The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed comments in the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (“ITC”) investigation on whether imports of mattresses from multiple countries are causing injury to the domestic mattress industry.  The petition was filed on March 31, 2020, and the Commerce Department initiated the investigations on April 22, 2020.  In an unusual step, the…

The U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) recently announced on its website immediate measures intended to mitigate the impact of the SARS-COV2 pandemic on U.S. businesses and supply chains.  These measures include the following temporary changes to the registration and licensing requirements:

  • Temporary suspension of the requirements set forth in the

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On April 29, 2020, the Commerce Department (“Commerce”) published a notice in Federal Register announcing that it is proposing new regulations that would establish an Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System. The program appears to be modeled after the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (“SIMA”) System which has been in place since 2005.  Under the…

Following an April 10 temporary final rule restricting the export of personal protective equipment (PPE) and an April 21 Notice of Exemptions from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has now issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the export of PPE.  The FAQs, available here,…

On April 24, 2020, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress that Mexico and Canada had taken the necessary additional measures to comply with their commitments under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).  The U.S. also notified the governments of Mexico and Canada that the U.S. had completed its domestic procedures to implement the USMCA.  Mexico…

On April 22, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) issued new product exclusions pertaining to the 25% Section 301 List 3 Tariffs.  The new list of exclusions includes one 10-digit HTSUS subheading (8424.90.9080 covering parts of certain projecting, dispersing or spraying devices) and 107 specially prepared product descriptions corresponding to a particular HTSUS subheading.…

As stated in our earlier post, the Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have postponed the deadline for payment for the deposit of certain estimated duties, taxes, and fees for importers experiencing a significant financial hardship due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for up to 90 calendar days.

CBP…

Shipping containersOn April 22, 2020, the United States International Trade Commission (“USITC”) unanimously determined that there was reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey…

As previously reported here, on April 10, 2010, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a temporary final rule restricting the export of certain types of personal protective equipment (PPE).  The temporary rule required FEMA approval before certain kinds of PPE could be exported from the United States.

On April 21, 2020, FEMA…

On April 21, 2020, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced the initiation of antidumping (“AD”) duty investigations of imports of mattresses from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam and a countervailing duty (“CVD”) investigation of imports of mattresses from China. The petitioners in this case are Brooklyn Bedding, Corsicana Mattress Company (Dallas, TX),…