The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach postponed until next week consideration of a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers, the two California ports announced Nov. 15. The ports originally said they would begin imposing the fee Nov. 15 (see 2111030027) but pushed the start date to Nov. 22 because of the “significant improvement in clearing import containers from our docks in recent weeks,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said.

The Customs Modernization Act draft bill in the Senate is largely a customs enforcement bill, not a customs modernization bill, Sidley Austin attorney Barbara Broussard said in an interview, but she's hopeful that some carrots can be added to the sticks in the current approach. She said traders would really like to be able to file entry summaries monthly or quarterly, similar to the way Customs reconciliation is allowed, rather than having to do entry summaries within 10 days of goods' entrance into commerce. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La, recently requested stakeholder input on the draft bill.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a letter to colleagues, said it's "likely" that the Senate will consider the National Defense Authorization Act this week, and the China package that passed the Senate in June may be attached to it. That bill, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, included a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (see 2106090041). Schumer said “there seems to be fairly broad” bipartisan support for adding USICA to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would allow a USICA negotiation with the House “to be completed alongside” the NDAA before the end of the year. The House plans to write its own version of USICA.

The three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade presiding over the Section 301 litigation scheduled oral argument in the HMTX Industries-Jasco Products sample case for Feb. 1, 2022, at 10 a.m. in the court's Ceremonial Courtroom in New York, an order entered Nov. 12 in master case docket 21-cv-52 said. Chief Judge Mark Barnett had asked lawyers from both sides at a virtual status conference Nov.10 to email the court by Nov. 12 about schedule conflicts they had in January and February.

An exporter of wind towers that enters into post-importation warranty and repair agreements with its customers, but does not hold title or risk of loss when the goods are imported, doesn't have a sufficient financial interest in the wind towers to make entry under the customs laws, CBP said in ruling HQ H312266, dated Oct. 29.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend most of the exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs on goods used to treat COVID-19 for six months, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. For the 81 exclusions being extended, the new expiration date is May 31, 2022. All the exclusions were slated to expire Nov. 14, but USTR is allowing a "transition period" and that expiration date will be Nov. 30, it said.

Thea Lee, the long-time AFL-CIO trade policy director who is now leading the Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), acknowledged that apparel companies have challenges in avoiding child labor and forced labor because "it's so ubiquitous" in the sector. She said one way to try to avoid "reputational, legal and operational damage" is to identify the good players. She recommended Better Work, a program to improve working conditions funded by the International Labor Organization and the World Bank. It covers 1,700 factories in nine countries. Lee said the U.S. government helps fund the program in Haiti, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Jordan and Vietnam.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 1-5 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

David Spooner, Washington counsel for the U.S. Fashion Industry Association, said that while the U.S. trade representative's China policy speech was underwhelming, he doesn't think the possibility of renewing 549 exclusions that expired at the end of last year will be the only olive branch to importers hurt by the China trade war. "Will we see other [expired] exclusions open to renewal? A new window open for exclusions? I hear 'yes.' When that will happen, and what that will look like, remains unclear," Spooner said at a virtual USFIA conference Nov. 9.

The bipartisan infrastructure package that passed the House Nov. 6 will dedicate $17.4 billion to ports, Coast Guard facilities, inland waterways, and land ports of entry, and flood and environmental projects from the Army Corps of Engineers, with much of the funds expected to be spent over a three- to five-year horizon.