The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Jan. 11 on AD/CVD proceedings:

The government is considering adding seafood to its list of priority enforcement targets, joining cotton, polysilicon and tomatoes, according to testimony at a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight hearing.

The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:

China again extended its Section 301 retaliatory tariff exclusion period for 12 U.S. agricultural products, including certain shrimp, whey, fishmeal, alfalfa and hardwood products, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a recent report. The exclusions, which were set to expire Dec. 31, will continue through July 31. Beijing originally imposed the tariffs in retaliation for Section 301 tariffs announced by the Trump administration on certain Chinese goods.

On Jan. 3, the FDA posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:

Companies, labor unions and domestic producer coalitions that support antidumping and countervailing duties on Vietnamese exports all said Vietnam has not changed its practices enough to be considered a market economy in AD/CVD cases in the 21 years since the last evaluation of its status found it wasn't.

The International Trade Commission posted the 2024 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the restoration of AGOA benefits for Mauritania and their removal for the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger and Uganda, as well as a lengthy list of 10-digit-level changes for fruits and vegetables, chemicals, medicaments and recycled aluminum. Changes were effective as of Jan. 1 unless otherwise noted.

The free trade agreement between China and Nicaragua was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, China's Ministry of Commerce announced, according to an unofficial translation (see 2308310020). The ministry released the FTA's schedule of preferential tax rates, which includes zero percent tariff rates for Nicaragua's main exports, such as beef, shrimp, coffee and cocoa. The deal also sets out tariff quotas of 50,000 tons of sugar each year, with a duty rate of 15% beyond the 50,000 ton limit, while tariffs on Chinese exports to Nicaragua will be "gradually reduced and eliminated."

The International Trade Commission posted the 2024 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the restoration of AGOA benefits for Mauritania and their removal for the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger and Uganda, as well as a lengthy list of 10-digit-level changes for fruits and vegetables, chemicals, medicaments and recycled aluminum. Changes were effective as of Jan. 1 unless otherwise noted.