The Commerce Department issued a final rule making various changes to its antidumping and countervailing duty procedures, notably altering its nonmarket economy policy in AD cases by allowing entities in third countries "owned or controlled" by nonmarket economies to be subject to the country-wide AD rate for that nation.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened a Section 301 investigation on Nicaragua's actions and practices "related to labor rights, human rights, and the rule of law," saying that it is concerned that Nicaragua's "repressive and persistent attacks" on these rights and violations of the rule of law may burden U.S. commerce.
House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., said that there will be a renewed bipartisan effort to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act next year. He called AGOA "something that is very beneficial to our U.S. trade policy." But LaHood left the door open to phasing out or changing the third-party fabric provision of AGOA in the 2025 reauthorization.
Jared Cynamon, a former trade attorney at the Commerce Department, has joined Sandler Travis as an associate, according to the law firm and Cyanmon's LinkedIn page. Cynamon spent the past four years at Commerce, where he reviewed antidumping and countervailing duty determinations.
Running a large trade surplus with the U.S. is only one way to draw President-elect Donald Trump's tariff fire, argues a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation; other ways would be by expecting the U.S. to provide a defense umbrella, enacting digital services taxes or other anti-U.S. regulations, and taking what ITIF called "soft positions toward China."
The Federal Maritime Commission is ending one of its two investigations into new Canadian rules that were thought to have imposed unfair burdens on U.S. vessels, making the announcement after Canada granted exemptions for six ships and took other steps to “temporarily” resolve the issue. The FMC said it’s still moving forward with a separate, broader investigation into whether the Canadian regulations unfairly affect all U.S.-flagged Great Lakes vessels.
The possibility of a double whammy come January consisting of a strike at East and Gulf coast ports and the implementation of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs (see 2411250034) is making shippers nervous, with the National Retail Federation saying that the scenarios could result in a "continued surge in imports through next spring."
The Fish and Wildlife Service has added three butterfly species from Brazil to the agency's endangered species list, according to a notice. FWS determined that the butterfly species -- the Fluminense swallowtail (Parides ascanius), Harris’ mimic swallowtail (Eurytides [Mimoides] lysithous harrisianus) and Hahnel’s Amazonian swallowtail (Parides hahneli) -- should be extended protections under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This change is effective in a final rule Jan. 9.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the Penasco least chipmunk (Neotamias minimus atristriatus) of New Mexico an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, according to a notice. The final rule declaring the designation is effective Jan. 9.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Dec. 9 Federal Register on the following AD/CVD injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):