The U.S. declined to prosecute a criminal trade fraud case against global plastic resin distributor MGI International and its subsidiaries Global Plastics and Marco Polo International, DOJ announced on Dec. 18. The agency agreed to credit a $6.8 million payment made by MGI to settle a civil case against the company for knowingly failing to pay customs duties on plastic resin entries from China in its decision not to proceed with a criminal investigation for the same conduct.
A bipartisan bill to increase financial pressure on Russia to stop its aggression in Ukraine no longer gives the president the authority to hike tariffs on countries like Turkey, China and Hungary that purchase Russian oil and gas. The original approach was to give the president the ability to impose tariffs as high as 500% on those countries' exports; he has hiked tariffs on Indian goods by 25 percentage points over the issue.
Ceratizit USA, a North Carolina-based tungsten carbide distributor, agreed to pay $54.4 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by "knowingly and improperly failing to pay duties owed on tungsten carbide products" from China, DOJ announced.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Trump administration will recommend renewal of USMCA only if 20 issues can be resolved, and maybe more, as he told Congress this isn't an exhaustive list.
The National Marine Fisheries Service still expects Jan. 1 to be the start date for the agency requiring certifications of admissibility (COA) from companies importing fish and fish products from certain countries that may have U.S.-imposed import restrictions, officials said on a Dec. 16 webinar on the issue.
The House passed a bill by voice vote Dec. 15 that would reauthorize the Federal Maritime Commission through FY 2027. The reauthorization was originally to be extended through FY 2029 but was shortened to match a recently enacted Coast Guard reauthorization bill (see 2506300066 and 2509180046). The FMC legislation now heads to the Senate for its consideration.
The Commerce Department will on Jan. 1 begin a two-week window for requests for new products to be included under Section 232 tariffs on auto parts, it said in a notice released Dec. 15. Inclusion requests will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 14, after which the agency will post the inclusion requests it receives for comment and begin a 60-day process to consider whether to grant the inclusions.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The House Select Committee on China agreed that the Bureau of Industry and Security's connected vehicle rule, which was issued at the end of the Biden administration but starts to bite in mid-March, should be codified.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he expects the U.S. will announce more trade deals, and release text about previously announced framework deals "in the coming weeks."