U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on March 29th that it has directed personnel at all U.S. ports of entry to begin seizing disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by Top Glove Corporation Bhd. (Top Glove).  The CBP Office of Trade published a forced labor finding against disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by Top Glove in the Customs Bulletin and in the Federal Register.  The finding communicates that CBP has sufficient information to believe that Top Glove uses forced labor in the production of disposable gloves. Merchandise covered by the forced labor finding is subject to seizure upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry.

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The U.S. Trade Representative has modified the actions being taken in the investigation of civil aircraft dispute on European products.  The 15% tariffs on civil aircraft and 25% tariffs on approx. 150 tariff lines of products including liquor, Italian food and beverages, lenses, Greek yogurt, Spanish pork, and more were lifted at 12:01 a.m. March 11, and will remain suspended until midnight July 10.

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On December 23, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) published a final rule in the Federal Register adopting the Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis (AIM) system regulations and establishing an AIM website. The AIM website consists of an online aluminum import license application platform and public AIM monitor. Commerce published a notice of a delay in January with an effective date of March 29, 2021.  This has been delayed again and is now effective June 28, 2021.  This delay means that licenses will not be required for covered aluminum product imports until June 28, 2021. Further information and a revised effective date will be provided in the Federal Register notice.

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On March 1, 2021, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued a decision with important ramifications for any company that uses “first sale” to reduce customs duty liability for goods imported into the United States.  All companies relying on first sale should review their first sale programs to evaluate the impact of this ruling and take adequate precautions.

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