The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued additional sanctions and export controls against Russia in response to their invasion of Ukraine. These new rules are intended to severely impact Russian financial systems, disrupt their economy, and reduce their access to high-tech imports. The largest Russian banks targeted by these sanctions have been cut off from US financial systems. The ruling also places restrictions on the Russian military, preventing access to exports from the US and certain exports that utilize US-originating goods. Several Russian elites and their families have also had severe sanctions placed upon them and their US assets have been frozen. Canada, Japan, Australia, the EU, and other US allies are also placing their own sanctions against Russia in a unified effort to further damage Russia’s ability to carry out their invasion.

Please note the situation in Ukraine is changing rapidly, and this report is based on the most up to date data available at time of publishing.

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New data shows that Chicago CBP officers seized around $2.88 million worth of counterfeit goods during the month of January alone. One of the biggest busts in January was a shipment from Israel with over $713,000 in counterfeit jewelry. Officers say they see counterfeit goods passing through on a near daily basis, with reports showing 29 counterfeit seizures in Chicago throughout January. The fake items seized cover all manner of accessories including jewelry, watches, shoes, and handbags. Estimates show the United States spends over $100 billion every year on counterfeit goods that infringe on intellectual property laws.

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The U.S. and Japan have reached an agreement to adjust the Section 232 tariffs on Japanese steel imports. This new agreement sets a quota for Japanese steel, allowing for up to 1.25 million tons to be imported without any Section 232 duties imposed. This plan is similar to a resolution passed last year easing EU steel and aluminum tariffs, though this agreement only affects Japanese steel imports.  These multinational agreements are part of a larger strategy to fight China’s anti-competitive trade practices, as well as creating a greener steel trade industry.

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The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing a final rule to adjust certain civil monetary penalties (CMP) for inflation pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. OFAC imposes CMPs pursuant to the penalty authority in five statutes: The Trading With the Enemy Act; the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ; the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996; the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act; and the Clean Diamond Trade Act . The new rule went into effect February 9th.

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• While it is often attributed to him, Ben Franklin actually did not come up with daylight saving time as we know it today, but he did pen the idea of adjusting schedules to the available sunlight in an unpublished satirical letter from 1784. In the letter he calculated the money that Parisians could save on candles if they woke with the sun instead of lazily waking at noon.
• The actual name is Daylight Saving, not Daylight Savings, as it is often called.
• Daylight Savings was not enacted officially in the US until March 1918. This was later repealed, then enacted again during WWII. After the war, states were allowed to choose whether they wanted to utilize DST or not. This resulted in massive travel issues for citizens crossing multiple state lines.
• Modern use of DST was established in 1966, when the government passed the Uniform Time Act, creating a standard for daylight savings across the country (minus a few holdout states).
• Hawaii, Arizona, and most US Territories do not observe DST.
• There is much debate over whether DST has positive or negative effects on regions that use it, and whether it is necessary at all. Polls indicate that over 60% of Americans generally support the idea of eliminating DST permanently.
• Studies show that the second Monday in March (the day we “lose an hour” every year) there are noticeable spikes in workplace accidents, traffic accidents, losses of productivity and slight increases in health issues such as heart attacks and strokes.

AD/CVD (Anti-dumping and countervailing duty) is a hot topic in the trade world these days.  Determining whether AD/CVD applies to products is imperative to understand the costs of imported goods.  Applicability of AD/CVD is typically based on the description of the item as it relates to the scope of the AD/CVD order.  HTS codes are part of AD/CVD scopes but are not the deciding factor.  

Using case numbers, The US Customs & Border Protection system for AD/CVD search AD/CVD search can provide information on specific cases including scope and other background related to individual cases.  Simply enter a case number in the search field and the results will appear.  Users can sort by date, status, type and much more.  

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