Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., introduced a bill last week to direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to prioritize convincing Canada and Mexico to institute a foreign investment review board similar to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS.
Three Democrats and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced a bill to end tariffs on imported coffee, and return them to the duty-free status they had before the administration imposed 10% tariffs on Colombia, 50% tariffs on Brazil, and 20% tariffs on Vietnam.
Two Chinese nationals were recently sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for importing fentanyl precursor chemicals and money laundering through Wuhan-based chemical manufacturer Amarvel Biotech, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced last week. Qingzhou Wang, who operated as Amarvel's principal executive, was sentenced Sept. 18 to 25 years in prison, while Yiyi Chen, the company's marketing manager, was sentenced last month to 15 years.
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website Sept. 19, 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 updated guidance on how entities may pay duties for international mail, according to a Sept. 22 cargo systems message.
Federal employees of CBP and other partner government agencies who are involved with import compliance should be designated with “excepted” or “essential” employee status in the event of a government shutdown, the head of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America recently urged Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, at the Council on Foreign Relations, emphasized that Canada is aware that its proximity to the U.S. is no longer so enviable, since U.S. economic strategy "has clearly changed, from the support for the multilateral system to a more transactional and managed bilateral trade and investment approach."
The U.S. filed its opening brief at the Supreme Court on Sept. 19 in the lead cases on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the reciprocal tariffs and tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico meant to stop the flow of fentanyl are a valid exercise of IEEPA, adding that the tariffs are a proper expression of presidential policymaking in emergency situations.
Rick Switzer was approved as the deputy U.S. trade representative for Asia, textiles, investment, services and intellectual property as part of a bloc of nominees approved en masse by the Senate Sept. 18. Switzer spent most of his career in the Foreign Service at the State Department.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Sept. 19 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):