House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee ranking member Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., and 13 other Democrats on the committee asked the administration not to cut the Department of Labor's International Labor Affairs Bureau staff and the programs they administer.
The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to soon issue general authorizations for certain Chinese connected vehicle imports, which could offer exemptions for small-scale manufacturers or companies importing items for testing, research or repair, Commerce Department officials said.
Agriculture representatives from across the industry expressed nervousness at the Trump administration's current trade policy, saying that the potential for a trade war from reciprocal tariffs would devastate American farmers.
The Commerce Department is working to finalize an October proposed rule that will change how the agency regulates in-transit shipments that are first imported through the U.S. from foreign countries before being exported to another foreign destination (see 2410300040).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is reviewing the public comments it received in response to its advance notice of proposed rulemaking on drones, a Commerce Department official said March 18 at the BIS annual update conference.
When the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asked for comments on policies that reduce U.S. exports, most agricultural trade associations -- and a few companies -- laid out their concerns about tariffs or sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) barriers that prevent their exports from reaching their potential.
A State Department notice declaring that all agency efforts to control international trade now constitute a "foreign affairs function" of the U.S. under the Administrative Procedure Act will ultimately be subject to the discretion of the courts, trade lawyers told us.
Section 232 tariffs on a new list of steel and aluminum “derivatives” outside of Chapters 73 and 76 are now set to take effect, after the Commerce Department released a notice that “adequate systems are in place to fully, efficiently, and expediently process and collect tariff revenue for covered articles for both steel and aluminum.”
From corporate giants to small companies, in farming, manufacturing and retail, Americans said tariffs on Canada and Mexico were damaging their businesses and driving up costs for customers.
Stacy Hernandez, a former international trade specialist at the Commerce Department, was “let go” from her position March 3 amid the Trump administration's sweeping cuts of employees who are still on probationary status. March 4 would have been her first day off probation, she said on LinkedIn. She joined ITA last year after working in the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Technology Evaluation.