Commercial trucks coming into the U.S. from Mexico are facing lengthy delays as CBP shifts port of entry personnel to help with border patrol, according to industry updates. "The result is rapidly changing conditions and very long wait times compared to normal operations," C.H Robinson said in a client advisory with multiple port updates. It appears that policymakers are trying to establish rules that would allow freight to continue to flow while restricting the border for people and passengers." CBP's list of border wait times shows wide disparity in length of waits among the Southern ports, though most of the major ports have some delays.
The Court of International Trade on March 5 rejected a Commerce Department scope ruling that found refrigerated merchandising and display structures are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on light-walled rectangular pipe and tube from China (A-570-914/C-570-915), sending it back down to Commerce for reconsideration. Stein Industries (dba Carlson Airflo) had argued its products, though steel and mostly rectangular, were not covered by AD/CV duties because, prior to importation, parts had been welded on perpendicularly, making the entire cross-section no longer rectangular. Stein also said that they are downstream products that the International Trade Commission had considered to be outside of scope. According to CIT, Commerce did not adequately address either argument in its May 2018 scope ruling (see 1807160041), remaining silent as to whether products that are not uniformly rectangular can be covered by the scope, and misconstruing Stein’s argument that the downstream products are exempt. CIT gave the agency until June 3 to file its redetermination.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule listing the northern subspecies of scarlet macaw (Ara macao cyanoptera) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the southern subspecies of scarlet macaw (A. m. macao) as threatened, and subspecies crosses (A. m. cyanoptera and A. m. macao) also as threatened. The final rule includes a special “4(d)” rule for the subspecies listed as threatened (the southern subspecies and subspecies crosses) that allows for importation and exportation without a permit if the specimen was either held in captivity prior the date the hyacinth macaw was listed, or is a captive-bred specimen, as long as the exportation of the specimen is authorized under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Wild Bird Conservation Act (WBCA). Otherwise, import and export restrictions set by the final rule take effect March 28.