The Federal Maritime Commission last week approved a settlement agreement between U.S. metal trader CCMA and major ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The confidential settlement stems from a December CCMA complaint alleging MSC assessed it $114,000 in unfair detention and demurrage fees (see 2212080020). MSC denied those allegations, saying CCMA lacked "meritorious factual basis" for its claims (see 2301090017).
CBP intends to distribute assessed antidumping or countervailing duties for fiscal year 2023 under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA), it said in a notice. Certifications to obtain a continued dumping and subsidy offset under a particular AD/CVD order or finding must be received by July 31.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is seeking comments by July 24 on a new data collection for "empty container volumes at intermodal locations," it said in a Federal Register notice. The data collection effort, which would implement certain parts of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, would allow the FMC to gather information on "vessel-level tonnage as well as full and empty containers entering and leaving U.S. ports." It would also allow the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to collect "operational data on intermodal equipment and dwell times."
Orient Overseas Container Line denied allegations that it violated U.S. shipping regulations, saying a complaint filed by Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) in April (see 2305010049 and 2305020019) was "an unfortunate campaign to distort and obfuscate the relevant facts, contracts and law, in order to secure an unwarranted return." The container line said neither the statements in BBBY's complaint "nor the text of the contracts themselves" support claims that OOCL breached its contracts.
Correction: Apple, Burberry, Pfizer, the NBA and MLB are part of a data pilot under a memorandum of understanding between CBP and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to prevent the importation of counterfeit and pirated goods (see 2105270024 and 2305190036).
Members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate introduced the Safeguarding American Value-Added Exports (SAVE) Act, which will amend the Agriculture Trade Act of 1978 to "include and define a list of common names for ag commodities, food products, and terms used in marketing and packaging of products," Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., announced in a press release last week. In addition, SAVE also will direct the secretary of agriculture and the U.S. trade representative to negotiate with "our foreign trading partners to defend the right to use common names for ag commodities in those same foreign markets," the press release said.
CBP has updated the ACE Cargo Release CBP and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) to allow port of entry changes via the ACE Cargo Release Update transaction using the update action code, CBP announced May 22. The port of entry may be corrected after the cargo arrives and the entry is released, the CBP said. Users will not need to request an entry cancellation and resubmit to change a port of entry, the agency said.
Two ocean carriers recently paid a combined total of $2.65 million in civil penalties, the Federal Maritime Commission announced May 18. The penalties, assessed to Ocean Network Express Ptd. Ltd. (ONE) and Wan Hai Lines, Ltd., were paid to “resolve allegations of misconduct," the FMC said.
CBP's upcoming regulatory changes around de minimis shipments will combine the best of the Section 321 data pilot and the best of the entry type 86 test, adding together "clearance speed of the entry type 86," CBP's E-Commerce and Small Business Branch Chief Christine Hogue said on a May 18 webinar discussion hosted by the World Trade Center Miami.