The Federal Maritime Commission is adjusting its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice. The changes, effective Jan. 15, increase maximum penalties for various violations of U.S. shipping regulations, including illegal foreign shipping practices that have an “adverse impact” on U.S. carriers, “knowing and willful” violations of the Shipping Act,” and operating in foreign commerce after a tariff suspension.
In the first formal round of negotiations with Taiwan, the U.S. will present texts it would like to see adopted on good regulatory practices, trade facilitation and other areas, but not on lowering tariffs for U.S. exports, as that is beyond the scope of the 21st Century Trade Initiative.
The Federal Maritime Commission published its fall 2022 regulatory agenda, including mentions of several rules surrounding carrier practices, billing requirements and discriminatory shipping practices that it had hoped to issue in December. At least one of the rules was governed by a statutory deadline set for last month under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its analogues in Canada and Mexico asked the three countries' leaders to work on "a quick resolution" of disputes over Mexican energy policies, Canadian dairy tariff-rate quotas and the U.S. position on the auto rules of origin.
Colombia recently raised its most favored nation duties on imports of certain apparel items, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Jan. 6. The change will apply a 40% duty on apparel goods listed in Harmonized System chapters 61 and 62 but will not apply to certain items that were en route to Colombia prior to Jan. 7, the report said. The new duties are primarily aimed at mainland China and won’t affect apparel that qualifies for preferential duty treatment under a free trade deal or another arrangement, the report said, including apparel originating in the U.S. or the EU.
A change included in China’s recently released annual tariff adjustment plan will revise how the country applies duties on certain poultry products and will temporarily lower tariffs on certain fish, nuts, fats and wood products, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Jan. 5 report. USDA said China will begin calculating most favored nation tariffs on certain frozen chicken products by applying the tariff on the import value rather than by volume. The country also will temporarily lower duties on frozen blue whiting, cashew, linseed, sunflower seed, cocoa fat, homogenized composite food and certain products.
Ahead of a meeting of the "Three Amigos" -- the presidents of the U.S. and Mexico and the prime minister of Canada -- Jan. 9-10, business groups that advocate for North American integration said during a Jan. 6 webinar that they're hoping to see more evidence of nearshoring and using North American resources to diversify away from China.
Japan and the U.S. need to coordinate investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotechnology at the same time they cooperate on export controls, according to Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry. He spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Jan. 5.
The Commerce Department published its fall 2022 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including one new rule that will finalize new chip export controls against China and others that could revise chemical weapons reporting requirements, the Export Administration Regulations and the Entity List.
Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., one of the leading voices for free trade in the Democratic caucus, and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., a free-trade purist in the Republican caucus, issued a joint paper of recommendations on trade on Dec. 29, just before they were both leaving office.