On November the 25th, governments from across the world will meet in Busan, South Korea, for INC-5, the final stage of negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty. This session aims to finalize an international legally binding instrument addressing plastic pollution, encompassing the entire lifecycle of plastics.

Congressman John Moolenaar called on the Commerce Department to apply the "special rules for costs" in evaluating imports of Epoxy resin from China that compete with Dow Chemical. "Special rules"  empower Commerce to adjust reported costs submitted by foreign producers and counter overcapacity and market distortion when they occur in the American economy.

Magi planning their holiday gift-giving may have to reconsider choices in light of a recent CBP finding of forced labor in the Frankinsense trade. Effective November 1, 2024, U.S. Customs and …

The U.S. Census Bureau has issued a proposed rule to amend regulations governing export reporting requirements, with an emphasis on clarifying procedures for in-transit shipments, the role of the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI), and the responsibilities of customs brokers.

California dronemaker Skydio reports that Chinese sanctions are impacting its supply of lithium-ion batteries. The firm and its leadership were among those  sanctioned by the Beijing government October 10, for sales to Taipei. “This is an attempt to eliminate the leading American drone company and deepen the world’s dependence on Chinese drone suppliers,” Skydio CEO Adam Bry said in an October 30 statement.

The US has named four Chinese textile firms to the Uyghur blacklist for involvement in the forced labor regimes in China's western Uyghur region. The added firms are affiliates of the Esquel Group, a Hong Kong–based textile and apparel manufacturer. Esquel is the world's largest woven shirt maker, producing about 100 million shirts annually. 

Supply-chain finance is crucial for enabling global trade but remains inaccessible to many small businesses in developing economies, impeding their growth and participation in international commerce, contend Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Makhtar Diop in an article published by Project Syndicate October 23. Despite the global value of supply-chain finance reaching $2.3 trillion, “most businesses in developing countries remain on the sidelines,” hindered by weak legal frameworks, high costs, and limited infrastructure.

Executive Order 14114, issued by President Biden on December 22, 2023, amends E.O. 14068 to ban the importation of certain seafood and diamonds originating from the Russian Federation. The order mandates that the Department of Homeland Security (with the Treasury's concurrence) implement data collection for enforcing these prohibitions. Filed on: 10/21/2024 at 8:45 am Scheduled Pub. Date: 10/22/2024 FR Document: 2024-24341 PDF 9 Pages (126 KB) …

For the 29th time, the United States is asking Mexico to review whether workers at a Mexican facility are being denied their rights. The request, under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rapid response labor mechanism, asks for a review ofwhether workers at Odisa Concrete Equipment SA de CV, in Hidalgo, Mexico, are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics Tuesday for Fiscal Year 2024, including September 2024’s monthly operational update. CBP monthly reporting can be viewed …

Chinese authorities announced new regulations on the export control of dual-use items, effective December 1, 2024. These measures aim to enhance China’s export control governance, align with international non-proliferation commitments, and bolster global non-proliferation efforts. The newly issued rules establish a permit system for the export of dual-use items, including a list of restricted goods. The regulations will abolish the existing registration system for exporters of dual-use items.

A "customs-related misunderstanding" is currently affecting the world's largest dronemaker's ability to import select drones into the United States,  Da-Jiang Innovation (DJI) calls the action "part of a broader initiative by the Department of Homeland Security to scrutinize the origins of products, particularly in the case of Chinese made drones." U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has cited the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), as the reason for the current holdups. 

Republican lawmakers continued their campaign to derail Chinese battery firm Gotion's plans to build a factory in Michigan, calling for a retroactive review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Congressman John Moolenar (R-MI), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and colleagues cite the facility's location, 60 miles from a National Guard training facility Camp Grayling.

Mexico wants to reduce its dependence on imports from China and is asking some of the world’s biggest manufacturers and tech firms operating in the country to identify Chinese products and parts that could be made locally. The country’s deputy trade minister, Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, told the Wall Street Journal  that Mexico wants U.S. carmakers and semiconductor manufacturers as well as global giants in the aerospace and electronics sectors to substitute some goods and components manufactured in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

The White House is considering various import prohibition options on the basis that Chinese nationals are engaging in trade or taking of pangolins that diminishes the effectiveness of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). China remains the largest destination country for pangolin scales

The Securities and Exchange Commission's  2012 conflict minerals disclosure rule has not reduced violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and has likely had no effect in adjoining countries, according to a GAO report released October 7th. The SEC rule requires companies to file reports on their use of tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold, which are mined in the DRC. GAO found no empirical evidence that the rule has decreased the occurrence or level of violence in the eastern DRC, where many mines and armed groups are located

The Board of Directors at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) last week voted to approve a Non-Binding Resolution in Support of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths Financings to reaffirm its support for critical minerals transactions. The resolution amplifies EXIM’s current efforts to utilize its lending and underwriting tools to support critical minerals and rare earths projects. 

For the first time,  steel and artificial sweetener companies have been added to the UFLPA Entity List.  Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by Baowu Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co., Ltd.

Developing and developed members applauded the EU decision to postpone the implementation of its new Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) for twelve months.   This regulation, which was set to take effect on 30 December 2024, will require a variety of agricultural products sold in the EU market to be "deforestation-free," meaning they must not result from recent (post-31 December 2020) deforestation, forest degradation, or breaches of local environmental and social laws.

On 25 September 2024, the EU and US held an in-depth technical discussion with transatlantic social partner stakeholders under the Trade and Labour Dialogue (TALD), focused on ways to eradicate forced labour from supply chains and ensure a successful, just and inclusive green transition.