The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to release a rule next month to propose new restrictions on certain Chinese connected vehicle imports, including certain software, sensors and cameras used in those cars, said Alan Estevez, BIS undersecretary. The rule, which would build on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking released by the agency in February (see 2402290034), is expected “sometime in August,” Estevez said during an event this week hosted by the Aspen Institute.
Canada's half-hearted attempts to comply with dairy tariff rate quotas and the refusal of the U.S. to comply with the auto rules of origin ruling are undermining the USMCA and could make its review more painful, panelists from Canada and Mexico said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing to launch a survey of the pharmaceutical industry to gain a better understanding of the “supply chain network that underpins U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities,” the agency said in a July 9 news release. BIS will survey hundreds of U.S. manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and customers involved in the U.S. “active pharmaceutical ingredient industrial base” in part to identify supply chain vulnerabilities and better plan for potential supply shortages. The Department of Health and Human Services requested the survey.
The administration has added seafood, PVC, which is used in vinyl flooring, and aluminum to its priority enforcement sectors under the Ugyhur Forced Labor Prevention Act, it announced in its strategy update this week. This is the first time priority sectors have been added since the law went into effect two years ago; the original priority sectors of apparel, cotton products, polysilicon and solar panels made from polysilicon, and tomatoes remain.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called for a "legislative fix" to the de minimis exception "and the exploitation of that exception," the first time the administration has clearly said it hopes Congress will restrict the program that allows purchasers to import up to $800 worth of goods per day without paying tariffs.
The Federal Maritime Commission launched an investigation on whether ocean carriers are complying with a recent decision giving motor carriers the right to choose their chassis providers in four U.S. markets. The probe could lead to penalties against carriers, the commission said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 3-9:
The State Department published its annual list of countries certified to export shrimp to the U.S. without a certification from a government official on State Form DS-2031. The qualified countries have met at least one of two conditions: they have a regulatory program for protection of sea turtles that's comparable to that of the U.S., or the fishing environment of the country poses no risk to sea turtles.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA named to their newly established Seasonal and Perishable Agricultural Products Advisory Committee Astin Farms' Madison Astin, Bedner Growers' Marie Bedner, Georgia Fruit and Vegetables Growers Association's Chris Butts, A. Duda & Sons' Tracy Duda Champman, Southern Hill Farms' David Hill, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association's Michael Joyner, Fresh Produce Association of the Americas' Lance Jungmeyer, L&M Companies' Adam Lytch, MBG Marketing's Brad Moorer, Florida Strawberry Growers Association's Kenneth Parker and the Florida Farm Bureau's Jeb Smith.
Detention and demurrage billings appear to have returned to pre-pandemic levels after spiking during the last few years, said Jason Guthrie, an official with the Federal Maritime Commission's Bureau of Trade Analysis.