Here is a recap of the latest customs and international trade news:    

Administration

  • Via a Truth Social Post, President Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Mexico for allegedly violating the U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty. Trump gave a deadline of December 31 for Mexico to release 200,000 acre-feet of water. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum subsequently said that they will be unable to meet that deadline.
  • At a roundtable at the White House on December 8, President Trump promised to impose “severe” tariffs on fertilizer imports from Canada to bolster U.S. fertilization production.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

  • CBP announced in the ACE Development and Deployment Schedule that the agency is developing a functionality in ACE that will improve CBP’s ability to collect penalty payments for failure to meet in-bond shipment requirements.
  • CBP officers in Louisville seized three shipments of counterfeit jewelry from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Had all these goods been genuine, the shipments would have had a combined MSRP of over $18M.
  • CBP released Harmonized System Update 2542, which contained 40 Automated Broker Interface records and 13 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. 

U.S. Department of Commerce

  • The Commerce Department published a notice announcing the opportunity to request administrative reviews of several AD/CVD orders. Producers and exporters must submit requests by December 31. 

International Trade Commission (ITC)

  • The ITC issued a limited exclusion order banning imports of polycrystalline diamond compacts from several companies in China following a 337 investigation.

United States Trade Representative (USTR)

  • The USTR announced it will impose a 10% Section 301 tariff on Nicaraguan imports to address human rights and labor abuses and the “dismantling of the rule of law.” 

Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

  • OFAC announced a $1M settlement with an individual to settle their civil liability for 122 apparent violations of OFAC sanctions against Russia. 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

  • The FDA published a Federal Register notice with final guidance on promotional labeling and advertising considerations for prescription biological reference products, biosimilar products, and interchangeable biosimilar products.
  • The FDA published a Federal Register notice announcing that the agency intends to continue to collect information related to the agency’s efforts to maintain traceability records for certain foods. Comments on the information collection are due by February 9. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

  • USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published a Federal Register notice updating guidelines for the use of voluntary labeling of FSIS-regulated products with U.S.-origin claims. 

Consumer Product Safety Commission

  • The CPSC published a new safety standard for water bead toys and toys that contain water beads. 
  • The CPSC updated the safety standard applicable to bassinets and cradles to align with the 2025 changes to the ASTM voluntary standard. The update is effective February 21, 2025.

Congress

  • U.S. House Representatives Mike Kelly and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania introduced a bill that would allow CBP to self-initiate Enforce and Protect Act investigations of antidumping duty and countervailing duty evasion.
  • U.S. House Representative Mike Thompson introduced a bill that would establish a program to make direct payments to specialty crop growers and wine producers who experience certain losses due to increased tariff burdens.