Senate Finance Chairman Wyden (D-OR) is expected to soon introduce legislation that will target de minimis reform. The legislation, dubbed the Fighting Illicit Goods, Helping Trustworthy Importers, and Netting Gains (FIGHTING) for American Act, would prohibit goods impacted by Sections 232, 301, and 201, as well as those considered sensitive goods by GSP, from entering
John Brew
John Brew is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring's International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, and he regularly advises corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations on matters involving customs administration, enforcement, compliance, litigation, legislation and policy.
John represents clients in proceedings at the administrative and judicial levels, as well as before Congress and the international bureaucracies that handle customs and trade matters. He advises clients on all substantive import regulatory issues handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as classification, valuation, origin, marking, tariff preference programs, other agency regulations, admissibility, import restrictions, quotas, drawback, audits, prior disclosures, penalties, investigations, Importer Self Assessment and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs, importations under bond, the Jones Act, vessel repairs, and foreign trade zone matters.
USTR Postpones Implementation of New Section 301 Tariffs
On July 30, 2024, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the increased Section 301 tariffs proposed on May 28, 2024, would not go into effect as planned on August 1, 2024.
USTR is still reviewing the 1,100 public comments it received. It now expects its final determination will be issued sometime in…
USTR Issues Request for Comment on Proposed Section 301 Changes, Extends Exclusions
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) today published a request for comments on the proposed modifications and machinery exclusion process in its Four-Year Review of Section 301 tariffs (the “Review”), published last week. The Review did not recommend removing any subheadings from Section 301 tariffs, but rather proposed the following increases:
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Biden Administration Proposes New Section 301 Tariffs
This week, President Biden has directed the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) to take further action against Chinese unfair trading practices following the release of the statutory four-year review of Section 301 tariffs against the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). Per Biden’s direction, Ambassador Katherine Tai announced that she will be proposing modifications to existing…
House Panel Set to Introduce GSP Renewal
The House Ways & Means Committee is set to review a slate of bills addressing trade with China, among which is a bill to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”)—which expired in 2020—until 2030. The “Generalized System of Preferences Reform Act” proposes the “largest reforms to the GSP program since inception,” including permanently banning…
Withhold Release Order Issued on Shanghai Select Safety Products and Subsidiaries
17 months since it’s last issuance of a Withhold Release Order (WRO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revives its enforcement mechanism to target a Chinese importer and its affiliates operating in the safety products industry.
Effective Wednesday, April 10, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will detain work gloves manufactured by Shanghai Select…
EU Acts to Ban Forced Labor Imports
The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a provisional deal on regulations banning forced labor in European Union supply chains. The legislative proposal supports the EU’s goals of prohibiting the use of forced labor in manufacturing, applying to both manufacturing within Europe and also to goods imported from abroad. This…
WTO Extends E-Commerce Moratorium to 2026
The conclusion of the World Trade Organization’s (“WTO”) 13th ministerial meeting (“MC13”) this past Friday, March 1st, saw the extension of the so-called e-commerce moratorium until the next ministerial conference in two years, at which point it will permanently expire unless another agreement is reached. The moratorium, which suspends customs duties on…
Luxury automobiles from China detained by CBP over forced labor violations
“Several thousands” of vehicles from German luxury brands including Porsche, Bentley, and Audi have been detained at U.S. ports following the discovery of a Chinese subcomponent violating U.S. anti-forced labor laws. The parent company, Volkswagen Group, had sourced a key electronic component through a supplier further down the company’s supply chain and was unaware of…
New Reports Document Best Practices for Avoiding Uyghur Forced Labor in RE Supply Chains
Jan. 25, 2024—The United Kingdom (“UK”)-based Anti-Slavery International, in combination with the Investor Alliance for Human Rights and the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, has published a series of reports addressing the issue of forced labor in solar and electric vehicle supply chains relating to Uyghur and other Turkic ethnic…