Trade groups representing importers, exporters and companies involved in trade logistics are asking Congress to ask the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to retroactively extend Section 301 exclusions for products whose exclusions expired last year, automatically extend exclusion for pandemic response goods, and reinstate the exclusions process. The 166 groups, which make up the Americans for Free Trade coalition, sent a letter to Congress Jan. 29 with the requests.

The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Jan. 31. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:

Economics Professor Mary Lovely, who studies multinationals' operations in China, told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that the trade war didn't make the U.S. less reliant on China, and that export controls designed to isolate China have not been effective, either. She noted that China is still the top exporter to the U.S., and their goods make up 17% of U.S. imports. The Commission met online Jan. 28.

Intel invested $475 million in its Vietnamese subsidiary, in addition to the $1 billion it spent more than a decade ago to build a chip assembly and test manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City, it blogged Tuesday. Intel Products Vietnam shipped more than 2 billion units of components to customers globally through the end of 2020, it said. It’s the largest U.S. tech investment in Vietnam, it said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under the Trump administration found Vietnam’s allegedly improper devaluation of the dong against the dollar actionable under the Trade Act Section 301, leaving it to the next USTR to decide whether to impose tariffs on Hanoi (see 2101150052).

Intel invested $475 million in its Vietnamese subsidiary, in addition to the $1 billion it spent more than a decade ago to build a chip assembly and test manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City, it blogged Tuesday. Intel Products Vietnam shipped more than 2 billion units of components to customers globally through the end of 2020, it said. It’s the largest U.S. tech investment in Vietnam, it said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under the Trump administration found Vietnam’s allegedly improper devaluation of the dong against the dollar actionable under the Trade Act Section 301, leaving it to the next USTR to decide whether to impose tariffs on Hanoi (see 2101150052).

Economics Professor Mary Lovely, who studies multinationals' operations in China, told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that the trade war didn't make the U.S. less reliant on China, and that export controls designed to isolate China have not been effective, either. She noted that China is still the top exporter to the U.S., and their goods make up 17% of U.S. imports. The Commission met online Jan. 28.

Intel invested $475 million in its Vietnamese subsidiary, in addition to the $1 billion it spent more than a decade ago to build a chip assembly and test manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City, it blogged Tuesday. Intel Products Vietnam shipped more than 2 billion units of components to customers globally through the end of 2020, it said. It’s the largest U.S. tech investment in Vietnam, it said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under the Trump administration found Vietnam’s allegedly improper devaluation of the dong against the dollar actionable under the Trade Act Section 301, leaving it to the next USTR to decide whether to impose tariffs on Hanoi (see 2101150052).

Robert Lighthizer’s departure as U.S. trade representative with the passing of the Trump administration spawned the first Section 301 complaint (in Pacer) among many inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade to bring suit against his former agency instead of Lighthizer himself. Wacom Technology, an importer of digital pen displays for creative artists, alleged like thousands of others that USTR overstepped its authority when it imposed the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese imports and seeks to have the tariffs vacated and the money refunded. “Now-former Ambassador Lighthizer made numerous decisions regarding List 3 and List 4,” said Wacom Monday. “At the time of filing this complaint,” Lighthizer “no longer held the position” of USTR, and hasn’t been replaced, it said. “The actions at issue in this complaint were and are being performed in the official capacity” of Lighthizer’s former agency, it said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Jan. 19-22 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​