International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is sharing draft text with the trade of a bill that would remove goods subject to Section 301 tariffs from the de minimis entry lane, along with any categories deemed "import sensitive" in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program legislation.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has traditionally been a defender of the current law on de minimis (see 1907300048), said that while he's not up for lowering the $800 threshold, he would be willing to change the low value import process to combat fentanyl, as the White House is proposing.
Plaintiffs in the massive Section 301 litigation said the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which overturned the Chevron principle of deferring to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes (see 2406280051), is relevant to the consequential litigation concerning the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 duties (HMTX Industries v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).
The Court of International Trade on July 29 sustained the Commerce Department's decision on remand to slash exporter Meihua Group International Trading (Hong Kong)'s antidumping duty rate from 154.07%, based on adverse facts available, to zero percent in the 2019-20 review of the AD order on xanthan gum from China.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 22-28:
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Higher or new Section 301 tariffs on lithium-ion batteries for EVs, lead-acid battery parts, golf-cart like EVs, electric cars, vans and buses, plug-in hybrids, ship-to-shore cranes, solar cells, solar panels, syringes, needles, three categories of disposable masks, 26 critical minerals, more than 100 HTS codes covering iron and steel products, and 31 aluminum HTS codes, all on imports from China, will not go up on Aug. 1, as originally announced two months ago (see 2405220072).
Upcoming changes to Section 301 tariffs won’t begin to take effect Aug. 1, as was proposed by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in May. After receiving over 1,100 comments on its notice of proposed changes, the USTR now says it expects its final determination will be issued in August but with the actual tariff changes taking effect about two weeks after USTR “makes the final determination public.”
Senate appropriators marked up a bill that would spend $2 million more a year on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and $4.1 million more on the International Trade Commission, in each case matching the president's budget request.