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.
House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher, House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith and Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers are telling Ford that pausing its partnership with the Chinese electric vehicle battery maker CATL doesn't get them off the hook to answer their questions about the technology licensing deal it had with the company.
Even though thousands of CBP employees will be required to work without pay to clear cargo in the case of a government shutdown on Sunday, importers are preparing for problems, since they have experienced them in previous shutdowns.
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to vote on the three FTC nominees in October (see 2309200070), Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday. Members expect to move them as a bipartisan package, ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us separately.
Tech companies might sue if Pennsylvania enacts a social media moderation bill (SB-22), the Computer and Communications Industry Association warned Monday. The state’s Senate Communications Committee plans to weigh the bill Tuesday. “CCIA recommends pausing this proposal until legislators can act with fuller knowledge of the constitutional boundaries,” the association wrote to the committee. “Otherwise, any potential statute may be at greater risk of protracted, expensive litigation.” Digital companies already aggressively moderate dangerous and illegal content, CCIA said. The bill’s overly vague definitions make compliance tough, it said. Websites might have to shut down services for users under 16, restricting children’s First Amendment right to access information, CCIA said. Also, a private right of action proposed in the bill would lead to many “frivolous lawsuits,” it said. Plus, the bill doesn’t provide enough time for businesses to come into compliance, said CCIA, suggesting legislators push back the effective date until 18 months after enactment.
The European Center for Digital Rights (noyb) isn't involved in French lawmaker Philippe Latombe's contest of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF) but is "happy about any additional challenge," its spokesperson told us (see 2309120030). Noyb is the brainchild of privacy lawyer and activist Max Schrems, who contested the previous trans-Atlantic data transfer regime Privacy Shield (PS), resulting in its being thrown out by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2020 (see Ref:2007160014]). There's a "potential downside" to Latombe's strategy for attacking the DPF, however, noyb's spokesperson emailed: "You have to show that you are 'directly affected' to the Court of First Instance and then you have to appeal the decision further" to the ECJ. French non-governmental organization La Quadrature du Net took that approach to PS, but its challenge was paused because Shrems' case went directly to the EU high court via a reference from a court. "So we plan to take the route via a reference instead," noyb said. "We are obviously happy to support any other efforts too."
Lionshead Specialty Tire and Wheel, TexTrail and TRAILSTAR evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on imported steel trailer wheels from China, CBP concluded in the results of a recently released Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) investigation. CBP found that the three importers had entered steel wheels using false statements that they didn't contain covered merchandise even though the importers contended that they believed the wheels were out of scope.
Lionshead Specialty Tire and Wheel, TexTrail and TRAILSTAR evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on imported steel trailer wheels from China, CBP concluded in the results of a recently released Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) investigation. CBP found that the three importers had entered steel wheels using false statements that they didn't contain covered merchandise even though the importers contended that they believed the wheels were out of scope.
Antidumping and countervailing duties on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are now set to take effect in June 2024, after the Commerce Department continued to find in final determinations announced Aug. 18 that imports from the four Southeast Asian countries are circumventing AD/CVD on solar cells from China (A-570-979/C-570-980).
Antidumping and countervailing duties on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are now set to take effect in June 2024, after the Commerce Department continued to find in final determinations announced Aug. 18 that imports from the four Southeast Asian countries are circumventing AD/CVD on solar cells from China (A-570-979/C-570-980).