C.J. Mahoney, who led the U.S. team in renegotiating NAFTA during the first Trump administration, described USMCA as "a modest success so far," that has increased U.S. production of auto engines and transmissions, and increased factory construction in both the U.S. and Mexico.
The Commerce Department will have until May 10 to establish a process for including additional derivative steel and aluminum items to be subject to 25% tariffs -- but importers are still waiting to learn what products have already been added to the list.
An increase in Section 232 tariffs on aluminum to 25% will also take March 12, the same date as changes to steel tariffs, as will a return on tariffs on aluminum from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, the EU and the U.K. after those countries’ exemptions and quota agreements are ended on that date.
Tariffs are set to take effect March 12 for steel and steel derivatives from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the U.K., Ukraine and the EU, said the presidential proclamation released late Feb. 10 that increases Section 232 duties on steel, in part by ending Section 232 exemptions and quota agreements for those countries.
Double Ace Cargo, a Florida-based non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC), has paid $165,000 in civil penalties and is paying for an independent monitoring of its business practices under two compromise agreements it reached with the Federal Maritime Commission over the past nearly two years, the FMC announced Feb. 7.
A California customs broker pleaded guilty Feb. 7 to defrauding importers out of more than $5 million and committing over $1 million in tax evasion, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. The broker, Frank Seung Noah, copped to two counts of wire fraud, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison each, and one count of tax evasion, for which he faces five years in prison.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP has created Harmonized Systems Updates 2505 and 2506. HSU 2505, created on Feb. 3, contains 84 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records and 32 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. It also includes the China/Hong Kong HTS updates.
In the Jan. 29 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59 No. 5), CBP published proposals to modify and/or revoke ruling letters concerning the tariff classification of propafenone hydrochloride and certain earrings with cubic zirconia.
CBP said it no longer will allow for retroactive treatment for products made in China and Hong Kong that came in after the administration's Feb. 5 executive order temporarily reinstating de minimis, according to a Federal Register notice. The order wasn't publicly announced until Feb. 7 (see 2502070052).