The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on March 13:
House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Mike Crapo of Idaho, said the administration shouldn't sign the current version of the international tax agreement, which would allow countries to collect taxes on firms unrelated to their physical presence in their countries. This is part of a two-part process in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development aimed at ending digital services taxes, which target U.S. tech giants.
Twenty-two Republican senators -- including the top Republicans on the Senate Finance and Agriculture committees and one of the front-runners to replace Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- argue that the "current sharp decline in U.S. agricultural exports is directly attributable to and exacerbated by an unambitious U.S. trade strategy that is failing to meaningfully expand market access or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade."
Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, a Montana rancher, pleaded guilty March 12 to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and to violating the Lacey Act by illegally importing wildlife from Kyrgyzstan, DOJ announced. Schubarth worked for nearly a decade as part of a scheme to "create giant sheep hybrids" in the U.S. with the goal of selling them to "captive hunting facilities," DOJ said. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for each count and a fine of up to $250,000.
Generic drugmaker KVK Research pleaded guilty last week to charges that it "introduced adulterated drugs into interstate commerce" in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, agreeing to pay $1.5 million in fines and forfeiture, DOJ announced.
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 March 12, 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 March 13 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 10). While it contains a recent court decision, no customs rulings are included.
CBP released a guidance document detailing the roles and responsibilities of CBP and customs brokers faced with cybersecurity incidents. The document, released March 11, further details processes that were outlined in an initial guidance issued in April 2023.
Panelists from the U.S. and Mexico said that cars assembled in Mexico by Chinese-owned firms can't enter the U.S. with USMCA benefits because of the stringent rules of origin, but spent less time talking about how cars manufactured outside China, including in the U.S., could enter under 2.5% most favored nation tariffs.