U.S. companies can temporarily import certain controlled firearms they previously exported to Ukraine in order to service or repair them, the Bureau of Industry and Security clarified as part of a broader Russia-related final rule released Jan. 23. BIS said those firearms can be temporarily imported under License Exception RPL (Replacement of Parts and Equipment) as long as they were originally exported under a BIS license.
The House Select Committee on China is asking the Treasury Department to assess if "altering de minimis eligibility for textile and apparel and other high-risk items," such as not allowing these goods to enter under de minimis, would improve enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Apple likely will stop selling watches that contain pulse oximeters, at least for now, after a Jan. 17 court order made clear that a stay on those watches’ Section 337 import ban would end the next day (Apple v. International Trade Commission, Fed. Cir. # 24-1285).
The Commerce Department is amending the final results released in December of the antidumping duty administrative review on large diameter welded pipe from Canada (A-122-863). Based on comments received after publication of the final results on Dec. 13, Commerce determined that it made a ministerial error in a calculation, with the result being that there was no dumping of subject merchandise during the review period May 1, 2021, through April 30, 2022.
CBP affirmed an August 2023 Enforce and Protect Act decision that thermal paper from Germany transshipped through Mexico was covered by the scope of, and evaded, an antidumping duty order, the agency said in a de novo administrative review on Dec. 22.
The Court of International Trade on Jan. 16 sent back CBP's finding that importer Columbia Aluminum Products' door thresholds evaded the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. Judge Timothy Stanceu said CBP, in both the final evasion decision and an administrative review of the decision, committed "multiple errors, both of fact and of law." The judge said CBP didn't have evidence on its side in making the evasion finding, nor did it properly initiate the investigation.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai says that her agency and Congress "will need to work closely together" to address the fact that "existing rules of origin have left openings" for Chinese firms with operations outside China to avoid Section 301 tariffs and, depending where the operations occur, benefit from free trade agreements.
CBP recently affirmed an Enforce and Protect Act determination that found Lionshead Specialty Tire & Wheel, TexTrail and Trailstar evaded antidumping and countervailing duties on trailer wheels from China by transshipping Chinese-origin subject merchandise through Thailand, CBP said in a de novo administrative review of an EAPA investigation.
Allowing the financing companies that own leased vehicles to claim tax credits irrespective of where electric vehicles and their batteries were made, and lengthening the timeline to cut China out of battery and critical mineral supply chains, runs contrary to the Inflation Reduction Act, argued Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, and the ranking member of the committee, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
The shorter time frame for filing type 86 entries announced by CBP Jan. 12 is likely intended to allow the agency to target de minimis shipments in advance and give it more time to complete its targeting processes, said customs brokers asked about the policy change.