Momentum on a bill to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods in e-commerce has slowed, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., acknowledged. Earlier, he had hoped the Shop Safe (Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in E-commerce) bill would move in the House Judiciary Committee in May or June.
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.
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.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 3-9:
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.
Automakers and their trade groups cautioned the Bureau of Industry and Security to tailor its restrictions narrowly -- and allow a phase-in -- if they want manufacturers to stop buying information technology components from China for cars with advanced features, including electric cars.
A House member who is running for the Senate in Indiana asked the Commerce Department to initiate an investigation on the import of electric vehicles and electric vehicle batteries made anywhere in the world.
President Joe Biden said a regulatory effort from the Commerce Department to curtail the use of software, sensors and cameras in automobiles made by Chinese firms is one of the actions the administration is taking "to make sure the future of the auto industry will be made here in America with American workers."
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., told an audience of trade professionals that while he appreciates the complaint that CBP cannot adequately screen packages that enter under de minimis, he thinks if de minimis is tightened, it could make enforcement even more difficult.
The government is considering adding seafood to its list of priority enforcement targets, joining cotton, polysilicon and tomatoes, according to testimony at a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight hearing.