The FDA will allow more time for comments on a draft guidance it issued in February on the use of sampling of fish and fishery products by importers and foreign manufacturers and processors to demonstrate the admissibility of goods subject to an import alert, or to have the goods removed from an import alert (see 2402090066). The agency said it will now allow comments by June 25, after receiving a request that it extend the deadline for comments, which was originally April 12.
In its annual report on how foreign countries honor intellectual property protections, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Chile, Russia and Venezuela still belong on the list of the worst offenders. Ukraine, which had once been in that group, is not being evaluated because of its invasion by Russia.
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 April 24, 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.
When a declaration is made on the Automated Commercial Environment portal, the system will automatically check for duplicate Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers, case numbers and manufacturer IDs before submission is permitted, CBP said. This was part of a series of updates CBP made to the ACE Portal that was highlighted in an April 25 CSMS message.
The Commerce Department abused its discretion by denying an exporter’s supplemental questionnaire extension request amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s 2021 delta variant wave, Court of International Trade Judge Stephen Vaden ruled April 25. He pointed out that, by the time of the rejection, three of Simec’s key accountants had died of the disease and a fourth was "hospitalized and intubated."
If the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative decides that China's subsidies to its shipbuilding industry burden U.S. commerce through a range of unreasonable or discriminatory acts, a coalition of unions suggests it impose a fee on Chinese ships arriving at U.S. ports (see 2404170029). During a Washington International Trade Association webinar on the new Section 301 investigation, former USTR associate general counsel David Ross said China's subsidies are evident but the remedy is not.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, during a Q&A with Reuters, said that China has acknowledged that its manufacturing overcapacity is a problem, but she said observers shouldn't expect a quick fix.
Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola met with the ambassador of the Bahamas to the U.S. to discuss "critical maritime issues," the FMC said in an April 23 statement. The meeting was held in Washington earlier in April. They discussed maritime sustainability, port infrastructure enhancements, and "other opportunities for cooperation" between the two nations' maritime sectors, "such as regulatory measures and economic incentives that strengthen the maritime industry," the commission said.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration will hold three hearings in the coming months ahead of upcoming meetings of international bodies to discuss dangerous goods requirements, it said in a notice April 24.