Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

• CBP released their January 2025 monthly update. Highlights:
  • Seized 1,977 shipments that contained counterfeit goods.
  • Stopped 1,986 shipments for suspected use of forced labor.
  • Identified $71 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government.
• CBP announced the results of their recently completed global interoperability standards technology demonstrations. The results will help the agency in its efforts to modernize ACE 2.0 and make it consistent with CBP’s 21st Century Customs Framework.

Administration

• In a Truth Social post, President Trump stated that the suspended 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada will go into effect on March 4. He also stated that China will also face an additional 10% tariff beginning March 4.
• President Trump issued a memorandum titled “Defending American Companies and Innovators From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties.” The memo instructs USTR to consider whether to renew 301 investigations of several Digital Services Taxes and other policies that may discriminate against the United States.
• In a Truth Social post, President Trump announced that on March 1, the Administration is terminating the “Concession Agreement” that the Biden Administration reached with Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. The agreement involved oil transactions and electoral conditions. According to the post, the electoral conditions have not been met and the country has failed to transport Venezuelan migrants back to Venezuela.
• During a White House Cabinet meeting on Feb. 26, President Trump stated the Administration would soon be announcing a likely 25% reciprocal tariff on EU imports.
• President Trump signed two Presidential Proclamations imposing 25% Section 232 duties on all imported steel and aluminum.

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)

• BIS has paused reviews of new export license applications submitted this month without explanation.

United States Trade Representative (USTR)

• USTR requests comments on unfair trade practices and non-reciprocal trade arrangements.
• USTR published a Federal Register Notice proposing charging Chinese ships up to $1.5 million to enter US ports.
• The United States Senate voted to confirm Jamieson Greer as United States Trade Representative.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

• WTO members for the first time agreed to undertake a comprehensive review of the WTO’s functions in order to ensure the organization is capable of responding more effectively to the challenges facing the multilateral trading system.

Court of International Trade (CIT)

• The U.S. brought a complaint against importer Shunny Corp., alleging that the company negligently misreported the country of origin of its health products to avoid import duties. The government is seeking nearly $200,000 in unpaid duties, along with a nearly $1.4 million penalty.

U.S. Census Bureau

• Effective March 3, the Census Bureau will implement the use of a fillable form for the submission of Voluntary Self Disclosures (VSDs). The intent of the form is to streamline the process.

Department of Justice (DoJ)

• Israeli freight forwarder sentenced to two years in prison for violating export restrictions imposed on Russia.
• An Ohio-based supplier of aircraft parts and three employees were charged for an illicit export scheme involving Russia.

Federal Maritime Commission (FMC)

• A Florida-based non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC) has paid $165,000 in civil penalties and agreed to accept and self-finance independent monitoring of their business practices as part of two separate compromise agreements reached with the agency.
• A FMC administrative law judge ordered Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to pay $16 million in civil penalties for violating U.S. shipping laws.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

• The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organics Program (NOP) warned that certifiers and certified operations have received phishing emails from sources pretending to be USDA.
• The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is temporarily delaying the effective date of the new user fee structure for agriculture inspections, which was previously due to take effect Jan. 29. The new effective date is March 20.

Congress

• A bipartisan group of Senators introduced the “Level the Playing Field Act 2.0” which would provide more tools for the U.S. to stop illegal dumping and subsidies.
• Representative Bost of Illinois introduced the Fighting Trade Cheats Act, which would allow domestic manufacturers to sue foreign producers for customs fraud.
• Senators Lankford, Kelly, and Ciscomani reintroduced the BEST Facilitation Act which would create regional command centers where CBP image technicians can review the images generated by NII scans.

Industry News

• The MDI Fair Trade Coalition filed a petition with the USITC for the imposition of antidumping duties on imports of Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate from China.

A detailed timeline of the process can be found here. The new MTB process, as set out in the law, runs from October 2019 through the end of 2020. The dates and time frames below have been calculated from the start date announced by the U.S. ITC and the text of the legislation:

• October 11 – December 10, 2019: USITC MTB portal open for petition submission.
• December 10, 2019 – January 11, 2020: USITC compiles petitions.
• No later than January 11 – USITC issues Federal Register notice soliciting comments on product petitions.
• January 11 – Late February, 2020 (45 days): USITC accepts public comments through online portal.
• January 11 – Mid-April, 2020 (90 days): Commerce conducts its review of petitions, at the end of which it submits its report to the congressional committees and the USITC.
• January 11 – Mid-June, 2020 (150 days): USITC conducts its review of petitions, at end of which it submits its Preliminary Report to the congressional committees, taking into consideration the Commerce Report.
• Mid-June – mid-August, 2020 (60 days): USITC conducts re-review of individual petitions, based on information submitted by the congressional committees, at the end of which it submits its Final Report to the congressional committees.

A successful MTB petition will cover a “noncontroversial” or “noncompetitive” product. The guidelines defining those products are:

• No domestic producer objects to the import duty elimination or reduction for the product;
• The import duty elimination or reduction for the product is determined to be in the interest of U.S. “downstream” producers and consumers; and
• The import duty elimination or reduction for the product must not result in a loss to the U.S. Department of the Treasury of more than $500,000 in annual revenue.

The ITC determines whether the petition should move forward. ITC delivers its determinations directly to congressional committees, including but not limited to:

• A determination if domestic production of the product exists;
• A determination of whether a domestic producer objects to the petition;
• Any technical changes to the product’s article description that are necessary for purposes of administration;
• An estimate of the amount of loss in revenue to the United States if the duty suspension or reduction takes effect;
• A list of petitions that it does not recommend for inclusion in an MTB.

Importers can request an elimination or reduction of duties, depending on the annual duty savings anticipated and the $500,000 threshold.

The ITC’s website indicates that almost 700 (or only 28 percent) of the petitions listed in the Commission’s final 2017 report were not recommended to Congress for inclusion in an MTB.  Many of these are due to issues regarding classification and the ability of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to administer the claimed provision.

Successful MTB petitions are compiled into a bill and presented to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees and would then need to be approved by Congress and signed into law by the president before becoming effective. If signed into law, then the MTB petitions may become effective January 1, 2021, with an expiration date of December 31, 2024.

The ITC’s new petition procedures appear more stringent than those applied during the 2016 round of MTB petitions.

The new procedures indicate that the petitions should include (to the extent available):

1. CBP rulings issued on the product;
2. a copy of other CBP documentation indicating where the article is classified in the HTS;
3. an estimate of both total value and dutiable value for the product for the next five calendar years;
4. an estimate of the share of total imports represented by the petitioner’s imports of the subject article;
5. the names of any domestic producers of the article, if available;
6. a certification of completeness and correctness; and
7. an acknowledgement of the petitioner’s awareness that the information submitted is subject to ITC audit and verification.

The USITC will take into account the Department of Commerce report, including input from CBP, and other Executive agencies, in its report. The USITC will provide its preliminary report to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees in mid-June 2020 and its final report in mid-August 2020. In between the preliminary and final reports, the USITC is directed to consider information from the congressional committees on its report. For more information on the MTB process, click here.

For more information regarding the filing or preparation of the petition, contact Diaz Trade Law today at 305-456-3830 or via email at info@diaztradelaw.com.