January 7, 2026 —
COAC Scheduled to Meet January 14
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will hold a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET. The meeting will be open to the public via webinar only, CBP said in a Federal Register notice. Comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 9, and the meeting link will be available on this page by 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 13. The COAC will review their recommendations to CBP. AAEI will provide a COAC update at the first Trade Focus Committee meeting later this month.
Trade Agencies Receiving Funding Boosts
Key trade agencies are set to receive a funding boost thanks to the minibus spending package congressional Republicans aim to pass this month.
Top appropriators in the House and Senate on Monday released details of the bipartisan bill to fund the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Interior and Justice, as well as water programs, the EPA and federal science initiatives through the end of the current fiscal year. Congress aims to pass the package ahead of the Jan. 30 government shutdown deadline.
It includes an 18 percent increase in funding for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, which has taken center stage in President Donald Trump’s effort to negotiate new trade deals. as well as a 23 percent boost for the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which is responsible for designing and enforcing export controls used to target China and other countries.
Bipartisan supporters of export controls have long complained that BIS enforcement operations are underfunded. House Republican appropriators had proposed appropriating $303 million for the bureau, but the new spending package sets funding at $235 million.
The legislation also significantly raises funding for the International Trade Administration, which is tasked with expanding U.S. exports and defending against unfair trade practices. Lawmakers appropriated $562 million for the remainder of this fiscal year, up from $420 million in fiscal year 2025, with $16.4 million directed specifically at preventing China from dumping cheap products that undercut U.S. businesses. The ITA will also keep an additional $20 million in fees it has collected.
The International Trade Commission, which is responsible for investigating unfair trade practices, is set to receive $122 million, equal to the amount it received in 2025.
CBP Will Issue All Refunds Electronically
Beginning February 6, 2026, CBP will issue all refunds electronically (subject to certain exceptions under 31 CFR part 208). This rule applies to refunds issued to all importers, brokers, filers, sureties, service providers, facility operators, foreign trade zone operators, and carriers,[7] and any designated third parties listed on CBP Form 4811. After this date, CBP will not issue any refunds by check, unless a waiver has been approved.
Trump Delays Tariff Hikes on Furniture, Cabinets, Vanities
President Donald Trump on Wednesday delayed for one year planned tariff hikes on imports of upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities, another in a series of trade policy walk-backs as the White House tries to address cost of living concerns.
Trump signed the proclamation postponing the tariffs late Wednesday night, hours before they were due to take effect Jan. 1. The president initially raised the duties in a September proclamation following a Commerce Department investigation into the security implications of imports of timber, lumber and derivative wood products. The administration concluded those imports threaten domestic industry and national security.
Under the September order, duties on “certain upholstered wooden products” were scheduled to rise to 30 percent, while tariffs on kitchen cabinets and vanities were set to jump to 50 percent. Instead, the new proclamation keeps the current 25 percent duties in place for the coming year.
Apparel, Footwear and Textile Center Ruling on First Sale
An importer bears the burden of providing a “complete paper trail” if that importer wants to show that the transactions of its middleman vendors and corresponding factory sellers were bona fide sales upon which transaction value may be based, CBP’s Apparel, Footwear and Textiles Center said in a recent ruling.
CBP Ruling Asserts Agency Laboratory Reports Take Precedence Over Submitted Ones
For a company to use laboratory reports submitted to CBP to protest the agency’s finding on the material composition of an imported good, it must establish a prima facie case sufficient to overcome CBP’s presumption of correctness, CBP said in a Nov. 4 ruling that nonetheless granted an importer’s protest based on CBP re-testing.
Still No Formal Agreement Between China and U.S.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in late October told reporters that negotiators were “moving forward to the final details” of an agreement. Weeks later, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration hoped to finalize the rare earth provisions of the deal by Thanksgiving. That deadline passed without any public text or announcement.
The lack of written terms, affirmed by both sides, has allowed both the Trump administration and Chinese government wiggle room in how they implement their trade truce, but critics say it also leaves the commitments open to competing interpretations — and, inevitably, more conflict down the line. According to Politico Trade reporters, the absence of a wider U.S.-China deal going forward will make the irritants that roiled trade ties in 2025 — tit-for-tat tariff hikes, export curbs on key items and targeted import shutdowns — potential tripwires for fresh economic chaos in the coming year.
The White House, nonetheless, remains upbeat about the prospects for U.S.-China trade ties. A USTR official pointed to previously released statements outlining the administration’s expectations from China. The Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comments.
USTR China Chips Policy Changes
Last month, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative concluded its probe into China’s semiconductor industry, calling Beijing’s push for dominance in the sector “unreasonable” but recommending no immediate tariffs amid a fragile trade truce with the country.
However, USTR said the tariff rate is “scheduled to increase in June of next year” by an unspecified amount, according to a filing. The office “will announce the amount of the increase in a Federal Register notice” at least 30 days prior.
Russian Bill Amended to Remove Indirect Country Tariffs
A bipartisan bill to increase financial pressure on Russia to stop its aggression in Ukraine no longer gives the president the authority to hike tariffs on countries like Turkey, China and Hungary that purchase Russian oil and gas. The original approach was to give the president the ability to impose tariffs as high as 500% on those countries’ exports; he has hiked tariffs on Indian goods by 25 percentage points over the issue.
A bipartisan group of House members led by Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., introduced a revised Russia sanctions bill Dec. 18 that they hammered out through a flurry of year-end negotiations. Meeks no longer wanted to advance the original Sanctioning Russia Act, because he said the tariffs allowed in it could be a “tax on the American people.” However, the bill does authorize a hike of duties on Russian imports of up to 500%.
New FMC Chair Sworn In
Laura DiBella of Florida was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC or Commission). Commissioner DiBella will serve for a term that expires on June 30, 2028. Commissioner DiBella was nominated by President Trump on September 3, 2025, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 18, 2025, and appointed to the Commission by the President on January 2, 2026.
Forced Labor Portal Training Webinars
In preparation for the launch of the Forced Labor Portal in January 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will conduct three webinars to train users on the new Portal’s functionalities for the submission of the following types of review requests: Withhold Release Order/Finding admissibility reviews; Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act applicability reviews; Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act requests for exception; and Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act exception requests.
