The Agricultural Marketing Service set its 2024-2025 fees for voluntary grading, inspection, certification, auditing and laboratory services for meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, cotton and tobacco, in a notice released May 3. Covered programs include cotton classification under cotton futures legislation (7 CFR 27); cotton classing, testing and standards (7 CFR 28); grading and inspection for approved plants and standards for grades of dairy products (7 CFR 58); inspection, certification and standards for fresh fruits, vegetables and other products (7 CFR 51); processed fruits and vegetables (7 CFR 52); meats, prepared meats and meat products (7 CFR 54); livestock, meat and other agricultural commodities (7 CFR 62); agricultural and vegetable seeds (7 CFR 75); grading of shell eggs (7 CFR 56); grading of poultry and rabbit products (7 CFR 70); services and general information (7 CFR 91); and tobacco inspection (7 CFR 29). Effective dates of fee changes range from July 1 to Jan. 1, depending on the commodity.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on May 3:
Electric vehicle manufacturers in North America will get an extended phase-in on North American content rules for battery materials that are not yet practical to trace, as well as graphite and some critical minerals which, according to the Inflation Reduction Act, were supposed to preclude tax credits for car buyers next year.
A bipartisan bill that directs the Energy Department to support development and adoption of digital identification systems for batteries and components was introduced in the House this week. The adoption would be voluntary.
The Federal Maritime Commission has been encouraging carriers to have a better relationship and more transparency with shippers, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said during a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on April 30. Maffei said that this issue stems from the lack of transparency surrounding the Red Sea-related surcharges imposed by carriers due to Houthi attacks on commercial ships (see 2401290052).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website May 2, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.
CBP has released its May 1 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 17). While it contains recent court decisions, no customs rulings are included.
Greenpeace sent CBP a “request” to impose penalties on Bumble Bee Tuna and other entities that it alleges have continued to import tuna from a fishing vessel subject to a CBP withhold release order, Greenpeace said in a May 1 news release. The request is “being made in line” with 19 U.S.C. 1595a(b), which provides for “a penalty equal to the value” of the imported goods on any person who aids unlawful importation. Greenpeace said it “found a Bumble Bee branded can of tuna containing fish caught by the reportedly blacklisted Da Wang at an Arlington, Virginia supermarket in April 2022.” It said a penalty was imposed on another importer for similar reasons in 2020 (see 2008140016). CBP didn’t immediately comment, nor did Greenpeace when asked for more details on the request.
Representatives from the domestic textiles industry testified at an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative hearing May 2 regarding ways to promote supply chain resilience, especially after many were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2404290057).