| Customs & International Trade Law Blog

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

Administration

• On June 3, 2025, President Trump signed a Proclamation increasing Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%. The same day, CBP published guidance implementing the increase. All imports of steel and aluminum and their derivative products from all countries (except those from the UK) are subject to the 50% Section 232 Tariffs effective June 4, 2025.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)  

• New HQ ruling: CBP ruled that an importer is liable for duties on merchandise that it sought to import, despite arguing that it didn’t consent to having its broker designate it as an importer of record.
• CBP issued a WRO against Zhen Fa 7 based on information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labor. Effective May 28, 2025, CBP personnel at all U.S. ports of entry will detain seafood, including but not limited to squid, harvested by Zhen Fa 7.
• CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will be holding its quarterly meeting on June 18, virtually, from Washington, D.C.

Department of Commerce 

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Topics of discussion included trade deals, reciprocal tariffs, and trade barriers.
• Commerce published a Federal Register Notice seeking comment on its proposals to revise the current policy of assessing entries of unaffiliated resellers at the all-others antidumping duty rate and to eliminate expedited countervailing duty reviews. Comments are due by July 7.
• A new antidumping and countervailing duty action has been filed against Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar imported from Algeria, Bulgaria, Egypt, and Vietnam. The subject merchandise covered by this petition is steel concrete reinforcing bar, which is widely used for nonresidential and infrastructure construction.

United States Trade Representative (USTR)

• USTR announced the extension of exclusions in the Section 301 Investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation. The exclusions were previously scheduled to expire on May 31 but have now been extended to Aug. 31.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

• The FDA launched Elsa, a generative AI tool designed to help employees work more efficiently. 
• The FDA issued draft guidance providing drug manufacturers with recommendations on replacing color additives in drugs.

Federal Maritime Commission (FMC)

• A FMC judge ordered ocean carrier SM Line Corp. to pay consumer goods company Samsung Electronics $1.9 million in reparations for unfair demurrage and detention fees.

Congress 

• The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that there would be $2.5 trillion collected in tariffs in the next 10 years if the global 10% reciprocal tariff remained, de minimis was still curtailed, and tariffs on most Chinese products and some Mexican and Canadian products, as well as 25% tariffs on the auto sector, steel and aluminum, continue during that period. 

Industry News 

• The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services narrowed significantly in April, falling to $61.6 billion compared with $138.3 billion in March. 
• The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Court of International Trade (CIT) has exclusive jurisdiction to hear California’s challenge to all tariff action taken under IEEPA. The judge dismissed the case rather than transfer it to CIT, allowing the state to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
• The District Court for the District of Columbia stayed its decision, finding that IEEPA doesn’t confer tariff-setting authority and declaring that all tariff action taken under IEEPA is illegal. The judge suspended his preliminary injunction on the collection of tariffs from the plaintiffs. The ruling is stayed pending the government’s appeal of the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 
• Importer FCMT filed three complaints at the CIT challenging CBP’s appraisement of its apparel entries. FCMT argues that CBP failed to use the products’ transaction value to appraise the merchandise and that CBP engaged in an “arbitrary and fictitious appraisement” of the merchandise.