Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) aims to tackle unfair foreign practices that impact U.S. commerce. It serves as a means to address unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory actions by foreign governments that hinder or limit U.S. trade. Under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act, [...]
BRIDGE COLLAPSE Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency for the city of Baltimore after a container ship collided with a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing a total collapse early in the morning of March 26, 2024. The Francis Scott Key Bridge stretched 1.6 [...]
Implementation of the Strengthening Organics Enforcement (SOE) Rule goes into effect today, March 19, 2024. The new rule updates the USDA’s organic regulations, oversight, and enforcement for organic products including production, handling, and sales. The new rule also implements 2018 Farm Bill requirements, addresses industry requests for regulation updates and National [...]
The recently published Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) demonstrates the Commission's focus on staffing, restructuring, case prioritization, OSRA implementation, and a new electronic case management system. These updates are part of the $48.4 million congressional funding request FMC submitted for FY25 - an increase of [...]
California state and regional regulatory agencies are facing backlash from the freight transportation sector due to new emissions rules. Similar in goal to SB-253 and SB-261, these rules are being introduced to reduce emissions from freight transportation activities. The agencies are being urged to delay the rules due to high [...]
EUROPEAN UNION ANNOUNCES NEW FORCED LABOR RULE The European Union (EU) announced March 5th that a deal had been reached on a new rule set regarding forced labor. Specifically, this new rule will ban imports suspected of being made with forced labor, outlining how the EU will investigate and penalize [...]
At a February 28th congressional hearing, the FMC confirmed the final rule surrounding unreasonable carrier conduct can be expected to arrive in “the next couple of months.” This rule will come during a time of increased enforcement by the FMC as they have been closely watching surcharges related to the [...]
The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) recently released the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) final rule. The SOE updates the USDA's organic regulations while strengthening oversight and enforcement for organic products including production, handling, and sale. It also implements 2018 Farm Bill requirements, incorporates industry requests for organic regulation updates, [...]
A recent ruling by the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) may have implications for container transport within the U.S. As a result of this ruling, ocean carriers were ordered to cease requiring cargo owners and their truckers use specific chassis for shipper-controlled transportation. The ruling responds to Ocean Carriers [...]
California recently enacted two climate disclosure acts SB-253 Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act and SB-261 Greenhouse Gases: Climate-Related Financial Risk. These new legislative documents make it mandatory for many companies operating in California to report both quantitative and qualitative climate information. These laws are expected to have a significant [...]
