On February 20, 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it is seeking comments from the public to identify and address unfair and non-reciprocal foreign trade practices. This initiative is part of the broader America First Trade Policy Presidential Memorandum and the Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs Presidential Memorandum.
The
In a February 13, 2025 Memorandum, President Donald Trump instructed the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative, with input from other agencies, to initiate “all necessary actions to investigate the harm to the United States from any non-reciprocal trade arrangements adopted by any trading partners.” Upon completion of this investigation, the president
UPDATE: On February 14, the Federal Register released the formal Presidential Proclamations on the steel and aluminum tariffs that include the annexes for each Proclamation that detail the list of in-scope steel or aluminum articles and derivatives that will be subject to the 25% ad valorem tariffs. The links in this post have been updated
UPDATE: On February 7, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) addressing the additional duties placed on imports into the United States of products of China. The article below stated that use of duty-free de minimis treatment on imports for shipments under $800 was being removed for shipments from China. The president has since
On January 17, 2025, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) intended to tighten the de minimis duty exemption for certain low-value shipments entering the United States. Under the proposed rule, merchandise subject to specific trade and national security actions would no longer qualify for the de minimis exemption and
On January 14, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) that would amend CBP regulations pertaining to the entry of certain low-value (i.e., de minimis) shipments into the United States not exceeding $800 that are currently eligible for an administrative exemption from duty and tax. CBP states
The U.S. International Trade Commission released the 2025 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) on January 1, 2025. The HTSUS sets out the tariff rates and statistical categories for all merchandise imported into the United States and is based on the Harmonized System, which is the global system of
On May 31, 2024, the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a Federal Register notice announcing the seventh phase of the Lacey Act’s import declaration requirement, adding enforcement of Phase VII will begin on December 1, 2024. Known as “the United States’ oldest wildlife protection statute,” the Lacey Act (16
On March 18, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule to implement procedures to investigate claims of evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders in accordance with Title IV of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (known as the Enforce and Protect Act or EAPA). This final
On February 20, 2024, Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co., Ltd. (“Jiaxing Hoshine”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., filed a complaint at the United States Court of International Trade (USCIT) challenging the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) June 2021 decision to issue a withhold release order (WRO) against Hoshine
