likely violated notice-and-comment standards and pointed to the “grave reality” the transfer might have on the proliferation of 3D printed guns. The decision stemmed from a January request (see 2001240047 and 2002070043) filed by 20 states and Washington, D.C., to urge the court to vacate the final transfer rules, which were scheduled to take effect March 9 (see 2001170030).
The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and five other Republican senators signed on to a friend of the court brief pushing for the publication of the Commerce Department report on how imported autos and auto parts imperil national security. The brief, filed March 6, reminds the judge that Congress required the Commerce Department to release the report by Jan. 19 and that the original law that contains Section 232 requires publication of the report. The case the senators are joining is a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Cause of Action Institute filed last month.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service should allow for a “soft enforcement” period following its deadline for ACE filing of APHIS Core partner government agency (PGA) data in August, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to the agency dated March 4. While the Aug. 3 deadline proposed by the agency allows enough time for brokers to get ready for mandatory filing (see 2001310042), some flexibility in implementation would “guard against unwelcome disruptions in trade,” the NCBFAA said.
CBP and the Justice Department are still considering whether to file an appeal of a Court of International Trade ruling against CBP regulations to prevent excise tax drawback (see 2002270062), said Alexandra Khrebtukova, a lawyer at CBP. “That decision is not yet final” because the appeals period has not yet completed, she said. An appeal would need to be filed by April 20 and “the United States is evaluating whether to file its appeal,” she said. Khrebtukova, who spoke as part of a March 6 panel at the Georgetown University Law Center International Trade Update conference, said she was speaking on her own behalf and not for CBP or the government.
Sonos is watching the coronavirus impact closely, having manufacturing facilities in China that are now coming back on line, said Chief Financial Officer Brittany Bagley at a Tuesday-night investor conference. The company had already started moving manufacturing to Malaysia to mitigate the Section 301 tariffs and expects to have most U.S.-bound production there by year's end, she said.
Coronavirus concerns are forcing the cancellation of more industry summits and prompting the FCC to ban nonessential travel and participation in large gatherings (see 2003040061). America's Communications Association Thursday also announced the cancellation of its March summit.
Coronavirus concerns are forcing the cancellation of more industry summits and prompting the FCC to ban nonessential travel and participation in large gatherings (see 2003040061). America's Communications Association Thursday also announced the cancellation of its March summit.
CBP needs to provide more information about the intended reach of the agency's proposal to limit Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rulings involving locking pliers (see 1911190036), two tool companies said in comments filed in opposition to the proposal. The comments, submitted in December by lawyers for the Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation and the Apex Tool Group, were provided by CBP in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Both companies said they filed protests with CBP on similar merchandise. The comments were due to CBP by Dec. 20.
CBP found “success and value” from its recent “proof of concept” that looked at the use of blockchain to track intellectual property license information, said Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s business transformation office, in an agency report on the test. This test, which was the second POC so far (see 1910080034), involved an increase in complexity over the previous POC, the report said. “The Business Transformation and Innovation Division (BTID) recommends moving forward with maturing these tests as we take on the mission of re-engineering the supply chain in a 21st century world,” he said.