Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the House Select Committee on China, the panel announced last week. Cline, a former prosecutor, said he favors “tough policies that tactically confront the [Chinese Communist Party] at home and abroad and safeguard our nation’s interests.” Former Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Mich., who used to chair the committee, created an opening on the panel by leaving Congress in April (see 2403250066).
Customs broker Seko Logistics asked the Court of International Trade on June 7 for expedited briefing in its suit against CBP's suspension of the company from Type 86 filing and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Seko said greater delay in the case "deprives the requested relief of much of its value" and sets "extraordinary hardship" on the broker (Seko Customs Brokerage v. U.S., CIT # 24-00097).
CBP issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website June 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.
The Court of International Trade on June 10 signaled that CBP's practice of not notifying companies when they become subject to interim Enforce and Protect Act investigations could give rise to a due process claim should the company sufficiently allege that it suffered "specific enough harm." However, the court found that importer Phoenix Metal failed to allege that harm with enough specificity.
A bipartisan pair in the Senate is in the early stages of writing a trade facilitation bill, which is intended to build on CBP's 21st Century Customs Framework -- an approach that trade professionals felt was too focused on enforcement, and neglected trade facilitation.
The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking public comments on a new vessel sharing agreement between major ocean carriers Maersk and Hapag Lloyd. The Gemini Cooperation Agreement would allow the carriers to “globally coordinate their vessel operations,” FMC said, including by sharing vessels on trade routes between the U.S., Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Public comments are due June 18. If the FMC takes no action, the agreement will take effect July 15.
The Federal Maritime Commission is considering whether to push back the effective date of a final rule it issued in February that set new demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2402230049), it said in a notice released June 7. The commission said the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association asked it to extend the rule’s May 28 effective date “by at least 90 days or such longer period as may be deemed appropriate.” The FMC is accepting public comments by July 1 about whether it should delay the rule.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the June 7 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):
The International Trade Commission seeks comments on a recent Section 337 complaint from MimirIP alleging imports from several companies are infringing on its patents on memory devices. In its June 3 complaint, MimirIP said Micron, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Kingston, Lenovo and Tesla are importing DRAM and NAND computer memory or products that contain them, including laptops, tablets, servers, solid-state drives, and self-driving automotive computers and automotive media control units. MimirIP seeks a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order against the alleged infringers. Comments are due June 17.