Lawmakers Work on Trade Facilitation for Customs Modernization
June 12, 2024 – Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose Customs Modernization bill would expand the enforcement power of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), released a proposal this week that outlines trade facilitation provisions. The document includes One U.S. Government at the Border (1USG), simplified drawback, streamlined data collection and information sharing, export modernization, and improved response time to trade industry requests.
The document was co-written by Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV). Read Sen. Cassidy’s Trade Facilitation document.
DHS Expands UFLPA Entity List
June 12, 2024 – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added three companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List today. DHS says the companies were added for “working with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”
The entities are Dongguan Oasis Shoes Co., Ltd., Shandong Meijia Group Co., Ltd., and Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity Co., Ltd. Read today’s notice from DHS.
Congressmen Urge FLETF to Add Chinese Companies to Entity List
June 12, 2024 – Congressman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and a group of Republican congressmen urged the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) last week to add two Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The letters detail the companies’ ties to forced labor and to Xinjiang. The letters also aim to illustrate a “broader pattern” through which Chinese companies seek access to the U.S. market. Read their letters to Under Secretary Robert Silvers here and here.
U.S. Announces Expanded Sanctions on Sale of Chips to Russia
June 12, 2024 – Today, the Treasury Department announced broader sanctions on the sale of semiconductor chips and other goods to Russia, with the goal of targeting third-party sellers in China. The announcement is in response to Russia’s efforts to get around sanctions already in place.
The sweeping sanctions apply to U.S.-branded goods, not just those made in the United States. Treasury says today’s actions “ratchet up the risk of secondary sanctions for foreign financial institutions that deal with Russia’s war economy; restrict the ability of Russian military-industrial base to take advantage of certain U.S. software and information technology (IT) services.”
They target more than 300 people and entities. See details in the Treasury Department’s news release.
European Commission Announces Potential Duties on Chinese EV Imports
June 12, 2024 – The European Commission (EC) announced today that its investigation provisionally concludes that the battery electric vehicle (BEV) value chains in China benefit from “unfair subsidization,” threatening economic injury to European BEV producers. As a result, the Commission pre-disclosed provisional countervailing duties it may impose on BEV imports from China effective July 4, 2024, if definitive duties are imposed.
The duties would apply to the three sampled Chinese producers and other BEV producers in China that cooperated in the investigation. For more information, read the European Commission’s news release.
AAEI Announces Small Business Exporter of the Year
June 12, 2024 – AAEI announced the winner today of the Association’s inaugural 2024 Small Business Exporter of the Year award. The winner is Pan American Zinc, a private Miami-based company trading all non-ferrous metals.
The award was announced at the end of AAEI’s 2024 Annual Conference and Expo in Fort Lauderdale, and given to Josephita Harry, Vice President of Sales, and Haydee Suarez, Controller. Learn more about Pan American Zinc.
