CBP in December identified 450 shipments valued at more than $187 million for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational statistics update. The value of those shipments is up from November, when CBP identified 331 shipments worth more than $125 million (see 2312260048). Also in December, CBP seized 1,291 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $86 million if the items had been genuine, the agency said.
The number of CBP Reimbursement Program partnerships at ports of entry increased by 135 to a total of 398 over the two-year period from October 2021 to October 2023, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Jan. 24. CBP also entered into three new Donations Acceptance Program partnerships during that time, GAO said.
CBP ruled that it provided adequate notice of its extension of liquidation for entries bonded by Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company that it had found subject to antidumping and countervailing duties, the agency said in a recent ruling. CBP found that there was no requirement to provide anything other than a notice beyond posting the notice on its website, and the courtesy notice provided for under the agency's regulations is not required.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
U.S. Importer CertiFit continued to accuse Evergreen Shipping Agency of violating the Shipping Act, saying in a reply brief this week to the Federal Maritime Commission that Evergreen Shipping gave unreasonable preference to other shippers, unreasonably refused to deal or negotiate and failed to establish "just and reasonable practices" with its cargo. CertiFit also said the FMC has jurisdiction over the case because Evergreen Shipping is a common carrier, one of the main arguments disputed by Evergreen Shipping.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP found substantial evidence that Suzhou Quality Import and Export evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Chinese-origin aluminum extrusions, the agency said Jan. 23. Suzhou Quality imported extruded aluminum fence posts but didn't enter these extrusions as subject to the AD/CVD orders, the announcement said.
Logistics provider Your Special Delivery Services Specialty Logistics (YSDS) doesn't meet the criteria to act as the importer of record on a shipment, CBP said in a recent ruling. While the company would have a lien on shipments that it could exercise in the event of nonpayment, that doesn't qualify as enough of a financial interest in the shipment to give it the right to make entry, the agency said.
A Federal Maritime Commission hearing on the current conditions in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden will be held Feb. 7 and, if necessary, continue Feb. 8, according to a Federal Register notice. Those who want to testify or submit written testimony must email the FMC secretary before Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. EST, the notice said. The hearing, beginning at 10 a.m., will be held at the Surface Transportation Board in Washington, D.C.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters: