Biden-Harris Administration Announces Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to Address Short-Term Supply Chain Discontinuities

On June 8, 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration announced key findings from the reviews directed under Executive Order (E.O.) 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” as well as immediate actions the Administration will take to strengthen American supply chains to promote economic security, national security, and good-paying, union jobs here at home.

The report outlines proposed actions to address:

• domestic production of critical medicines,
• domestic supply chain for advanced batteries,
• sustainable domestic and international production and processing of critical minerals, and
• semiconductor shortages.

The report also acknowledged the need to "Combat unfair trade practices."

Army Physical Fitness Uniform Pants Contract Awarded

National Industries for the Blind, Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $7,575,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for physical fitness uniform pants. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Locations of performance are North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, with a June 9, 2022, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-21-D-B112).

CBP Chicago Finds $552,000 of Counterfeit Items Smuggled in Passengers’ Luggage

On March 31, 2021, two passengers returning together from Turkey were asked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers if they had anything to declare. Initially, they did not declare anything, but during a secondary inspection they declared $2,000 worth of “gifts.” Officers inspected their seven large duffel bags for smuggled contraband and found an estimated MSRP value (i.e., if genuine goods) of $552,000 of counterfeit designer apparel.

More than 550 counterfeit items of varying protected trademarks were seized from the passengers, including from well-known brands like Adidas, Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nike, and Versace.

Read more HERE.

CPSC to Participate in AATCC Webinare on Electronic Textiles, July 28, 2021

Jacqueline Campbell, Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction, will be presenting a webinar on wearable technology and integrating safety into the product design process as part of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) webinar series on electronic textiles (e-textiles). The webinar will take place July 28, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. For additional information, contact Jacqueline Campbell at jcampbell@cpsc.gov.

The Market Diversification Tool Can Help Identify Potential New Export Markets

Brought to you by the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) at the International Trade Administration, the Market Diversification Tool can help identify potential new export markets.

OTEXA is dedicated to increasing the international competitiveness of the U.S. textiles, apparel, footwear, and travel goods industries.

Based on the products you export and the markets you currently export to, the tool uses an algorithm to rank potential markets you may want to consider as future export markets.

The algorithm used to develop the ranking does three main things:

1. Compares potential export markets to the market where you are already exporting, based on the premise that it may be easier to export to similar countries.
2. Examines product-specific trade data to see whether potential markets are primed for more U.S. exports of the product(s) in question.
3. Considers data that reflects whether potential export markets are generally good markets for exporting and doing business.

Secretary Blinken Indicates U.S. will not Give China Free Range with International Organizations

On June 7, 2021, in Opening Remarks Before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hinted as a continued responses to China's attempts to dominate international organizations, stating:

"As China and others work hard to bend international organizations to their worldview, we need to ensure that these organizations instead remain grounded in the values, principles, and rules of road and rules of the world that have made our shared progress possible for so many decades."

USTR Announces, and Immediately Suspends, Tariffs in Section 301 Digital Services Taxes Investigations

On June 2, 2021, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the conclusion of the one-year Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The final determination in those investigations is to impose additional tariffs on certain goods from these countries, while suspending the tariffs for up to 180 days to provide additional time to complete the ongoing multilateral negotiations on international taxation at the OECD and in the G20 process.

As reported March 31, 2021, the U.S. planned to impose 25% tariffs on:

• Certain apparel and footwear from the U.K.,
• Certain wool yarn and brassieres from India,
• Certain carpets and home textiles from Turkey,
• Certain travel goods, apparel of wool, cashmere, or other fibers, and footwear from Italy,
• Certain textiles from Austria, and
• Travel goods, footwear, and hats from Spain