Customs and Trade Law Weekly Snapshot

Here is a recap of the latest customs and international trade law news:

• On June 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the United States’ first major shipping reform in over twenty years, which gave maritime regulators greater oversight over container storage fees and the ability to monitor whether ocean carriers are adhering to soon-to-be revised rules on loading exports. The Senate’s version of the bipartisan bill, The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA-22), allocates the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) $164 million through fiscal year 2025, an increase from the House’s version that authorized $68.5 million through fiscal year 2023.

• On June 23, 2022, exponential growth in e-commerce, affecting both commercial and low-value shipments, has prompted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and FDA to reinforce the requirements for de minimis entries. The FDA updated previously issued information in 2017 to clarify FDA expectations for the submission of shipments qualifying under Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 containing FDA-regulated articles, i.e. those valued at $800 or less (“Section 321” or “de minimis” shipments).

• On June 22, 2022, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined to grant complainant’s motion to terminate the investigation on certain gas spring nailer products and components on remand and vacate the remedial orders issued in the underlying investigation. The investigation is terminated.
• On June 23, 2022, a notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has received a complaint entitled Certain Rotating 3–D LiDAR Devices, Components Thereof, and Sensing Systems Containing the Same, DN 3624. The complaint and submission are pursuant to § 210.8(b) of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure filed on behalf of Velodyne Lidar USA, Inc. The Commission is soliciting comments on any public interest issues raised by the complaint or complainant’s filing pursuant to the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure.

OFAC

• On June 17, 2022, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Venezuela-related Designations from their list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons in their most recent update. The list is comprised of sanctions and is accessible on the OFAC website.

BIS

• On June 22, 2022, the U.S. Industry and Security Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, through its Office of Export Enforcement, has requested the issuance of an Order temporarily denying, for a period of 180 days, the export privileges under the Regulations of Belavia Belarusian Airlines. OEE’s request and related information indicates that Belavia is headquartered in Minsk, Belarus and owned by the State of Belarus.

White House

• On June 22, 2022, the Executive Office of the President of the United States announced that Ambassador Katherine Tai was testifying that day before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies on the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Request for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

To receive an email notification whenever a new post is published, please subscribe to our weekly blog here.

Print