The U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced on Friday that it was set to resume trade missions starting as early as March 2022. Trade missions are government- led programs where members of the trade can meet directly with foreign industries and officials to explore potential business opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic brought these missions to a sudden halt in March 2020 and no trade missions have occurred in the past 24 month. The International Trade Administration (“ITA”) is now preparing to resume in-person trade missions, where possible.
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USTR Grants 6-Month Extension on Exclusions for 81 COVID-Related Products
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced in a notice that 81 COVID specific product exclusions would be extended for an additional 6 months, with all COVID exclusions receiving an additional 16-day transition period. The exclusions on the 81 products was set to expire on November 14, 2021, but will now be pushed back until May 31, 2022, allowing these medical – care products to remain free from additional duties upon importation. The announcement comes after USTR requested public comments on August 27, 2021 on whether the exclusions should be further extended.
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USTR Extends Section 301 Exclusions for Certain Medical Equipment
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that it is extending certain product-specific exclusions related to the treatment of COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on imports
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DOJ Takes Unusual Step to Submit Comments in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigation on Mattresses from Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, Serbia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia, and China
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
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DDTC Announces New COVID-Related Measures Covering Registration and Licensing
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
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U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announce 90-Day Duty Postponement due to COVID-19
On April 20, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced via the CBP Customs Service Messaging System (CSMS #4243171) that they would be
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OFAC Fact Sheet on Humanitarian Assistance to Countries with Sanctions
The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released a fact sheet that outlines exemptions, exceptions, and authorizations for humanitarian assistance and trade under the
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Customs Creates New Imports Web Portal for Inquiries Related to COVID-19
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) announced in CSMS #42364745, issued April 14, 2020, that due to the high volume of inquiries the agency is migrating from its COVID-19 Relief
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COVID-19 Impacts on Demurrage and Detention
What might not be so obvious in this COVID-19 environment, which we have grown to associate with shortages, is that counterintuitively there are issues beginning to appear dealing with the opposite situation. The Journal of Commerce has reported that “[t]he container shipping industry is marshaling a response to signs of a building import backlog as some retailers and manufacturers fail to pick up containers because warehouses are full or closed due to not being deemed essential service providers responding to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).” This is a development with implications to all stakeholders in the supply chain and will have some impact on retailers/manufacturers, ocean carriers, ocean transportation intermediaries, and warehouses.
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Lawmakers Push for Duty Deferrals in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
[APRIL 3 UPDATE] U.S. lawmakers of both parties in the House and the Senate, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA),
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Key U.S. Agencies and Federal Courts Handling International Trade and Trade-Related Matters Begin to Adjust to COVID-19 Concerns
UPDATED: April 1, 2020 – Several U.S. executive branch agencies along with federal courts are instituting significant operational changes. These changes have either already been implemented or are anticipated at
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