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.
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.
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.
Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick vigorously defended the prospect of imposing tariffs on all goods from places like the EU, Japan or South Korea during his confirmation hearing Jan. 29, saying those countries deserve it, as they either use food safety rules to protect their farmers, put up barriers to American car imports, or undercut American manufacturing with their exports of manufactured goods.
The creation of an External Revenue Service (ERS) to collect tariffs, duties and other foreign trade-related revenues could result in realigning CBP so that the agency would fall under the Department of the Treasury instead of DHS, according to two ArentFox Schiff attorneys.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened an investigation into Chinese manufacturing of legacy (or foundational) semiconductors, "including to the extent that they are incorporated as components into downstream products for critical industries like defense, automotive, medical devices, aerospace, telecommunications, and power generation and the electrical grid."