Effective April 1, the Department of Agriculture’s Marketing Service will increase the assessment rate from $0.35 to $0.41 per thousand board feet (MBF) on imported softwood lumber.  The order is administered by the Softwood Lumber Board with oversight by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This rule will also add the conversion factor for square meters to board feet and makes one conforming change.

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On February 11, 2021, the Biden Administration authorized new sanctions and export-control restrictions on Myanmar (also called Burma) in response to the Myanmar military’s recent coup against the country’s elected civilian government.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers nationwide are continuing reports of residents receiving unsolicited calls from scammers posing as U.S. Border Patrol agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Individuals are reporting the calls are a pre-recorded message stating, “a box of drugs and money being shipped has your (callers) name on it and it has been intercepted.”  The caller is then instructed to press #1 to speak with a CBP Officer/Agent, which then attempts to get the callers banking information.  

These calls are phone scams/phishing attempts and residents are urged to not provide the caller with any information. The Department of Homeland Security and CBP does not solicit personal information by phone. If such calls are received, people should make a note of the number and any other pertinent details about the call and immediately hang up and report the incident if possible.

Phone scams can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission online at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.

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