Tariffs are set to take effect March 12 for steel and steel derivatives from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the U.K., Ukraine and the EU, said the presidential proclamation released late Feb. 10 that increases Section 232 duties on steel, in part by ending Section 232 exemptions and quota agreements for those countries.
Sohan Dasgupta has joined DHS as assistant secretary for trade and economic security, he announced on LinkedIn. Dasgupta will work on issues related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, along with other trade and supply chain issues. He previously served as a DHS deputy general counsel before going to a private practice in 2021.
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge on Feb. 6 dismissed U.S. importer CertiFit’s complaint against New Jersey-based Evergreen Shipping Agency, saying Evergreen Shipping is not an ocean carrier regulated by the FMC. Evergreen Shipping is instead an agent for carrier Evergreen Line, which is not a party in the case, the judge said. CertiFit had accused Evergreen Shipping of failing to meet its commitments in violation of the Shipping Act (see 2401230051). Evergreen Shipping denied the allegations.
Double Ace Cargo, a Florida-based non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC), has paid $165,000 in civil penalties and is paying for an independent monitoring of its business practices under two compromise agreements it reached with the Federal Maritime Commission over the past nearly two years, the FMC announced Feb. 7.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Feb. 10 on the following antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CVD rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
Suspension of liquidation and countervailing duty cash deposit requirements take effect Feb. 10 for imports of corrosion-resistant steel products from Brazil (C-351-863), Canada (C-122-872), Mexico (C-201-864) and Vietnam (C-552-844), after the Commerce Department found countervailable subsidization in preliminary determinations in its ongoing CVD investigations.
On Feb. 7, the FDA posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts (after not having posted new ones for a number of days) on the detention without physical examination of:
A California customs broker pleaded guilty Feb. 7 to defrauding importers out of more than $5 million and committing over $1 million in tax evasion, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. The broker, Frank Seung Noah, copped to two counts of wire fraud, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison each, and one count of tax evasion, for which he faces five years in prison.
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. 7, 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.