Trade attorneys helping importers comply with duty collection regulations are seeing Customs officials increase their scrutiny of entry filings via a higher rate of CF-28 forms being sent to companies, according to comments made during various webinars this week.
A Texas-based freight forwarder will pay the Office of Foreign Assets Control more than $1.6 million to settle allegations that it violated sanctions against Venezuela and Iran. OFAC said company employees bypassed its sanctions compliance program procedures by working with a designated Venezuelan airline and an Iran-linked aircraft to transport goods from Mexico to a customer in Argentina.
Although CBP has provided guidance on how to file entries for steel and aluminum derivatives under the Section 232 tariffs, some trade community members are still unclear about how to determine the value of the steel or aluminum content in more complex situations, according to trade attorney George Tuttle, speaking on an Aug. 27 webinar.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A New York state law requiring retailers to disclose when they're using algorithmic pricing is content- and viewpoint-based and a violation of the First Amendment, said a Thursday amicus brief by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The group filed in support of the National Retail Federation (NRF), which filed suit in early July against New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), alleging that the state is inappropriately compelling speech through the Algorithmic Disclosure Act.
The next quarterly meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee will be on Sept. 17 in Washington, D.C., 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, according to a Federal Register notice. The meeting will be open to the public only via webinar. Comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. EDT on Sept. 12. Meeting materials will be available by going to this site starting Sept. 8.
Businesses should anticipate that even more derivative products could be added to the list of Section 232 tariffs for steel and aluminum (see 2508150063), Flexport senior trade advisory manager Anna Zajac said during an Aug. 20 company webinar on the tariffs.
The Census Bureau is updating certain field names in the Automated Export System related to the U.S. Principal Party in Interest address and state of origin, it said in an Aug. 15 email to industry. The agency is changing the name of the “Address of the USPPI” to “Address of Origin” to clarify that the USPPI address “represents the origin of movement, not the address associated with the USPPI [Employer ID Number] or headquarters address,” it said. The change was previewed in a final rule issued by the agency on Aug. 13 (see 2508130022).
As importers await a decision from the higher courts on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should hedge themselves against any outcome, according to Jen Diaz, president of Diaz Trade Law, who was speaking on an Aug. 11 podcast hosted by the Global Training Center.
It’s crunch time for the California legislature, with many privacy and AI bills nearing the finish line as lawmakers return from summer recess Monday. A few of the most potentially impactful measures for businesses cover universal opt-out preference signals, location privacy, automated decisions and so-called surveillance pricing, said privacy lawyers and consumer advocates in interviews with Privacy Daily this week.