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📉Treasury Direct Final Rule on Eliminating Unnecessary Regulations

Pursuant to an Executive order, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is conducting a review of existing regulations, with the goal of reducing regulatory burden by revoking or revising existing regulations that meet the criteria set forth in the Executive order. In support of that objective, this direct final rule streamlines titles 12 and 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) by removing regulations that are no longer necessary or no longer have any current or future applicability.

🐚Removal of Marine Archaeology Protection Rule

Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress passed, and the President signed, a joint resolution disapproving the final "Protection of Marine Archaeology Resources" rule published by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on September 3, 2024. That rule required lessees and operators to submit an archaeological report with any oil and gas exploration or development plan they submit to BOEM for approval of proposed activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Under the joint resolution and by operation of the Congressional Review Act, the "Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources" rule has no force or effect.

⚖️Corrections to Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Regulations

On December 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) revised the annexes of the trade remedy regulations to modernize the administration of the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) laws. This amendment corrects inadvertent errors in dates and regulatory language.

⚖️Regulatory Corrections for Antidumping Duty Compliance

On December 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) issued a final rule amending its antidumping and countervailing duty regulations. However, certain regulatory language in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) was inadvertently deleted, an incorrect punctuation mark was used, and a letter was left off a word. This correction restores the deleted language to the relevant regulation and corrects the typographical errors.

📄Update on Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements and Exemptions

FinCEN is adopting this interim final rule to narrow the existing beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to require only entities previously defined as "foreign reporting companies" to report BOI. Under this interim final rule, entities previously defined as "domestic reporting companies" are exempted from the reporting requirements and do not have to report BOI to FinCEN, or update or correct BOI previously reported to FinCEN. With limited exceptions, the interim final rule does not change the existing requirement for foreign reporting companies to file BOI reports, but it extends the deadline to file initial BOI reports, and to update or correct previously filed BOI reports, to 30 days from the date of this publication to give foreign reporting companies additional time to comply. However, the interim final rule exempts foreign reporting companies from having to report the BOI of any U.S. persons who are beneficial owners of the foreign reporting company and exempts U.S. persons from having to provide such information to any foreign reporting company for which they are a beneficial owner. FinCEN is accepting comments on this interim final rule. FinCEN will assess the exemptions, as appropriate, in light of those comments and intends to issue a final rule this year.

📦US International Trade Commission Investigates Polypropylene Imports

The Commission hereby gives notice of the institution of investigations and commencement of preliminary phase antidumping and countervailing duty investigation Nos. 701-TA-757 and 731-TA-1737-1738 (Preliminary) pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930 ("the Act") to determine whether there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an industry in the United States is materially retarded, by reason of imports of polypropylene corrugated boxes ("PC boxes") from China and Vietnam, provided for in subheading 3923.10.90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, that are alleged to be sold in the United States at less than fair value and imports of PC boxes alleged to be subsidized by the Government of China. Unless the Department of Commerce ("Commerce") extends the time for initiation, the Commission must reach preliminary determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations in 45 days, or in this case by May 2, 2025. The Commission's views must be transmitted to Commerce within five business days thereafter, or by May 9, 2025.

📊Investigations on Chinese Ceramic Abrasive Grains Set to Impact U.S. Industry

The U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating alleged material injury to the domestic industry from imports of sol gel alumina-based ceramic abrasive grains from China, which are claimed to be sold at less than fair value and subsidized by the Chinese government. The investigation's outcomes could lead to significant tariffs and market changes.

📄Hearing Cancellation on Paper Plates Trade Investigations Impact

🚆FRA Withdraws Accident Investigation Regulation Affecting Railroads

FRA is withdrawing the direct final rule titled "Federal Railroad Administration Accident/Incident Investigation Policy for Gathering Information and Consulting with Stakeholders," (the Rule) which was published on October 1, 2024.

⚖️FinCEN Final Rule

FinCEN is publishing this final rule to reflect inflation adjustments to its civil monetary penalties as mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended. This rule adjusts certain maximum civil monetary penalties within the jurisdiction of FinCEN to the amounts required by that Act.