Tag: import/export
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China Imposes 178.6 Percent Trade Duty for U.S. Sorghum
China’s Ministry of Commerce has reportedly announced that it will require importers of U.S.-grown sorghum to pay a 178.6 percent deposit in anticipation of anti-dumping tariffs, which may discourage imports and directly affect American growers. A Chinese investigation apparently concluded that U.S. sorghum is being dumped on the Chinese market, despite denials from U.S. officials. “This…
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Vietnam Asks WTO For Consultation on U.S. Catfish Import Restrictions
Alleging unfair trade restrictions, the Vietnamese government has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to consult with the United States to discuss limitations on catfish imports. Vietnam alleges that a recent move to shift import inspections from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the U.S. Department of Agriculture subjects shipments of Vietnamese catfish (Siluriformes…
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GAO Criticizes Lack of Oversight of Antibiotic Residue Levels in Imported Seafood
A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study has criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) for their failure to ensure that imported seafood does not contain unsafe levels of antibiotic or other drug residues. According to the GAO, about 90 percent of the seafood…
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Seafood Company Sentenced to $1 Million in Fines and Community Service Payments
A California-based seafood company has reportedly been sentenced in federal court for knowingly selling mislabeled frozen fish fillets. United States v. Seafood Solutions, Inc., No. 11-297 (C.D. Cal., sentencing February 6, 2012). Seafood Solutions, Inc. agreed to plead guilty to the charge in July 2011, as part of a federal investigation into companies that had been selling…
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ICE and CBP Seize Chinese Honey Worth $2.45 Million
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have reportedly confiscated since October 2014 about 450,000 pounds of honey produced in China but falsely declared to be from Latvia on import documents. Chinese honey has been subject to a high import tax—currently 221 percent—since 2001, when…
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Senators Urge U.S. Trade Representative to Resolve Russian Meat Import Ban
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich), who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, has joined ranking committee member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and 31 other senators in asking U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk “to quickly address Russia’s new import ban on U.S. beef, poultry and turkey.” According to a February 19, 2013, news release,…
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WTO to Field Dispute over India’s Restrictions on U.S. Poultry
The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently agreed to a convene a dispute settlement panel to investigate India’s restrictions on the importation of U.S. poultry, eggs and other agriculture products purportedly due to concerns over avian influenza. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) apparently requested the panel after failing to resolve the dispute during an April 16-17,…
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APHIS Extends Comment Deadline for Proposed Bovine Import Regulations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has extended until June 14, 2012, the comment period for a proposed rule that would amend regulations governing the importation of live bovines and other animal products with regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Under the proposed rule, APHIS would adopt World Organization…