There will be $840 million in emergency appropriations for CBP, in light of its lost fees during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of many areas where Congress voted to dedicate additional funding through Sept. 30, 2021. The massive omnibus spending bill that passed both chambers late on Dec. 21 also dedicated an additional $10 million for ports of entry technology. The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund will receive $50 million more than in the last fiscal year. It uses 92% of the fees collected for maintenance purposes, an estimated $1.68 billion in all in the current fiscal year.

Tomas Baert, head of trade and agriculture at the European delegation in Washington, said the European Union is looking for a “strong and united front with the United States” on trade as the region and the world recover from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Baert, who was speaking on a webinar Dec. 15 hosted by the European American Chamber of Commerce, said that while the Trump era was marked with “turbulence and tension” in trade, Europe feels like it escaped mostly unharmed, since there were not “massive tariffs” imposed on exported cars, trucks and auto parts, as was threatened.

The U.S. and Ecuador signed a phase one trade agreement that goes beyond the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement with requirements for online publication of customs information and customs brokers requirements; duties and fees; electronic submission of customs declaration and phytosanitary certificates; a single window for import and export; and advanced rulings that cover classification, valuation, origin, and application of quotas. Ecuador also agreed to no penalties on minor errors, unless they're part of a consistent pattern, and a procedure to correct errors without penalties.

Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden's choice for secretary of state, has said that the Section 301 tariffs on China and Section 232 tariffs on Europe “harm our own people,” according to coverage of a U.S. Chamber of Commerce talk he gave in September. “We would use tariffs when they’re needed, but backed by a strategy and a plan,” he added. Blinken, who served as deputy secretary of state under President Barack Obama, said, “The EU is the largest market in the world. We need to improve our economic relations, and we need to bring to an end an artificial trade war that the Trump administration has started,” Reuters reported from the Chamber talk.

Even as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held out hope for a President Joe Biden rolling back tariffs on imports from countries other than China, it doesn't expect Congress to limit a president's ability to impose tariffs without congressional approval. Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the Chamber and its top policy officer, said that if Biden were to win, “he may choose a slightly different path” on tariffs than Donald Trump has.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that the trade facilitation agreement that the U.S. and Brazil signed Oct. 19 is very similar to the USMCA trade facilitation chapter, and that traders should expect more incremental progress in coming months. “There’s a lot more that needs to be done,” Lighthizer said during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce program Oct. 20. “We have ongoing negotiations on ethanol. Brazilians like to talk about sugar. There’s a variety of things in the agriculture area.”

Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, told a business audience that his country and the U.S. have completed a trade facilitation agreement, an agreement on best regulatory practices, and an anti-corruption agreement. He said these treaties would “slash red tape and bring about even more growth to our bilateral trade with beneficial effects to the flow of investments as well.”

As trade and labor attorneys wait to see which company is the target of a promised AFL-CIO rapid response complaint, Warren Payne, a senior adviser for Mayer Brown's public policy and international trade practices, said there can be informed speculation on who might be first.

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

Japan announced the launch of a government-sponsored export control program for small and medium-sized companies, which includes “briefing sessions” and guidance from export control experts on complying with regulations surrounding sensitive technologies. The program, a collaboration of the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and the chambers of commerce in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, will create a “security trade control system … to prevent the outflow of sensitive technologies” by smaller companies, the ministry said Sept. 15, according to an unofficial translation. It will feature a free “specialized consultation desk” for export control issues, Japan said, and company visits by export control experts to help with in-house compliance programs. It said the resources will be available to companies operating in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, but the program may expand to other regions.