The Agricultural Marketing Service will begin with a period of soft “enforcement discretion” once its new regulations on organic import certificates take effect on March 19, but importers should nonetheless be working now to get their organic certifications as required under the rules, an AMS official said, speaking during a recent webinar.
Kelley Drye customs attorney John Foote, in analyzing the news that some Porsches, Audis and Bentleys couldn't enter the U.S. because of a part connected to Uyghur forced labor, (see 2402150026), said the story is an example of thorough supply chain tracing and ethical compliance action from Volkswagen, the company that made the cars.
More Canadian companies are shifting their supply chains to run through the U.S. so their products can be exported from America rather than Canada, said John Boscariol, a trade lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault. Boscariol, speaking during a virtual event this week hosted by the American Bar Association, said U.S. export rules are more flexible than Canadian ones, and companies are finding it easier to sell certain items to U.S. consignees rather than ship directly from Canada to another foreign country.
A group of 12 members of the House Ways and Means Committee has urged the Biden administration to investigate allegations that at least six Chinese fishing companies that supply U.S. markets employ Uyghur forced labor.
A bipartisan group of 11 House members urged the Biden administration on Feb. 16 to impose Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on seven Chinese companies for allegedly using Uyghur forced labor to provide seafood to U.S. markets.
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 15 said companies that submit requests for administrative review in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings can intervene as a matter of right at the Court of International Trade.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is listing the queen conch (Aliger gigas) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, it said in a final rule released Feb. 13. While the agency isn't setting import or export restrictions at this time, it said it intends "to propose protective regulations to conserve queen conch throughout its range in the future," including possible import and export prohibitions or restrictions.
The Commerce Department released its preliminary affirmative antidumping determination Feb. 12 that pea protein from China (A-570-154) is being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. Commerce found “critical circumstances” for all Chinese companies, and will retroactively suspend liquidation and impose antidumping duty cash deposit requirements for all subject merchandise as of Nov. 15, 2023.
The Commerce Department will consider whether to grant Armenia market economy status for antidumping duty purposes, it said in a notice released Feb. 12 beginning a changed circumstances review.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, announced Feb. 10 that he won't run for re-election this year. Gallagher said it is time for him to return to private life after serving four terms in the House. As the committee's top Republican, Gallagher led probes on a range of China trade issues, including a report in December that called on the U.S. to impose stronger export controls against China (see 2312120050) and revoke the country's permanent normal trade relations status (see 2312120004).