The Biden administration is expanding its ban on importing certain Russian seafood and diamonds so that seafood caught in Russian waters or by Russia's fishing fleet but processed elsewhere, including in China, will be banned. The ban on industrial diamonds also has expanded so that those diamonds, if incorporated into goods in another country, also are banned.

A customs broker can’t hire an unlicensed company to key in data on entry filings, even if the entries themselves are vetted and transmitted by the broker, CBP said in a recent ruling.

Shippers of cargo from Asia to the U.S. East Coast could see shipments take five to 10 days longer as carriers avoid the Suez and Panama canals due to disruptions caused by conflict and drought, Nathan Strang of Flexport said Dec. 20.

Women who advocate for businesses in the EU and in the U.S. complained that while the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council is better than nothing, it has neglected the "trade" part of its title.

A customs broker may generate an invoice from elements provided from an electronic data interchange (EDI) transmission, as long as the invoice meets the timing and content requirements found in the customs regulations, CBP said in a recent ruling.

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The U.S. will grant new Section 232 exclusions for steel and aluminum imports from the EU as part of a deal that will also extend the tariff rate quotas on EU steel and aluminum and avoid EU retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports.

CBP is temporarily suspending operations at the international railway crossing bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, the agency said. The suspension, which CBP said is effective Dec. 18, is meant to help CBP redirect personnel to "assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody," the agency said.

Pencil importer Royal Brush Manufacturing was required to file protests before it could challenge CBP's allegedly improper liquidations under an Enforce and Protect Act antidumping duty evasion investigation, the Court of International Trade ruled on Dec. 15. Dismissing the company's case for lack of jurisdiction, Judge Mark Barnett echoed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's ruling in Juice Farms v. U.S. in ruling that "all liquidations, whether legal or not, are subject to the timely protest requirement."

Former trade negotiators, think tank trade advocates, and a current political appointee at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative grappled with whether turning away from tariff-lowering free trade agreements is wise or misguided, whether years of globalization from 1995-2015 led to prosperity or economic carnage, and what type of issues should be tackled in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework or other trade deals.