A former Senate Finance Committee chairman when Republicans were in the majority, a pro-trade Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, and that committee's trade subcommittee leaders all agree -- if a returned President Donald Trump imposed a global 10% tariff by executive order, Congress likely would step in to undo it.

CBP is working on advancing the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking about eBond functionality and updating it from a "test to a requirement, eliminating the majority of paper bond processing, and ensuring bonds are on file," CBP said. The announcement came in a working paper submitted by the Bond Working Group of the Intelligent Enforcement Subcommittee ahead of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting on Sept. 20. The working paper is among a series of documents being released ahead of the meeting (see 2309150048).

EU and U.S. negotiators will not be reaching a grand bargain on fighting overcapacity in steelmaking and new trade rules to privilege greener steel in six weeks, predicted a source that gets updates about the negotiations. "I don’t think either side has felt progress is really being made," the source said.

A direct forming hollow section line or “tube mill" is correctly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. heading 8462 as a machine tool rather than under heading 8455 as a metal-rolling mill, according to a recently released CBP ruling. The ruling came in response to an application for further review of a denied protest filed by Dundee Products.

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee is set to adopt a recommendation urging CBP to allow the use of foreign-trade zones for merchandise detained under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, after an August policy change by the agency barred the practice (see 2308030062).

ACE 2.0 has the potential to develop into "a true international single window for companies that are transnational," with global interoperability setting a "level playing field" for all countries because no one country will control anything, Vincent Annunziato, director of the CBP Business Transformation and Innovation Division, said Sept. 14.

Two members of the House of Representatives asked the House Ways and Means Committee to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, and several others also advocated for trade policies on the day that the committee welcomed other members to advocate for their priorities.

CBP recently completed its first interoperability test, which focused on the pipeline oil and steel supply chains, the agency announced in a Sept. 12 news release. Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s Business Transformation and Innovation Division, said 23 companies participated in the test as part of a broader effort to promote global interoperability in how software systems work with each other.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, with importers bearing the burden of proof, is the No. 1 forced labor compliance issue, panelists said, outpacing disclosure and due diligence laws in other countries around the world.

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