Congressional China hawks called for the Commerce Department to include Chinese drones in evolving regulations for connected vehicles.  "With UAVs’ connected software and hardware posing similar national security threats to those of other identified connected vehicles, such transactions present undue and unacceptable risks to U.S. national security," the lawmakers wrote.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on BMW to provide straight answers about its use of parts made by a banned Chinese supplier, following shifting explanations from the German automaker in response to a Finance Committee Democratic staff investigation. “The Committee is continuing to investigate several aspects of BMW’s exposure to forced labor through JWD, its tier 3 supplier,” the Senator wrote in a letter to the automaker.

Canadian helmet manufacturer Galvion, Ltd. has agreed to pay $2,495,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act through the knowing sale of non-conforming parts to the United States Department of Defense. Through prime vendors, the company sold products to the United States under a Defense Logistics Agency program which requires that textiles be sourced from the United States in accordance with the Berry Amendment. The investigation stemmed from a complaint made to the DLA Hotline related to the origin of materials used in the company’s products.

Congressional Republican China hawks have called for a comprehensive ban on trade and investment dealings with two leading manufacturers of electric vehicle battery systems, Led by the new Chair of the House Select China Committee John Moolenaar (R-MI), the lawmakers wrote letters detailing "shocking new evidence implicating major Chinese battery manufacturers, Gotion and CATL, in Chinese Communist Party state-sponsored slave labor and the ongoing Uyghur genocide." The letters to Mr. Silvers detail supply relationships between the two firms and mineral, metals and labor providers currently under US sanction for their involvement in modern slavery in the Xinjiang Uyghur Region of Western China.

The Department of Commerce  seeks public comment to inform its work on assessing and analyzing risk in global supply chains. The deadline is June 21. This includes input into a determination of an initial list of “critical sectors” and “key goods” as provided under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement Relating to Supply Chain Resilience.

A bipartisian gropu of China hawks on Capitol Hill sent  sent a letter to MSCI's President Henry Fernandez outlining "significant concerns" after the firm removed its forced labor red flag for Volkswagen's factory in China. The Volkswagen factory in Xinjiang is known for using Uyghur forced labor, This led MSCI, an American finance company, to grant Volkswagen a “red flag” rating in 2022.  However, MSCI , relying on an audit the lawmakers describe as "flawed," made the decision to lift Volkswagen’s “red flag” rating. 

In a statement released May 31,  CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller addressed  the Bureau's efforts to "Enhance Enforcement and Prevent Exploitation in the De Minimis Environment."  "While the majority of brokers, carriers, and supply chain businesses that participate in CBP’s Entry Type 86 Test are compliant with applicable laws, we are enhancing our enforcement efforts to ensure that all participants are held accountable when they are not," he said.

April's announced "enhanced" enforcement of small package imports threatens to bring certain e-commerce activities to a standstill. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is reportedly inspecting every single ecommerce shipment coming from mainland China by air freight.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA,  is informing the public of another phase of the Federal Government’s enforcement schedule. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the Lacey Act to provide, in part, that importers submit a declaration at the time of importation for certain plants and plant products.

The United States has asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Volkswagen de México, S.A. de C.V. facility in Cuautlancingo, Puebla, are being denied their rights to freedom of …

The USTR announced the successful resolution of the second USMCA facility-specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter in the mining sector, regarding Minera Tizapa S.A. de C.V, a subsidiary of Industrias Peñoles, S.A.B. de C.V. The facility, a venture of of Industrias Peñoles and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. and Dowa Metals & Mining. Zinc concentrates produced at Tizapa are sent to Japan for processing.

The United States announced the successful resolution of the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter at the Servicios Industriales González, S.A. de C.V. (SIG) facility, a major metal fabricator and supplier for Caterpillar, John Deere and Komatsu  in Nuevo Leon.

A bipartisan group of House members have introduced legislation that would provide investment tax credits to encourage the movement of pharmaceutical supply chains back to territories like Puerto Rico and Guam from China. The Bill states: The critical supply chains reshoring investment credit is an amount equal to 40 percent of the qualified investment with respect to any critical supply chain facility placed in service during such taxable year."  

The Energy Department published guidelines and instructions for obtaining a waiver to the recently signed Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, which bans the import of certain types of Russian Low Enriched Uranium into the United States beginning on August 11, 2024

A group of developing and developed members appealed for the EU to postpone the implementation of its new Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR).

Customs & Border Protection (CBP) issued an update including a high level comparison between the two Section 321 Programs (Section 321 Data Pilot and the Entry Type 86 Test). Section 321, 19 USC 1321 is the statute that describes de minimis, which provides admission of articles free of duty, but the aggregate fair retail value of articles imported by one person on one day and exempted from the payment of duty shall not exceed $800.

The inaugural Luzon Corridor Steering Committee meeting, to drive infrastructure investment and development along the Corridor met on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Manila last week. Luzon Corridor is  the first project of the U.S.-initiated Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment in the Indo-Pacific (PGI), which is touted as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Maritime Silk Road.

Tuesday Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources Kelly Milton was in Hanoi to lead the fourth meeting of the U.S.-Vietnam Timber Working Group.

BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen all rely on suppliers banned for using Uyghur forced labor, according to a report issued by the Senate Finance Committee. Interviews and documents obtained by committee staff show that Bourns, Inc., a California-based auto supplier, had sourced components from Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group, a company added to the UFLPA Entity List in December 2023, and whose goods are presumed to be made with forced labor.

The Administration is very concerned that China may try to evade the new 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told lawmakers Wednesday. The US Trade Representative’s Office, with assistance from the Commerce Department, is looking at how to ensure Chinese EVs made in Mexico are still subject to the tariff, she told members of the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, science and related agencies subcommittee.