The latest on Russia sanctions from the International Trade and Supply Chain Team
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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.

Continue Reading Commerce Trade Missions Set to Resume in March 2022

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.
Continue Reading USTR Grants 6-Month Extension on Exclusions for 81 COVID-Related Products

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
Continue Reading 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

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
Continue Reading U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announce 90-Day Duty Postponement due to COVID-19

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.

Continue Reading COVID-19 Impacts on Demurrage and Detention

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
Continue Reading Key U.S. Agencies and Federal Courts Handling International Trade and Trade-Related Matters Begin to Adjust to COVID-19 Concerns