The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements set fiscal year 2019 limits on imports of apparel articles from sub-Saharan Africa qualifying for preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, CITA said in a notice. For the year running Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019, the aggregate quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under AGOA is capped at 2,048,357,135 square meters equivalent, up from 2,022,822,376 square meters equivalent in FY18. Of that amount, 1,024,178,567 square meters equivalent will be available to apparel imported under AGOA’s third-country fabric provisions.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is classifying FDA-approved drugs that contain cannabidiol (CBD) derived from cannabis and no more than 0.1 percent tetrahydrocannabinols in schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act. As a result of the order, Epidiolex, which had previously been classified in schedule I, is now placed in Schedule V, along with any generic versions of the same formulation that might be approved by the FDA in the future. DEA is also adding such drugs to the list of schedule III, IV and V drugs that require a permit for importation or exportation. Any material, compound, mixture or preparation other than Epidiolex that falls within the CSA definition of marijuana, including any non-FDA-approved CBD extract that falls within such definition, remains a schedule I controlled substance under the CSA, the agency said.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is issuing a final rule listing the chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The agency did not set specific import prohibitions for the species, saying it is still evaluating whether its listing in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is sufficient protection. The final rule takes effect Oct. 29.
The Federal Communications Commission has noted an uptick in illegal imports of two-way radios that don’t comply with FCC rules, it said in an enforcement bulletin issued Sept. 24. A “growing number of conventional retailers and websites” are advertising and selling low-cost unauthorized two-way radios, many of which have been imported from abroad. “These radios must be authorized by the FCC prior to being imported, advertised, sold, or operated in the United States,” the agency said.
The Energy Department is amending energy efficiency test procedures it set for LED lamps in a July 2016 final rule (see 1606300013), it said. The amended test procedures are effective for representations of energy use or efficiency beginning March 20, 2019.
The International Trade Commission recently issued Revision 11 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Changes include those required to implement new exemptions from absolute quotas on steel from Argentina, Brazil and South Korea, and aluminum from Argentina, imposed as part of those countries’ deals to escape Section 232 tariffs (see 1808300004). Those changes take effect Aug. 30. The updated HTS also includes amendments effective Sept. 1 to rules of origin under the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement. Finally, the recently revised subheading 9705.00.0085, which since July 1 has covered “zoological, botanical, mineralogical, anatomical, historical and paleontological pieces,” now refers more broadly to “other” collections or collectors’ pieces (i..e, other than numismatic, archaeological or ethnographic pieces). That change takes effect retroactively to July 1.
Nokia officials met with Federal Communications Commission commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, and aides to the other commissioners, to talk about new mobile technologies known as 5G and potential issues created by tariffs. “Of particular concern to Nokia are the recent tariffs imposed on trade with China, which specifically target a wide range of components that are critical to 5G," Nokia said. “Unless exemptions are provided for these products, these latest duties threaten to raise the cost of 5G infrastructure in the U.S. by hundreds of millions of dollars. This is an important context that further emphasizes the need for the Commission to lower barriers to deployment where it can.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration is temporarily adding the synthetic cathinone N-Ethylpentylone to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it said. The listing takes effect Aug. 31, and will be in effect for up to three years.
The International Trade Commission recently issued Revision 10 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, implementing Section 301 tariffs on a second set of goods from China effective Aug. 23, and making related changes that also affect the first tranche. New subheading 9903.88.02 is created for the new set of goods, with goods in the first tariff list that took effect July 6 still classifiable in subheading 9903.88.01 (see 1808210031). A list of goods subject to the new tariffs is added in U.S. Note 20(d) to Subchapter II of Chapter 99, while provisions on how the tariffs are to be applied are added at U.S. Note 20(c). The list of goods subject to the first round of tariffs at U.S. Note 20(b) is modified to correct a technical error. Provisions at U.S. Note 20(a) on how those tariffs are to be applied are modified to reflect the end of a total exemption from the Section 301 tariffs on U.S. goods returned after repair or alteration, processing or assembly (see 1808160049). All changes included in Revision 10 take effect Aug. 23.
A top DOJ lawyer doesn't think trade disputes between countries are affecting foreign nations' antitrust enforcement actions. But "there may be one or two examples on the margins that I can’t talk about," said Deputy Assistant Attorney General-International Affairs Roger Alford at a Technology Policy Institute conference in Aspen. George Mason University Global Antitrust Institute Executive Director Joshua Wright, a former commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, hopes Alford is correct about no interference. The FTC should continue to "keep trade out of this stuff so we can speak bilaterally with the 130 agencies around the world" that also deal with antitrust, he said of his old agency. "When one of those agencies has a substantial deviation" from norms, rely not on trade sanctions but "community sanctions," he recommended. "You rarely see U.S. agencies discussing substance of decisions with foreign nations." When a case gets differing rulings from agencies in various countries, he thinks U.S. antitrust enforcers could make public some results. "Show people and the deviation will speak for itself, and you let people decide how to interpret the evidence," Wright continued. "It has a salutary international impact."