CBP recently updated its frequently asked questions about the withhold release order aimed at silica-based products from China that made a first mention of de minimis considerations (see 2108030026). CBP's revised response to a question about whether finished products containing a small percentage of silica-based products subject to the WRO now says the agency “recognizes there may be some very fact-specific instances, where the question of the contribution of prohibited labor to the whole of a product (from a quantitative and a qualitative perspective) is something that a court might consider with respect to the statutory intent of Section 1307 of Title 19, United States Code.” The updated version also removes any mention of the phrase “de minimis” and an example of a de minimis contribution.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Sept. 7-10 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says that although his initial list of pay-fors did not include any taxes on tobacco, he thinks the House Ways and Means Committee proposal is worthy of being included on what he called "a menu of options" to give Democratic senators choices. "I happen to think that this is an important idea, they're talking, I gather, at e-cigarettes," he said during a Capitol hallway interview.

The ability to eliminate excise taxes on tobacco products through substitution drawback would end if the tax legislation the House Ways and Means Committee is considering becomes law. The U.S. considers this sort of drawback "double drawback," because the substitute exported product was never subject to excise taxes, and that is how the committee characterized it. "This provision stops the practice of double drawbacks for tobacco products by making exports that are not subject to excise tax ineligible for a drawback claim," the summary says.

The CBP modification of its forced labor finding on Top Glove imports from Malaysia followed several actions by the company to remedy forced labor indicators, the agency said Sept. 10. “CBP modified a Finding after thoroughly reviewing evidence that Top Glove has addressed all indicators of forced labor identified at its Malaysian facilities,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said. “Top Glove’s actions in response to the Withhold Release Order, which include issuing more than $30 million in remediation payments to workers and improving labor and living conditions at the company’s facilities, suggest that CBP’s enforcement efforts provide a strong economic incentive for entities to eliminate forced labor from their supply chains.”

In a strategic meeting called a high-level economic dialogue, Mexico and the U.S. talked about ways to facilitate the movement of goods at the border and ways to use Mexico in a North American-centric semiconductor supply chain, officials said after the Sept. 9 meeting. Mexico could become a place for packaging and testing chips, Mexico's Economy Secretary Tatiana Clouthier said at a press conference at the Mexican Embassy.

CBP is ending a forced labor finding on disposable gloves made by Top Glove in Malaysia, after finding the company submitted enough evidence that its disposable gloves are no longer being made with forced labor, CBP said in a notice. Effective on the notice’s date of publication, scheduled for Sept. 10, disposable gloves made by Top Glove in Malaysia will no longer be subject to detention, seizure and forfeiture under the forced labor finding.

CBP cut back its planned continuing education requirements to 36 hours every three years after previously suggesting 40 hours over the same period (see 2010270038), it said in notice. "Requiring more than 36 hours of continuing broker education per triennial period could be burdensome for the customs broker community (especially individual brokers operating as or working for small businesses) and a lower requirement would be insufficient to ensure that individual brokers keep abreast of changes in customs and related laws," it said. An agency official said in May that the change was likely (see 2105040004).

The American Association of Exporters and Importers, IBM and U.S. subsidiaries of the Foxconn Technology Group all disagree with CBP's proposed use of Part 102 rules of origin in non-preferential claims and procurement under USMCA (see 2107010045), they said in the comments recently posted in the docket for the proposal. Meanwhile, lithium-ion battery producer, Inventus Power, and the American Iron and Steel Institute voiced support for the changes in their comments. So far, the comments show a deep split between industries in support (see 2107270049) and against (see 2109010006) the proposal.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 30 - Sept. 3 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.