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 Feb. 26, 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.
From the removal of China from de minimis eligibility on Feb. 4 until the announcement that de minimis would be restored for China on Feb. 7, CBP rejected 79,995 bills of lading in the truck lane, 15 entries coming by truck, 271,662 bills of lading coming by air, and 285,005 entries coming by air. It also rejected 3,684 entries that arrived by ship.
WilmerHale International Trade Practice leader David Ross told panelists on a discussion of reciprocal trade that, "contrary to some earlier expectations, there are indications that the president is not planning to do a line-by-line" tariff adjustment to match tariff levels of trading partners, but, rather, to seek to quantify the costs of higher tariffs and other policies he sees as trade barriers, and to put a single tariff rate on the country's products.
President Donald Trump, perhaps seeking to clarify remarks he made in the Oval Office the previous day (2502260032), posted in the morning Feb. 27 that the fentanyl-related tariffs "scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled."
Ted Dean, former trade adviser to former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, has joined DGA Group’s China practice, the consulting firm announced. Dean led Commerce Department activities in the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council and advised on China policy.
Alexandra Hess, a former official at CBP, has rejoined Cassidy Levy as a partner in the Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced on LinkedIn. At CBP, Hess served as branch chief for entry process and duty refunds in the Office of Regulations & Rulings, where she "issued rulings and advice" on "the entry process, duty drawback, de minimis, reconciliation, bonding, antidumping and countervailing duties, temporary importation under bond, foreign trade zones, right to make entry, broker compliance and management, and quota," the firm said.
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge ordered Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Feb. 25 to pay about $16 million in civil penalties for violating U.S. shipping laws.
Mexico should remain an attractive option for importers despite volatility from U.S. tariff threats, Mexico-based trade lawyer Alejandro Gomez argued during a Feb. 26 webinar hosted by In-House Connect, with lawyers from Foley & Lardner.
China used forced labor from North Korean nationals on its tuna fishing vessels, advocacy group Environmental Justice Foundation said in a report published Feb. 23. EJF found evidence that North Koreans worked on 12 Chinese vessels and were subject to "physical abuse, verbal abuse and excessive overtime."