The U.S. International Trade Commission (“USITC”) determined in a unanimous vote on February 11, 2021 that imports of fresh, chilled, or frozen blueberries have not increased in quantities sufficient to be a serious cause of injury to the domestic industry. On September 29, 2020, the United States Trade Representative requested that the USITC initiate an
The U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) is indefinitely suspending the Section 301 tariffs on certain handbags and cosmetics from France resulting from the investigation into France’s Digital Services Tax (“DST”). These additional tariffs were announced by USTR in July 2020 and were scheduled to go into effect on January 6, 2021. USTR is suspending the tariffs
As previously reported, since October 18, 2019 the U.S. has imposed additional duties on various European origin goods (including aircraft, certain textiles and wearing apparel, hardware, cheeses, and other agricultural goods) due the ongoing Large Civil Aircraft (LCA) dispute with the European Union (EU).
On December 30, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced
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 from China until March 31, 2021. On March 25, 2020, the USTR announced that it was seeking comments on the possible exemption of medical goods
United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the very first enforcement action under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) to address Canada’s tariff-rate quotas (“TRQs”) on imported dairy products, which the USTR alleges are in violation of various USMCA Articles to the detriment of U.S. dairy producers. USTR’s announcement follows complaints from U.S. dairy farmers and Members of Congress received earlier this year over Canada’s use of TRQs. USTR stated in its announcement that it was “disappointed that Canada’s policies have made this first ever enforcement action under the USMCA necessary to ensure compliance with the agreement.”
The U.S. International Trade Commission (“USITC”) announced on December 2, 2020 that it would begin monitoring imports of bell peppers and strawberries pursuant to Section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930, following a request from the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) Robert E. Lighthizer. The USITC will monitor imports of the subject products for
The European Union (EU) has imposed additional tariffs on approximately $4 billion worth of U.S. goods, after a World Trade Organization (WTO) decision last month authorized proportionate retaliation against the U.S. for its subsidies to Boeing. According to the European Commission’s (EC) Implementing Regulation (“the Regulation”), published in the Official Journal of the European Union
In a November 3, 2020 letter, U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) Robert E. Lighthizer requested that the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) “monitor and investigate imports of strawberries and bell peppers” pursuant to section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930. Section 332 is a provision that allows USTR to ask for a fact-finding investigation by the
The United States and Brazil signed a new protocol on anti-corruption and trade facilitation as an update to the existing 2011 Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation (ATEC). According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the protocol adds three new annexes with provisions on customs procedures, transparent regulatory practices, and anti-corruption
On October 2, 2020, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a statement announcing the initiation of new investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to determine whether Vietnam has been undervaluing its currency and to investigate Vietnam’s policies and practices as related to importing illegally harvested timber subsequently