The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service is amending U.S. grade standards for pecans in the shell and shelled pecans, it said in a recent notice. The final rule, effective July 26, replaces current grades with U.S. Extra Fancy, U.S. Fancy, U.S. Choice and U.S. Standard grades. AMS is also updating terminology, definitions and defect scoring guides, it said.
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 June 28, 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 released the quarterly IRS interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties. For the quarter that began July 1, the interest rate for overpayments is 7% for corporations and 8% for non-corporations. The rate for underpayments is 8% for both corporations and non-corporations. That's unchanged from the previous quarter.
CBP has ruled that Taiwan is the country of origin for Aegis Multimedia’s DisplayPort male to female adapter, for government procurement purposes, according to a June 27 final determination.
Industry stakeholders will be watching whether new CBP amendments aimed at ensuring that U.S. imports follow copyright laws will be effective enough, according to a Houston attorney specializing in trademark and copyright litigation.
The U.S. on July 1 urged the Court of International Trade to dismiss customs broker Seko Customs Brokerage's suit contesting CBP's suspension of the company from participation in the Entry Type 86 pilot and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program. The government said Seko's claims aren't ripe for judicial review, are moot and are premature (Seko Customs Brokerage v. U.S., CIT # 24-00097).
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 overturned a hallmark of administrative law that had stood for four decades: the principle, established in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, of deferring to federal agencies' interpretation of ambiguous statutes.
A number of prominent trade groups, along with Winnebago, the motor home and powerboat maker with 6,000 employees, questioned the wisdom of a tariff hike from 7.5% to 25% on lithium-ion batteries outside the electric vehicle sector (Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8507.60.0020).
Trade groups and major companies that make electric cars, light trucks and heavy trucks told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that domestic industry is not ready to take over from Chinese suppliers of graphite, artificial graphite and electric vehicle battery cells on the timelines the Section 301 tariff modifications propose.