The Agricultural Marketing Service on Jan. 18 released a final rule requiring submission in ACE of National Organic Program organic certificates for all organic products entering the U.S. as part of the entry process. The agency’s sprawling final rule also sets requirements for organic certifiers, recognition of foreign organic certifications, labeling requirements and the calculation of organic content of multi-ingredient products, among other things.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Senate Finance Committee member Bill Cassidy, R-La., wants the government to greatly expand its tariff liberalization, to cover many South American and Central American countries and to cover goods made in factories that moved from China to the Western Hemisphere.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., joined by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., has proposed that most countries in Central and South America should be invited to join USMCA, and that before that can be negotiated, the countries should be added to the Caribbean Basin Trade Preference Area.
Members of the House of Representatives voted 365-65 on the second day of the session to create a Select Committee on China. The committee, which will be led by Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., will be bipartisan.
The Treasury Department issued a white paper on how it will shape proposed guidance for electric vehicle batteries and critical minerals, with some specifics on how it will define the critical mineral/battery component dividing line but deferring the definition of a free trade agreement.
The EPA is proposing to eliminate a de minimis exemption from reporting requirements for chemicals listed by the agency as chemicals of special concern. The agency’s Dec. 5 proposed rule, which also would add 180 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the list, would “make the de minimis exemption unavailable for purposes of supplier notification requirements to downstream facilities for all chemicals on the list of chemicals of special concern, which also includes certain persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals like lead, mercury, and dioxins,” the EPA said in a news release. “This change will help ensure that purchasers of mixtures and trade name products containing these chemicals are informed of their presence in mixtures and products they purchase.” Comments are due by Feb. 3, 2023.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will not move forward with a proposal under the 21st Century Customs Framework (21CCF) to make ocean vessel manifest data automatically confidential, according to a report from the 21CCF task force released by the COAC Nov. 28. The provision is one of several listed by the task force in the report that the COAC will no longer advance after recent discussions with CBP.
Lab testing commissioned by Bloomberg News showed two instances in which garments shipped to the U.S. by fast fashion giant Shein were made using cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, according to a Nov. 20 report by Bloomberg. The report said Shein typically ships individually to customers in shipments valued at less than the $800 de minimis level, so the company’s apparel is able to avoid the scrutiny CBP applies to larger shipments. A German lab conducted the testing on two batches of garments from Shein, finding using a stable isotope analysis that the cotton in the garments matched samples of cotton from Xinjiang. CBP did not immediately comment.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.