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."
CBP has been tightening its enforcement on reporting of steel and aluminum content for Section 232 duty purposes, based on criteria that have yet to be made public in formal guidance, according to customs brokers and trade attorneys interviewed by International Trade Today.
Furniture importer Cool Living LLC has accused ALPI Logistics and its ALPI non-vessel-operating common carriers of repeatedly failing to properly carry out their responsibilities to transport cargo from Europe to the U.S., according to a complaint filed Dec. 4 with the Federal Maritime Commission.
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge on Dec. 8 dismissed a complaint against non-vessel-operating common carrier Ship4wd, saying Oklahoma-based importer EcoBamboo failed to show that a Shipping Act violation occurred.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Dec. 10 Federal Register on the following antidumping and countervailing duty injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department is giving advance notice that in automatic five-year sunset reviews scheduled to begin in January it will consider revoking the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on prestressed concrete steel wire strand from Turkey (A-489-842/C-489-843), passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China (A-570-016/C-570-017) and wood mouldings and millwork from China (A-570-117/C-570-118), as well as the antidumping duty orders on prestressed concrete steel wire strand from Argentina (A-357-822), Colombia (A-301-804), Egypt (A-729-804), Indonesia (A-560-837), Italy (A-475-843), Malaysia (A-557-819), the Netherlands (A-421-814), Saudi Arabia (A-517-806), South Africa (A-791-826), Spain (A-469-821), Taiwan (A-583-868), Tunisia (A-723-001), Ukraine (A-823-817) and the United Arab Emirates (A-520-809). These orders will be revoked, or the investigation terminated, unless Commerce finds that revocation would lead to dumping and the International Trade Commission finds that revocation would result in injury to the U.S. industry, Commerce said.
On Dec. 9, the FDA posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif., and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., sent a Dec. 8 letter to President Donald Trump urging him to provide tariff relief for Japan as it weathers economic coercion from China. In a press release publicizing the letter, they called for "greater support" for Japan due to China's "escalating campaign of economic and military coercion." The letter asked Trump to "reconsider tariffs on Japan" and "send a clear message that the United States rejects the normalization of Beijing’s coercive trade tactics."
The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would give CBP more leeway to share information about suspected counterfeit goods with private companies. The bill would allow CBP to use a "reasonable suspicion" standard to provide nonpublic information about the merchandise generated by an online marketplace, an express consignment operator, a freight forwarder or "any other entity that plays a role in the sale or importation of merchandise into the United States or the facilitation of such sale or importation."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters: