Former chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Gregg Doud called for the use of the new enforcement mechanism in the USMCA during a House Agriculture Committee hearing May 11.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote to CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, arguing that since a Chinese-owned cobalt mining company is partnering with Ford and PT Vale Indonesia to open a nickel processing facility in Indonesia, "there is a high likelihood that Huayou will also introduce forced and child labor to Indonesia."
Congress should amend shipping regulations to give the Federal Maritime Commission jurisdiction over certain fees assessed by railroads under ocean bills of lading, more than 70 trade groups, including the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, said in a May 2 letter to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The groups said those charges should be billed through the contracting carrier and be subject to demurrage and detention invoicing requirements that were included as part of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
The chairman and ranking member of the House Select Committee on China wrote to Adidas and Nike, telling them they were told by a witness that they source material from Xinjiang for their products, and to Shein and Temu, asking them questions about their use of de minimis, and, in the case of Shein, asking it to share all its cotton DNA test results with the committee.
The Americas Act, a draft bill that would expand free trade benefits to more Latin American countries while also only offering de minimis at reciprocal levels (see 2301110045), has gained a Democratic co-sponsor, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is asking the State Department to warn Uganda's president that if he signs a bill that discriminates against gay and lesbian citizens, his country's participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act will be revoked.
A new House bill could allow the Federal Maritime Commission to block certain “anticompetitive” agreements between ocean carriers and marine terminal operators without first having to secure a federal court order. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., introduced the bill, called the Ocean Shipping Competition Enforcement Act, after FMC Commissioners Max Vekich and Carl Bentzel asked him to “make this critical change in federal law,” Garamendi said.
Three senators asked Shein's CEO if the company's suppliers use cotton from Xinjiang, if they use laboratory testing to ensure there is no Xinjiang cotton in its garments, and other questions aimed at learning whether apparel made in part with forced labor is making it into the U.S. through the de minimis importation lane (see 2302090039).
The National Taxpayers Union, a group that advocates for lower taxes, is urging members of the House of Representatives to vote against a resolution that would overturn the administration's decision to delay antidumping and countervailing duties on solar panels from Southeast Asia that the Commerce Department says circumvent an earlier order against Chinese panels.
A request to fund at least 600 additional CBP officers and staff at the Office of Field Operations is at the heart of a letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America; 11 other national travel, cargo or ports trade groups; and a host of local and regional trade groups. The letter, sent to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, said wait times for both travelers and cargo at ports of entry are growing, especially as CBP officers from air, sea and northern border ports are being assigned to 60-day stints along the Southwest border to process migrants walking into the U.S. from Mexico.