The 15% tariff on most solar panels and the 15% tariff on imported solar cells past a 2.5 gigawatt threshold are slated to expire Feb. 6, and, according to Reuters, the White House is considering accepting some of the International Trade Commission's recommendations on extending the solar panel and cell safeguard, and rejecting others. The ITC recommended reducing the current 15% rate by just .25% in 2022, and by another quarter point each year, until early 2026, when the safeguard would expire.

Imports of palm oil and palm oil products from Sime Darby Plantation in Malaysia may be seized by CBP starting Jan. 28 under a finding that the company uses forced labor, CBP said in a notice. "Through its investigation, CBP has determined that there is sufficient information to support a Finding that Sime Darby Plantation and its subsidiaries are using forced labor on Sime Darby’s plantations in Malaysia to harvest fresh fruit bunches, which are used to extract palm oil and produce derivative products, and that such palm oil and derivative products produced by the company are likely being imported" into the U.S., the agency said. CBP's finding follows a December 2020 withhold release order aimed at the company's palm oil (see 2012300007).

Tariff rate quotas on European steel are really meant to be a gap-filler while the U.S. and the European Union figure out a way to offer import preference to cleaner steel, said Greta Peisch, general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Peisch, the European Commission staffer responsible for trade relations with the U.S., the General Motors counsel on Legal Affairs and Trade and a former Trump administration trade official were speaking on a panel about the shift from tariffs to tariff rate quotas, and what the next step would look like.

A Republican staffer from the House Ways and Means Committee said that while Republicans are certainly open to having a discussion on the balance between preserving the benefit to small businesses of importing goods under the de minimis statute and the need for improvements, a conference committee on a massive China package is not the right venue for it.

The House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he will bring the massive America COMPETES bill up for a vote soon. While it may not need to attract any Republican votes to pass there, a bipartisan compromise will be necessary in conference. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said that the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) was not adequate, aside from the issue that revenue measures, such as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, must start in the House. "This legislation is the boldest, best option we have to stand up to China’s harmful actions and support American workers, and I look forward to discussing these proposals further during our conference on the package with the Senate," he said.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will update three Section 301 tariff product exclusions in order to align the exclusions with changes made to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule on Jan. 27, USTR said in a notice posted to the agency website Jan. 25. The U.S. will implement broad changes to the HTS on Jan. 27, following amendments to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System tariff nomenclature (see 2112230046).

As the U.S. and several Pacific Rim allies move forward on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, countries will have the ability to sign onto portions of any agreement rather than being required to join it wholesale, said Timothy Brightbill, a lawyer with Wiley, during a webinar put on by the law firm Jan. 25.

The broadest set of changes to tariff classification in five years is set to take effect toward the end of January, as the latest set of amendments to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System tariff nomenclature is implemented in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. Announced by a presidential proclamation published Dec. 28, the changes are slated to take effect 30 days after that, Jan. 27 (see 2112270032). This is the 10th part of International Trade Today's multipart summary, covering photographic apparatus, measuring and checking instruments, clocks and watches, manufactured articles and cultural articles of chapters 90-97.

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America released the names of those serving on the next Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, in a Jan. 24 email. CBP provided the list to those members Jan. 18, the association said. Some work toward the 21st Century Customs framework has been on hold until the COAC returns for the new term (see 2109230031). CBP didn't comment.