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.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called for a "legislative fix" to the de minimis exception "and the exploitation of that exception," the first time the administration has clearly said it hopes Congress will restrict the program that allows purchasers to import up to $800 worth of goods per day without paying tariffs.
Even though two jacket styles produced by manufacturer and supplier Youngone El Salvador met the tariff shift requirement of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), the jackets still aren't eligible for preferential tariff treatment because the visible lining was formed and finished in a country outside of member countries with the CAFTA-DR, CBP ruled recently.
The International Trade Commission posted Revision 4 to the 2024 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The semiannual update to the HTS adds new 10-digit tariff numbers for a variety of products, including integrated circuits and plantation-harvested teak.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said July 8 that he hopes to have a "significant package of China-related legislation" signed into law this year, including a provision that moved out of the House Ways and Means Committee that would make goods subject to Section 301 tariffs ineligible for de minimis treatment. All goods from China would have to enter with a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification code upon entry so that CBP could enforce the law. That bill also included new penalties for de minimis violations beyond forfeiture of the package (see 2404180068). Johnson said these changes would "rein in the de minimis privilege" that China is exploiting.
Certain steel freight rail yokes imported by Amsted Rail Company are not included in an antidumping duty order on freight rail couplers from Mexico, the Commerce Department said in a July 3 scope ruling.
In the July 3 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 26), CBP published a proposal to revoke or modify eight ruling letters, all of which concern the tariff classification of composite goods with the essential character of permanent magnets under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
CBP rejected children’s product manufacturer Summer Infant’s claims that its Learn-to-Sit booster seats should be classified as traditional booster seats. As a result, the Learn-to-Sit booster seats are subject to Section 301 duties, according to a recent ruling released by CBP June 14.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on vanillin from China (A-570-172/C-570-173). The CVD investigation covers entries Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2023. The AD investigation covers entries Oct. 1, 2023 - March 31, 2024.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of June 10-16, 17-23 and 24-30: