The Court of International Trade on Oct. 7 sent a customs classification dispute on truck steps to a bench trial after finding that the undisputed facts are insufficient for conducting a principal use analysis on whether the products are "side protective attachments." Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves held that while a Section 301 exclusion for "side protective attachments" is a principal use provision, and not a provision for an individual product, the court can't at this time properly assess the imports at issue under a principal use framework.

The three-day work stoppage at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast terminals has ended for now, prompting calls by CBP and the ports to resume business as usual.

Sandler Travis managing partner Lenny Feldman said that CBP decided to delay an ACE validation for de minimis shipments to a recipient that would exceed $800 a day, because "they realized when this hits, there's going to be a significant amount of cargo that's going to be above the threshold."

The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force is adding two companies based in China to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, bringing the total number of entities up to 75, the Department of Homeland Security said in a notice released Oct. 2.

Questions about how to define date of arrival and when the 15-day window to file a cargo release dominated CBP’s Oct. 1 call with the trade on issues related to the labor strike at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.

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U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in responses to Senate Finance Committee members, talked about changes needed in USMCA, declined to endorse a permanent e-commerce tariff moratorium and called for more money for CBP, to address Section 301 tariff circumvention.

Texas-based syringe importer Retractable Technologies took to the Court of International Trade to contest the 100% increase of Section 301 tariffs recently imposed on needles and syringes from China. The complaint is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the duties, claiming that the tariffs could send the company out of business (Retractable Technologies v. United States, CIT # 24-00185).

LONDON -- New U.S. import bans on certain connected vehicles and car components from China are just the start of a host of import restrictions the U.S. is likely to impose under its Information and Communication Technology Services-related authorities, said Meredith Rathbone, a trade lawyer with Steptoe. Rathbone also said many companies may not yet realize the extra compliance burdens the new rules will pose, adding that some importers could decide to nix certain transactions because of the challenge of gleaning information about where cars or car parts are sourced.

Trade groups representing home appliance manufacturers, automakers, apparel brands, cosmetics companies and pharmacists -- along with consumer product safety tester Underwriters Laboratory -- held the first "Shop Safely" day at a House of Representatives office building's foyer.