Members of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee are urging CBP to provide more clarity on how to comply with Section 232 tariffs, as well as suggesting that CBP enable importers to use publicly available metal commodity pricing for valuation purposes, according to a list of recommendations that the committee is expected to vote on during its quarterly meeting on Jan. 14.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has withdrawn an interim final rule from interagency review that was expected to set new import restrictions over certain Chinese-made drones and their components. BIS sent the rule for review in October and withdrew it Jan. 8, according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. A BIS spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment.
As CBP shifts its focus from trade facilitation and trade enforcement, conducting reasonable care is no longer enough, and importers must be prepared to do much more, according to the lead analytical content manager for risk management provider Sayari.
The Federal Maritime Commission ordered MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company to pay about $22.7 million in civil penalties for violating U.S. shipping laws, up from the $16 million amount that an administrative law judge called for last year (see 2502260072).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the U.S. dollar procurement thresholds it will allow from foreign firms under the World Trade Organization agreement on procurement, United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement and the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.
House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Chairwoman Maria Elena Salazar, R-Fla., asked a State Department official to press Mexico to stop accepting Cuban doctors' services, which she says is human trafficking. Salazar held a hearing on Mexico's relationship with its neighbors this week in the subcommittee.
The House Select Committee on China agreed that the Bureau of Industry and Security's connected vehicle rule, which was issued at the end of the Biden administration but starts to bite in mid-March, should be codified.
Auto industry representatives asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to let the USMCA autos rule of origin continue -- or to simplify it -- while the United Autoworkers called for "complete rewrite" of the pact next year, including wage floors in all three countries in auto and parts plants and "explicit job security provisions for American workers."
The Bureau of Industry and Security will likely approve nearly all newly submitted requests for inclusions of new tariff subheadings under 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives, according to a Nov. 30 blog post by trade lawyer Paul Fudacz.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is extending public comment periods for two information collections related to its delivery verification procedures for imports, it said in notices released Nov. 20. The agency previously requested feedback on the collections in July and is now allowing an additional 30 days for comments (see 2507250001).